Cabbage Rolls
Growing up we ate Swedish cabbage rolls. We were not Swedish but my mother grew up in Wisconsin as an ethnic German. At some point her grand-father (who was a minister) had a falling out with the Germany Lutheran Church and they began going to a Norwegian/Swedish Lutheran Church. Interestingly enough, several of her “go-to” recipes are actually Scandinavian. At any rate, we ate cabbage rolls. This is particularly ironic as my Ancestry DNA test reveals that genetically we are also Scandinavian. I guess those Vikings were busy helping to populate the northern coast of Germany where my ancestors were born.
I don’t think that at the time I had any appreciation for the amount of work they were and how good my mom’s recipe really was. I have since made them several times and know that they are not hugely time consuming but do take some work. Hint: Don’t use the really tough leaves.
As part of my 1000 Foods to Eat Before you Die quest, I followed instructions and took myself to Milton’s for another version of Cabbage rolls where the tomato sauce is sweet and raisin are added for additional sweetness. I do not want to disparage Milton’s as I do like many of the products they produce (I need to write something about their Hamentaschen and their chicken soup) but I am not a fan of the sweet cabbage rolls. Sorry, mom wins this battle, Milton’s.
Swedish Kaldomar (Cabbage Rolls)
Ingredients:
1 large head of cabbage
1 pound lean ground beef
½ pound lean ground pork
1 egg
¼ cup dry breadcrumbs
1 small onion, finely chopped
1-teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
At least 2 tablespoons drippings
1 cup cooked rice
Preparation:
Cut a deep incision around the stem of the cabbage. Place it stem end down in boiling water for 5 minutes, until wilted enough to remove the leaves. Remove the leave, return to the boiling water and cook until the leaves become transparent and pliable. Drain and lay on a cloth to dry. Combine the meat and other ingredients, forming into oval shapes. Wrap each oval with a cabbage leaf, fastening with string. Place in a Dutch oven with hot drippings. Brown, turning carefully. Add 1-cup water or stock and cook in a 350-degree oven for an hour, turning once or twice while cooking.
So I am not really certain why samosas can make the list of dumplings but cabbage rolls can’t so I am going to include this in the dumpling section anyway…
