Possible Allergy warning – please read all recipes carefully
and be aware of any allergies or sensitivities that may affect your health and well-being
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Please Fave the original Here
And to go with the potatoes, this other gem from !
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A co-worker at Vrghr's office is having a birthday this month, so wuff wanted to create his requested dish for a Birthday Shop Meal. His request? Krautwickel!!
Vrghr had never heard of the word, let alone how to create it. So wuffy went on an internet hunting session, and discovered that there are DOZENS of different variations of this dish! Every household and grandma seems to have their own version. To complicate things further, there's another German dish that seems to be nearly identical in creation, but with a different name: Kohlroulade (or cabbage roll).
After some consultation with the birthday boy, wuff put together this recipe to try to re-create the flavors he recalled from his happy tour of Germany.
Because this is an office meal, Vrghr had to adopt this technique to the appliances available at the shop. You can fry the rolls on a stovetop instead of the electric skilled Vrghr used. And you can finish them in a casserole dish in a 325F oven, covered with foil, instead of the crock pot wuff used.
But this will work just fine at home too, and is especially nice if you don't want to heat up the house with the oven. The crock pot also creates a DELICIOUS broth, which makes a really wonderful sauce for the rolls. Wuff does recommend it.
Note – this recipe DOES take a bit of time and effort to create. It's not hard, but does have several "working stages". Wuff strongly recommends creating the rolls a day or even 2 in advance, and then doing the frying and braising on "cook day" to spread out the effort.
So, here is Vrghr's interpretation of the German "Krautwickel" cabbage rolls. The selection of spices, especially the caraway, and the lack of the slightly sweet tomato sauce, separates these from the more common American cabbage rolls you may be familiar with.
Give them a try! They really are delicious!
TIPS:
- When mixing the meat and other ingredients, don't over-work the mixture. Too much handling will start melting the fat and also compress things, making the rolls denser. Less mixing means a lighter, more tender filling.
- Refrigerate the meat mixture while blanching, separating, and preparing the cabbage leaves. The chilled mix is less sticky and easier to handle when forming into the rolls.
- Refrigerating the rolls until ready to fry means they tend to stay formed up better. If you find your rolls are unrolling, just secure them with a loop of butcher's twine.
- You can create the rolls the night before. Put them up in a zip bag or wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to fry (The rolls do take some time to create, so this means quicker prep and ready to eat on cooking day)
- When frying, use a medium high heat - - you're just trying to get some color and surface sear on the cabbage, not cook the rolls all the way through.
- Vrghr used "Better than Bullion" stock concentrate for his broth. You can use home made stock or canned/store bought, but the concentrate let wuff add a bit more flavor with a little more concentrate base, for more tasty results.
- If you don't have mushroom stock base, you can mince up some fresh mushrooms in with the carrots and onions when you saute them, or just skip the mushrooms entirely. But the mushrooms add some nice umami foundation to the flavor.
(Makes 10-12 servings)
INGREDIENTS:
For the Rolls
1-2 Large heads Cabbage
1 lb "90/10" to "93/7" lean hamburger
1 lb ground Pork
1 ½ C plain Bread Crumbs
3 Eggs
1 medium White Onion, minced in food processor
3 Carrots, peeled and minced in food processor
2 TBS minced Garlic
2 tsp Caraway Seeds
2 tsp ground Black Pepper
2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp dried Tarragon
1 tsp dried Marjoram
1 tsp dried Thyme
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Salt
2 TBS Butter
1 TBS Olive Oil
5-8 strips thin slice BACON, chopped
For the Crock Pot
1 Large white onion, chopped fine
2 carrots, chopped fine
2 stalks Celery, chopped fine
2 tsp Better Than Bullion Mushroom Base +
2 tsp Better Than Bullion Roast Beef Base +
5 C Hot Water
~3 TBS Corn Starch + 1 ½ C Cool Water, mixed in slurry
LARGE pot with ~1/2 Gal or more simmering water
Large Colander
Electric Skillet
Crock Pot
Butcher's Twine (Optional)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Prep the veggies for the meat:
Using a food processor or box grater, process the onions and carrots into a light, finely chopped mixture. (If using fresh mushrooms instead of mushroom stock base, chop these in now also)
In a large skillet, melt the butter and olive oil together until shimmering. Add the processed veggies and begin cooking to get them fragrant and softened. Sprinkle with salt and half the ground pepper.
After a minute or so, add the minced garlic (it takes a lot less time – don't want it to brown!). Add the spices to the mixture, except for the Garlic Powder and remaining salt
Cook until the veggies are quite tender and very fragrant
Remove to a small bowl and place in refrigerator to cool (this keeps the heat from melting the fat on the meat when we mix them together later.
Get your Cabbage Leaves ready:
Bring a very large pot with at least ½ gallon or more water to a light simmer
Cut the core out of the head of cabbage with a paring knife. Keep the knife handy to separate the heavy ribs of the leaves from the center later, if necessary
Carefully put the head of cabbage into the simmering water. A large roast/serving fork stabbed deeply into the area of the removed core can make a nice "handle" to do this. Its also handy for controlling the cabbage head when removing leaves later
Let the head of cabbage simmer for a few minutes, then, using a large slotted spoon, fork, or tongs, carefully work away the outer leaves and let them boil in the water a minute or so to soften more
Remove the soft leaves from the water, trying to keep them as intact as possible. Place them in the colander to drain
Continue to separate more of the leaves from the ball of the cabbage as they soften. If necessary, cut the center rib free of the core with the paring knife
The meat will make 12-14 rolls, depending on serving size. But you'll want a few extra leaves "just in case" you damage some during rolling. You may also need to over-lap 2 leaves to cover the meat if the leaf is smaller
When you have enough individual leaves, remove the remaining cabbage from the pot and let it drain back into the water. Cut it up into a fine dice and reserve about 1 ½ cups for the meat mixture. Keep the rest to put in the bottom of the crock pot to add flavor to the broth
Make the Meat Mixture:
Remove the cooked veggies from the refrigerator
In a large bowl, add the hamburger, ground pork, cooked veggies, reserved chopped cabbage, 3 eggs, bread crumbs, remaining salt, garlic powder, and 1 tsp ground Black Pepper. Gently combine all by hand until completely mixed and homogeneous, but try not to squish and squeeze too much or handle too long as it will create a tougher, more solid center for the rolls
If time permits, return the combined meat mixture to the refrigerator for about ½ hour to chill down again (makes forming the rolls a little easier)
Roll up the Krautwickel:
Select a cabbage leaf and lay it out on the work surface. It will naturally tend to curl in the original direction it was on the head. Lay it out so the curl is up, like a little bowl
Place about 5-6 oz of the chilled meat mixture in the middle of the leaf. Using the leaf, gently form the meat into a bit of a cylinder across the width of the leaf, stopping an inch or so from either side
Fold the edges of the leaf in on top of the meat, then bring the top of the leaf down over the meat and tuck it under
Roll the meat encased roll down over the remaining part of the leaf, making sure nothing squirts out either side. Place the completed roll into a 1 Gal zip bag, seam side down. You can use the bag to squeeze it together a bit to compact it, if necessary
Don't worry if the first 1 or 2 don't quite go right – that's why you made extra leaves. By the time you get half way through, you'll be an old hand at rolling up Krautwickel!
You can store these rolls in the refrigerator overnight, or for a couple days, until you are ready to fry and bake/braise them
Cook your Krautwickel:
Chop up the bacon into pretty small pieces. In an electric skillet or very large fry pan, fry the bacon over medium heat until a lot of the fat has rendered out and the bits are just starting to crisp around the edges. Don't fry until completely crisp!
Remove the bacon from the skillet and place in bottom of the crock pot, leaving the bacon grease behind for frying the rolls
Remove the rolls from the refrigerator and pat surface dry if needed. Set heat to medium high, and fry the rolls in batches, being careful not to crowd the pan (which will steam, not fry the rolls)
While the rolls are frying, put the minced onion, carrots, and celery into the bottom of the crock pot. Mix up about 5 Cups very hot water with the concentrate mushroom and beef stock base, and whisk until completely dissolved.
Fry the rolls on each side, turning with a pair of tongs, until all sides have color and the cabbage is tenderized
Place the fried rolls on top of the veggies in the crock pot. Refill the skillet and repeat until all the rolls are fried on all sides and removed to the crock pot
Pour about 2 cups of the broth mixture into the skillet and boil and scrape up all the fond and good flavors in the pan. Pour the pan into the crock pot over the rolls. Add the remaining broth until the rolls are just barely covered. It's okay if a bit peaks out over the top of the liquid
Set the crock pot to "High", cover, and cook until the rolls read 160-165 when measured with instant-read thermometer (about 4 hours on HIGH setting)
Using tongs, CAREFUL (they're Very tender) remove the rolls to a large bowl. Using a slotted spoon, dip out all the veggies from the broth and place the veggies in a heated serving bowl.
Make the sauce:
Carefully pour the remaining broth from the crock pot into a medium sauce pan (Wuff recommends placing the sauce pan in a clean sink to do this). Put the crockery liner back into the pot, and replace the rolls into the crock pot, set on WARM, to keep warmed for serving. Cover with lid to stay moist.
Bring the sauce in the sauce pan to a light boil over medium heat
Stir up the corn starch slurry, and whisk it into the boiling broth. Add about half the slurry and let the sauce boil, whisking, until it returns from milky to clear again. If you want thicker sauce, add more starch slurry and repeat. NOTE – It will thicken a bit more as it cools to serving temperature!
Set temperature to warm for serving
Plating:
Place a small layer of the veggies from the bottom of the crock pot onto the plate. Top with a Krautwickel roll. Spoon some of the sauce over the Krautwickel and veg.
Side with potatoes, spaetzel, egg noodles, etc., and a light salad to counter the richness of the dish.
!DEVOUR!
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