Cabbage rolls from the chef. How to make juicy cabbage rolls
In order to make the cooking process easier and avoid such failures, we have put together basic rules for you that will help you cook real tasty cabbage rolls without any problems.
SELECTION AND PREPARATION OF CABBAGE LEAVES
At the preparatory stage, the most important thing is to make the right choice of cabbage. When choosing a head of cabbage, first of all pay attention to its density. Too dense forks are difficult to parse into leaves. We recommend using young cabbage for cabbage rolls, then its leaves in the dish will be as juicy and tender as possible. The younger the cabbage, the softer the cabbage rolls will be. It is better to cut the leaves from the head of cabbage with a sharp knife and first boil them in boiling salted water for a couple of minutes.
Out of season, young cabbage can be cooked from old cabbage, but then you need to take a small fork and first boil it whole for about 10 minutes. Only after this should the leaves be cut off from the head of cabbage. You can also cut out the stalk with a sharp knife, place the fork cut side up in a large saucepan, add boiling water and cook, periodically removing the leaves that come away from the fork during the cooking process. Any coarse veins or thick fibers must be removed.
The leaves will become softer if the thick parts of the leaf are beaten with a meat mallet or rolling pin, but here you need to be careful that the leaves do not tear.
You can achieve softness by putting the purchased cabbage in a bag and putting it in the freezer. After defrosting at room temperature, even the densest sheets become much softer.
Properly prepared leaves become translucent, the filling is visible through them, but at the same time they are intact and elastic.
FILLING FOR CABBAGED CARRIAGE
There are many variations of fillings - from vegetarian to exotic, but the classic filling is minced pork and beef, taken in a 1: 1 ratio, and cereals, such as rice or buckwheat. Vegetables and herbs are added to the minced meat. The more there are, the juicier the cabbage rolls will be. You can add sour cream and grated cheese - this will add a piquant and unusual taste to the usual cabbage rolls.You can cook minced meat not in a meat grinder, but chop it with a sharp knife.
If you twist the meat, then it is better to do it not finely, otherwise the filling in the finished dish will be too boiled and wadded. For taste, you can add onions, garlic and herbs, but they are not added in large quantities in the classic recipe, although this is a matter of taste, of course.
The cereal is placed in the minced meat in a state of semi-preparedness, then the filling turns out more juicy and not overcooked. Rice or buckwheat should be added in a ratio of 1:3 in favor of meat. It is important to knead the resulting mixture of minced meat, cereals, onions and herbs well and beat it, throwing it on top for a few minutes on the surface. This will give the filling tenderness.
ROLLING THE CABBAGED CABBAGE
In order to roll the cabbage roll correctly, we recommend placing the filling on the inside of the leaf, covering it with the petiole part. After this, you can tuck the sides of the sheet and wrap the cabbage roll. This method allows you to form neat envelopes, closed on all sides. The filling will definitely not fall out of them during the cooking process.The size of the envelopes depends on your desire, but small cabbage rolls cook faster and taste juicier. A medium cabbage leaf makes about 3 small cabbage rolls. If you are completely unsure of your ability to carefully roll a cabbage roll or are doing it for the first time, then the easiest way is to use chef’s thread or secure the edges with a toothpick, which will definitely prevent your dish from falling apart.
WE'RE COOKING CABBAGED CABBAGE
Prepared envelopes can be boiled, stewed, baked, or cooked in a slow cooker. The easiest option is to boil them in salted water or broth. To make them very juicy, try stewing cabbage rolls in kefir. You can cook them in various gravies, for example, tomato or creamy mushroom.Stuffed cabbage rolls stewed in dry white wine, tomato or pomegranate juice are delicious. It turns out delicious if you use roasted vegetables from your favorite vegetables. When serving the dish, add a few spoons on top. If you don’t want the cabbage rolls to lose their shape, then lightly fry the envelopes on both sides in a frying pan before stewing. In this case, they will definitely not fall apart during cooking due to the resulting crust, which will not only hold the shape together, but will also seal the meat juice inside the cabbage roll.
The dish will be more aromatic if you add a couple of spoons of sour cream, a bay leaf and a pinch of rosemary when placing it in the pan. We like cabbage rolls prepared with a dressing of carrots, tomatoes and sweet peppers, fried in vegetable oil.
Cook cabbage rolls for about an hour over low heat. It is better to simmer in a form with a very thick bottom. Stew and cook with the lid closed. Bake under foil, opening a few minutes before cooking, in order to get ruddy caps. If you cook cabbage rolls in the oven, then place another dish with water under the pan with the dish, this will help keep the dish from drying out.
By following these simple cooking rules, you will definitely get a juicy and at the same time tender result.
Cabbage rolls for the lazy
If you have neither the time nor the desire to tinker with envelopes, then you can prepare a simpler option - “lazy” cabbage rolls. The main ingredients of this dish are the same - cabbage, onions, herbs, garlic. All this is either finely chopped or passed through a meat grinder. Rice or semi-cooked buckwheat is added to the resulting minced meat, raw eggs are mixed in, everything is salted, peppered and formed into cutlets or meatballs. Lazy cabbage rolls can be boiled, baked or stewed, just like regular ones.
RED CABBAGED CABBAGE
These are unusual-looking cabbage rolls from Thuringian cuisine. They are red in color due to the fact that the leaves come not from white cabbage, but from red cabbage.Ingredients:
Red cabbage medium fork - 1 pc.
Chopped minced meat - 1 kg
Wine vinegar - 2 tbsp. l.
Sugar - 1 tbsp. l.
Salt, pepper, bay leaf - to taste
Onions - 1 + 1/2 pcs.
Carrots - 1 pc.
Raw eggs - 2 pcs.
White bread - 150 g
Red wine - 150 ml
Meat broth - 200 ml
Garlic - 2 cloves
Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp. l.
Cooking method
Disassemble the cabbage into leaves and boil them in salted water with the addition of vinegar and sugar.
Squeeze the bread soaked in milk, add minced meat, two eggs, half a chopped onion, fried in vegetable oil.
Salt, pepper, mix everything, beat the minced meat.
Place on leaves and form cabbage rolls.
Chop carrots and onions and sauté in vegetable oil. Lightly fry the envelopes there.
Pour the cabbage rolls with a mixture of wine and broth, add garlic, bay leaf and simmer over low heat for half an hour.
Few people don’t like cabbage rolls, but not everyone knows how to cook them. Today I want to teach you how to cook classic cabbage rolls according to my mother’s recipe. These cabbage rolls are the best and favorite for me.
Description of preparation:
Stuffed cabbage rolls can be prepared in different ways. The only thing all recipes have in common is that the minced meat is wrapped in a cabbage leaf. Everything else may differ, starting with the minced meat itself (it can be vegetable, mushroom, meat, etc.) and ending with the cooking method (stewing in a saucepan or cauldron, baking in the oven, etc.). I like the option with minced meat with the addition of rice and sautéed vegetables. These are the cabbage rolls I remember from childhood and love very much. I suggest you try making classic cabbage rolls according to my recipe.
Ingredients:
- Minced pork – 300 grams
- Onions – 3 pieces
- Carrots – 1 piece
- Cabbage – 1 piece
- Tomato juice – 200 Milliliters
- Rice – 100 grams
- Salt - 1 teaspoon
- Ground allspice - 1 pinch
Number of servings: 5-6
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How to cook “Classic cabbage rolls”
Prepare all the necessary ingredients. Choose the cabbage especially carefully; it should not be tight and soft enough, then the leaves will come off well.
Grate the carrots on a coarse grater.
Chop the onion as finely as possible.
Leave a third of the onion for the tomato dressing, and fry the rest together with the carrots in sunflower oil until soft.
Boil the rice until half cooked. To do this, boil 150 ml. water, add rice and cook until the liquid boils away.
Mix the pre-cooked minced meat with rice, add the required amount of salt and pepper.
Add sautéed onions and carrots. Mix everything thoroughly until smooth.
Cut a head of cabbage. We can throw it away immediately; we won’t need it.
Place the cabbage in a pan of boiling water, let it simmer a little, and then use two forks to remove one leaf at a time.
Cut the cabbage leaves into strips 5-6 cm wide and place the minced meat on them.
Wrap the filling in a cabbage leaf. The first cabbage roll is ready! Do the same with the rest.
Prepare tomato dressing. Fry the reserved onion in sunflower oil, then add tomato juice and boil for 5 minutes.
Place the cabbage rolls in a pan of suitable size, having previously covered the bottom with a cabbage leaf. Place a few cabbage leaves on top too. Fill the cabbage rolls with water until they are covered and cook for 30 minutes. Then pour in the tomato dressing and cook for another 20-30 minutes.
The cabbage rolls are ready! Eat them with pleasure!
Stuffed cabbage rolls are a treat of Russian and Ukrainian cuisine, but the dish is so popular that it is prepared in many countries, but in different ways.
So, cabbage rolls consist of 3 components:
- Stuffing. The traditional filling is minced meat with boiled rice, but many chefs have diversified the taste with vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, and cheese.
— Properly prepared cabbage, which should be soft and elastic.
- Sauce or gravy. The traditional gravy is tomato-vegetable. Again, its taste can be diversified with the help of cream, sour cream, broth, spices, herbs and other products.
Recipe 1: Cabbage rolls with meat “Traditional”
Traditional cabbage rolls are coarsely ground minced meat with rice, wrapped in cabbage and stewed in tomato and vegetable sauce. Cabbage rolls with minced meat are a juicy and satisfying dish, but many of us refuse to cook them, the reason is a labor-intensive and lengthy process. The advantage of cabbage rolls prepared according to this recipe is that semi-finished products can be stored in the freezer for 1-1.5 months.
Required ingredients:
flat head of white cabbage - 1 large piece;
- minced pork (coarsely ground) - 500 grams;
- minced beef (coarsely ground) - 500 grams;
- onions - 3 pieces;
- rice - 1 glass;
- carrots - 1 piece;
— tomatoes in their own juice — 400 grams;
- salt, peppers (ground, peas), bay leaf, vegetable oil.
Cooking method:
Preparatory stage:
— The onion is finely chopped, the carrots are grated.
Preparation of minced meat:
In one container, mix two types of minced meat, onions (2 heads), rice, ground pepper, salt. The ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
Preparation of tomato-vegetable gravy:
Onions (1 piece) and carrots are fried in vegetable oil. After 5 minutes, add tomatoes in their own juice, crushed with a fork, spices and bay leaves.
Heat treatment:
The bottom of the pan is covered with raw cabbage, then cabbage rolls are placed, and tomato and vegetable sauce is poured on top. The cabbage rolls are stewed over medium heat for 30-35 minutes.
Recipe 2: Cabbage rolls with meat “Spring”
These meat cabbage rolls got their name “Spring” for a reason. The fact is that the minced meat is wrapped in young cabbage. The dish cooks faster and has a more delicate taste.
Required ingredients:
- young cabbage - 1 head (large);
- minced pork and beef (coarsely ground) - 500 grams;
- rice - 0.5 cups;
- carrots - 1 piece;
- tomatoes - 3 pieces;
- onion - 1 piece;
- garlic - 3 cloves;
- parsley - 1 bunch.
Ingredients for filling:
broth - 500 milliliters;
ketchup - 2 tablespoons;
sour cream - 4 tablespoons;
vegetable oil, pepper, salt.
Cooking method:
Preparatory stage:
— Young cabbage is easy to disassemble, so the leaves are immersed in salted boiling water for 1-1.5 minutes. The thick veins at the base of the cooled leaves are cut off.
- Rice is boiled until half cooked - al dente.
— The onion is finely chopped, the carrots are grated. Vegetables are simmered in vegetable fat until soft.
— Parsley, garlic are finely chopped, tomatoes without skins are crushed in a blender.
Preparation of minced meat:
In one container, mix minced pork and beef, rice, fried carrots and onions, herbs, tomatoes and spices. The ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
Forming cabbage rolls: minced meat (1-1.5 tablespoons) is laid out on the prepared cabbage leaf. The cabbage is wrapped in an envelope.
Preparation of the filling: combine sour cream, ketchup, broth and spices in one container.
Heat treatment:
Cabbage envelopes are fried in vegetable fat and placed in a duck pot. The cabbage rolls are filled with filling so that they are barely covered. Cabbage envelopes are stewed for 30 minutes over medium heat.
The finished dish is presented to guests with sour cream and herbs. Bon appetit everyone!
Recipe 3: Stuffed cabbage rolls with meat “Lung”
Stuffed cabbage rolls prepared according to this recipe are lighter, since minced pork and beef are replaced with chicken, which is considered easily digestible and practically dietary.
Required ingredients:
- flat head of white cabbage - 1 piece (large);
- minced chicken (coarsely ground) - 500 grams;
- rice - 1 glass;
- carrots - 1 piece;
- tomatoes - 3 pieces;
- onion - 1 piece;
- garlic - 2 cloves;
- herbs, salt, pepper, vegetable oil.
Ingredients for filling:
— tomato paste – 2 tablespoons;
- sour cream - 200 grams;
- tomatoes - 2 pieces;
- rosemary - several sprigs.
Step-by-step plan for preparing “Light” meat cabbage rolls.
Preparatory stage:
— Onions, herbs, garlic are finely chopped, carrots are chopped on a grater, tomatoes without skin are crushed in a blender. Vegetables are simmered in vegetable fat until soft.
- Rice is boiled until half cooked - al dente.
— The cabbage leaf should be elastic and durable. To do this, cabbage without the stalk is placed in a large saucepan with salted boiling water. Cooking continues until the top leaves come off easily. The thick veins at the base of the cooled leaves are cut off.
Preparation of minced meat:
In one container, mix minced chicken, rice, fried carrots with onions and tomatoes, herbs and spices. The ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
Forming cabbage rolls: minced meat (1-1.5 tablespoons) is laid out on the prepared cabbage leaf. The cabbage is wrapped in an envelope.
Preparation of the filling: combine sour cream, ketchup, tomatoes, chopped in a blender, spices and rosemary in one container. The ingredients are poured into a saucepan and brought to a boil.
Heat treatment:
The bottom of the pan is covered with raw cabbage, then the cabbage rolls are placed, and the filling is poured on top. The cabbage rolls are stewed over medium heat for 35-40 minutes.
The finished dish is served with the gravy in which they were stewed or with sour cream. Bon appetit, everyone!
To make the stuffing in cabbage rolls tastier, it is prepared from several types of minced meat, and it is better if the minced meat is coarsely ground.
To make the cabbage for cabbage rolls tender, it is boiled, the veins are removed from the leaves, and then the shaped cabbage roll (envelope) is fried in vegetable fat and stewed in sauce until the meat is cooked.
Savoy cabbage rolls
Restaurant Chef Recipes “Gusyatnikoff” by Kirill Zebrin– original, but inspired by traditional Russian cuisine.
For the Lenten table, the chef offers restaurant dishes that can be prepared at home: mushroom pickle, mushroom aspic And savoy cabbage rolls. All these dishes are prepared without meat and butter, but they will delight you with an excellent rich taste.
Savoy cabbage rolls
Ingredients:
Savoy cabbage leaves according to the number of cabbage rolls
800 g Japanese sushi rice, boiled, seasoned
200 g fresh bell pepper without skin
50 g celery stalk
250 g zucchini
250 g eggplant, skinless
100 g Chinese cabbage
100 g onions, sautéed in vegetable oil
5 g garlic paste
15 g sautéed tomato paste
Finely chop all vegetables. Fry, but not until done. Combine with rice. Cool. Wrap in scalded savoy cabbage leaves and shape into a round shape.
Place the cabbage rolls in a saucepan, seam side down, add water, salt, bay leaf, olive oil, pepper, any spices to taste - and simmer covered for 5-7 minutes. Leave for another 10-15 minutes with the heat off.
Mushroom pickle
Mushroom pickle
Ingredients:
400 g pickle base
40 g boiled pearl barley or buckwheat
40 g boiled potatoes
40 g cherry tomatoes without skin
2 g chopped greens
50 g soy cream Basis for pickle:
for 10 servings
2500 ml vegetable broth
85 g onions
85 g sautéed carrots
35 stalks of celery
350 g pickled cucumbers
350 g cucumber pickle
450 g mushroom broth
180 g fried honey mushrooms
20 g lemon juice
50 g sugar
8 g garlic paste
salt
ground white pepper
bay leaf, coriander, cloves to taste How to cook:
Do it in the usual way for every housewife, replacing the broth with water.
Mushroom ice cream
Mushroom aspic is mushrooms drenched in vegetable broth and served with vegetables and pickles.
Jellied with mushrooms
Ingredients:
180 g mushroom broth
400 g canned honey mushrooms
400 g mushroom broth
25 g gelatin
5 g chopped greens
salt, freshly ground black pepper
For garnish:
20 g canned cherry tomatoes
15 g canned squash
10 g gherkins
20 g salad mix
10 g cabbage dressing
10 g fresh horseradish
5 g drunken lingonberries
50 g onions, fried in vegetable oil
Prepare the filling. To do this you will need strong mushroom broth, salt, dill, gelatin. Boil the broth with allspice and salt, add lemon juice to taste, add ground black pepper.
Cool to 40°C. Add gelatin. Place the strained pickled mushrooms into the mold. Fill with liquid. Chill until ready.
Today it is no longer possible to establish for certain where the tradition of wrapping the filling in green leaves came from. All that remains is to talk about what versions of cabbage rolls and dolma there are in the world. And there are a lot of them! In the Middle East, for example, instead of rice, raisins, dates and dried apricots are added to minced meat. In Cyprus and the Balkans, instead of meat, minced meat with sea fish or seafood can be wrapped in leaves. The filling is wrapped in various cabbage, grape, currant, fig and even quince leaves. In general, in order not to bore you with long foreplay, let’s move on to the main thing - recipes for delicious cabbage rolls and dolma from chefs.
Classic cabbage rolls with white cabbage
Sergey Prigorodov, chef of the OBEDBUF restaurant market chainET:
“If you have problems preparing cabbage rolls, for example, the filling absolutely does not want to be neatly wrapped in cabbage leaves, don’t worry. Just make lazy cabbage rolls. The dish will taste exactly the same, only the cabbage leaves are chopped and added to the minced meat when cooking. By the way, some people like this option even more, because the cabbage is guaranteed to be soft.”
Ingredients (for 8 servings): 500 g pork, 500 g beef, 500 g young white cabbage, 4 tbsp. l. vegetable oil, 2 medium-sized carrots, 1 medium-sized onion, 500 ml drinking water, 4 tbsp. l. sour cream, salt to taste.
Instructions. Grind the pork and beef through a meat grinder and mix. Pour boiling water over the cabbage leaves and, if necessary, beat off the protruding part with a tablespoon. Wrap 100 g of minced meat in each sheet, brush with oil and fry on a grill or frying pan on both sides. Grate the carrots and fry with vegetable oil, add finely chopped onion, season with salt, add sour cream and bring to a boil, cook a little. Place the cabbage rolls on a baking sheet, pour in sour cream sauce and place in the oven for 10 minutes at 180°C.
Tolma in grape leaves
Mamiya Jojua, chef of the Kazbek restaurant:
“Pickled leaves for tolma are very easy to make at home yourself. Take 1 kg of grape, currant, nettle or fig leaves, rinse, place in a glass jar, add 2 liters of water with 3 tablespoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of vinegar dissolved, add 1-2 bay leaves and cover tightly. Leave at room temperature for 3-4 days. During this time, the leaves will be marinated and will be ready for tolma.”
Ingredients (8-10 servings): 500 g beef brisket, 500 g pork belly, 200 g onions, 60 g cilantro, 60 g red basil, 10 g dill, 10 g tarragon, 50 pcs. pickled grape leaves, salt to taste, matsoni for serving.
Instructions. Scroll the meat through a fine mesh meat grinder. Finely chop the onion and greens, add to the minced meat and mix everything. Add spices to taste. Divide the minced meat into cutlets of 30 g each. Wrap each cutlet in a pickled grape leaf, place the envelopes in a saucepan, pressing them tightly together, in several layers, add water and cook for 30 minutes over low heat under the lid. Serve with matsoni.
Lenten green cabbage roll with quinoa in savoy cabbage leaves
Elena Savchuk, restaurant chefLavkaLavka:
“Quinoa or quinoa, as it has long been called in Russia, is one of the five healthiest foods in the world. It is an excellent source of vegetable protein, fiber, macro- and microelements. Our lean green cabbage roll will be tasty and healthy!”
Ingredients (for 1 serving): 100 g lebela seeds (quinoa), 100 g celery stalk, 100 g carrots, 100 g leeks, 2-3 leaves of savoy cabbage, vegetable oil for frying, sunflower seeds and salt to taste. For the sauce: 300 g soft tofu, 100 g fresh parsley, 50 g fresh sorrel, 1 clove garlic, salt to taste.
Instructions. For the sauce: squeeze the juice out of 50 g of parsley (about 10 ml), mix in a blender with all the other ingredients, then rub the mixture through a sieve. Cut the carrots, celery, and onion into small cubes and fry until half cooked. Boil quinoa (quinoa) seeds in 200ml water for a maximum of 15 minutes. Wash the cabbage leaves and scald them with boiling water for 2 minutes. Wrap the filling in cabbage leaves into a ball shape. Wrap the cabbage roll in cling film and cook in the film for 7 minutes in boiling water. Remove the film. When serving, pour the sauce over the plate, place the cabbage roll in the center and garnish with your favorite herbs.
Dolma with pearl barley and turkey breast in blackcurrant leaves
Izo Dzandzawa, chef of the Elardzhi restaurant:
“If you don’t have experience making dolma, I’ll give you a couple of tips. First, beat the veins on each sheet well with a tablespoon so that they become perfectly flat. Secondly, before placing the finished “envelopes” in a pan, line its bottom with grape or cabbage leaves so that your dolma does not burn when it simmers on the fire. Thirdly, cover the layers of dolma with a flat plate on top, and place a weight (a jar or bottle of water) on it - the “envelopes” will not lose their shape.”
Ingredients (for 4 servings): 200 g pickled currant (or grape) leaves, 100 g pearl barley, 200 g turkey fillet, 1 onion, 1 egg white, 1 tbsp. l. tomato paste, 4 sprigs of basil, 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil, salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions. Soak the barley overnight, and then boil until the grains open but remain damp, rinse under cold water. Cut the turkey fillet and fry with chopped onion in oil. Cool, mix with pearl barley, egg white, tomato paste and finely chopped herbs. Salt and pepper to taste. Boil the pickled currant or grape leaves for 4-5 minutes, cool, beat off the veins with a spoon, wrap the minced meat in them and place in a greased form. Sprinkle with oil and bake for 20 minutes in the oven at 180°C.
Stuffed cabbage rolls with wild rice in Chinese cabbage leaves
Alexey Semenov, chef of the Moscafe restaurant:
“If you are used to making cabbage rolls only with regular white rice, then try experimenting with other varieties: brown, red or, as in our case, wild black. Or even with other cereals: corn, buckwheat, pearl barley, millet. The result will be a hearty and very original dish!”
Ingredients (for 10 servings): 1 head of Chinese cabbage, 100 g wild rice, 4 tbsp. l. vegetable oil, 2 cloves of garlic, 200 g of tomatoes, 100 g of carrots, 100 g of onions, 100 g of bell pepper, 200 g of zucchini and zucchini, 100 g of celery stalk, 50 g of oyster mushrooms, 300 ml of pureed tomatoes in their own juice, salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions. Boil the rice until done. Finely chop the prepared vegetables and mushrooms. Then fry them in oil with the addition of chopped garlic until half cooked. Add rice and half the pureed tomatoes to the vegetables. Simmer over low heat until vegetables and rice are cooked. Salt and pepper to taste. Place the Chinese cabbage in boiling water for a couple of seconds, then beat off the stem of each leaf with the back of a knife. Wrap the filling in each sheet, roll it into an envelope, put it in a baking dish, pour in the remaining pureed tomatoes and cook for 7-8 minutes in the oven at 180°C.
