Sweet and Savory Stuffed Cabbage

I'm not really sure why I wanted to do some stuffed cabbage lately but it's been on my mind.  Makes sense.  It's a completely NorCal summer dish, right?  My heritage has nothing to do with Eastern Europe, where the dish is believed to have originated, and we have no Jewish ancestry, also associated with the origins of this dish.  However, I do recall my mother preparing this a couple of times in my youth, and I remember disliking cabbage in general, so I wanted to give it a go with my big boy taste buds and see what came of it.

I believe it was a success!  It's a bit intense to put it together but well worth it in my opinion.  Clear a couple hours from your afternoon, if you can, and give it the attention it deserves and you shall be rewarded for your efforts.  If you find you want a quick recipe, this is not for you.  If you want comfort food tastiness however, that's another story all together.

To accompany this cooking adventure I had some Stiff Little Fingers on the laptop.  Referred to in their inception as the Irish Clash, they faded from the scene in the early 80's and yet, I still find myself singing little snatches of songs here and there when I'm working.  So it seemed apropos to have some playing while I slaved away in a hot kitchen on a hot summer evening cause if that isn't work, i don't know what is. -justin

Stuffed Cabbage
Time: 2 1/2 hrs
Difficulty: Medium
Serves: 6-8

Wild Rice (for filling)

• 6 cups water
• 2 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 cup wild rice

Bring water and salt to a boil and add the rice.  Return to boil and reduce to simmer until grains are tender, about 45 minutes.  Remove from heat, drain in small mesh colander and set aside to cool.

Sauce

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow or white onion
• 2 28oz cans crushed tomatoes and their juice
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra dry vermouth
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Heat olive oil in large saucepan or dutch oven, add onions and sweat over medium low heat till translucent, roughly 8-10 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, vinegar, vermouth, brown sugar, raisins, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Filling

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup chopped yellow or white onion
• 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup grated carrot
• 1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice (see previous instructions on prep)
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Combine everything in a large bowl.

Cabbage

•  1 head green or Savoy cabbage, cored
• enough water to cover cabbage in a large saucepot or dutch oven

Boil your water and  while you are waiting for that to happen you can core your cabbage (and make sauce and filling if you're awesome at multitasking).  Simply, use a sharp paring knife to cut the stem core out of the bottom of the head of cabbage.  Place the head of cabbage in the water after it boils and simmer for 3 minutes or so, until the outer leaves begin to become pliable.  Remove them with tongs (the water is boiling, remember?) and set aside to cool.  When all useable leaves are removed (the center or heart of the head isn't much good for rolling) cut the rib out of each leaf to make it easy to roll.

Assembly

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Line the bottom of an 11x15, glass baking dish with a couple of ladles of sauce so the rolls don't stick or burn.  Place roughly 1/2 cup of filling, molded into a cylinder, at the top of a cabbage leaf.  Roll the "log" toward the stem part of the leaf, folding in the sides as you go.  Place the rolls in the dish, they can be touching, and cover with the remaining sauce (uncovered cabbage will dry out as it cooks in the oven, not yummy!).  Cook, uncovered for 1 hr.  Let it rest for 5-7 minutes before serving with a healthy ladle of sauce.  One or two of these are very filling!

Coffee Toffee

I'm not much of a candy fan, but I do love English toffee.  Started making it when Justin and I first lived together, but that was about 6 years ago and I haven't made much since.  Until yesterday.  We had picked up some coffee toffee made locally and it was black, which was awesome!  Tasted great too, but it was expensive!  Like $2.50 for three tiny little pieces.  Knowing I could make toffee, I decided to try my hand at my own coffee toffee.  It came out great (though not black).  I'm still going to experiment; I don't know why I need it to be black, but I so want it to be black!  This recipe only has ground beans in it, which like I said, is delicious... but I'm thinking if I put a tablespoon or two of espresso in it when cooking... it might come out black.

This song is a little throw back and I had to be cheesy and use it.  More new wave than punk, I suppose.  They used to play the video on MTV all the time in the early/mid 80s, and I was like six or seven years old when I decided I wanted Annabella Lwin's shaved hair style!  Actually, I think I have had that hair style, only with dreads!  Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy".  -jen

COFFEE TOFFEE 
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 5-7 minutes
Level: Super easy!
Special Tools:  Candy/Oil thermometer
Note:  Be very careful making this.  The melted butter/sugar can burn you badly and it sticks like a mofo!

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter + some for pan
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup (though I've made it without this too)
• 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons finely ground coffee beans
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.  (If you don't have parchment paper, you can just generously butter the baking sheet.  The bottom of your toffee will be a little buttery but it'll still be tasty!)

In a large 2-quart saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter, sugar, corn syrup, salt and ground coffee beans.  Using a wooden spoon, stir over medium-high heat, bringing candy temperature to 300 degrees F (hard crack stage).  Immediately remove pan from heat, quickly stir in vanilla, and spread onto parchment paper lined pan.  Sprinkle pecans over the top quickly while toffee is still hot and allow to cool for about 20 minutes.  Flex the pan a little and candy should release. 

If you're not a fan of coffee, you can leave it out and just make plain English toffee!  Sometimes I sprinkle a little course salt over the top of the toffee for that "salted caramel" flavour.  Another option is chocolate.  Instead of sprinkling pecans on it immediately after pouring it out, you could sprinkle chocolate chips or shaved chocolate across the top.  The residual heat will melt it after a few minutes and you can spread it smooth across the top.

Made this one with pecans, salt and milk chocolate drizzle.  Left the coffee beans out.