Cabbage Crown

Submitted by twissis

"I'm really into crockpot cooking these days & am trying to expand my crockpot horizons. I haven't made this yet, but this is from "Extra Special Crockery Pot Recipes" & sounds like such a spectacular idea that I couldn't wait to share. Don't be intimidated by what may appear to be complex directions. My feeling is this is a lot easier than it sounds at 1st glance. NOTE: The ingredients & prep of this recipe have been amended to enhance the flavor & texture of the meat filling."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Yields: 6 Wedges
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1⁄2 cup seasoned stuffing mix (Pepperidge Farm, crushed well)
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 egg
• 1⁄2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons onions (grated)
• 1 large cabbage
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves

directions

1. Put ground beef, flour, dressing mix, salt, pepper & egg in a large bowl & combine well.
2. Gradually add milk, 1 tbsp at a time, till mixture appears smooth & well-compacted.
3. Stir onion in, mix well & set aside.
4. Trim off outside leaves of cabbage. Cut off a slice about an inch thick from core end & set aside.
5. Cut core from cabbage with a sharp knife & then hollow out cabbage to make a shell about 1/2 in thick. (Chop cut out pieces coarsley & save for use another day).
6. Spoon meat mixture into shell. Fit cut slice back into place & tie tightly with soft kitchen string.
7. Place stuffed cabbage (core end down) in crockpot & add boiling water + 1 teaspoon whole cloves to the bottom of the crockpot.
8. Cook on low for 8 hrs, on high for 4 hrs or till cabbage is tender. Remove cabbage & keep warm. Remove & discard whole cloves.
9. GRAVY: Set heat control on high. Combine 3 tbsp flour & 1/3 cup cold water in a cup. Pour into liquid in slow cooker. Cover & cook 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt & pepper & darken with a few drops of bottled gravy coloring as desired.
10. TO SERVE: Place stuffed cabbage on a heated serving platter, remove string, cut cabbage carefully into 6 wedges & spoon gravy over the wedges. Serve immediately.

Reviews

[puppitypup]

LOVED IT, LOVED IT, LOVED IT! THIS IS PURE COMFORT FOOD! Served for company last night and it did me proud. Turns out I was all out of whole cloves so I used whole allspice instead and I added a small can of tomato sauce. Edited to say that OF THE 350 RECIPES I REVIEWED IN 2008, THIS HAS GONE INTO MY TOP 20 FAVORITES COOKBOOK.

 

[Happy Harry 2]

Towards the end of April,'06, I said I love this recipe from years ago, and I did. This recipe is exactly how I prepared the cabbage, but I didn't remember the seasons, and I knew this would be bland. This is what I did, added to meat mixture: 1/4 tsp fennel seed(sorta crushed), 2 cloves of finely minced garlic, and 1 tsp apple cider vinegar. My cabbage was actually too big to have been taken out of the crockpot without causing a mess so I cooked it on the stovetop. Sauce: I lined my pot with thick-sliced white onions, made a thin liquid of tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, salt and water. Brought this to a boil, turned down to simmer, then put the cabbage in. Covered and simmered about 60 minutes. Removed the cabbage and onions, made the gravy and served slices topped with the onions & gravy.(added more tomato paste, milk and pepper to make more gravy. The gravy was also wonderful over the mashed potatoes. Also made stringbeans with a fennel-flavored butter. Okay, I know that I made a lot of changes, but in my first review, I said that I would be doing that. Do try this...it is very tasty and something very different in presentation. My thanks to twissis for bring an old favorite "back to the future".

 

[Chef Mommie]

This is a very bland dish, which is not a bad thing. Though I can live with the blandness, I had a hard time with the meat texture from the mixing. Just a head thing I guess. I was able to use all the cabbage that I scraped out to make coleslaw. It was a neat thing to make and I liked the presentation for it's uniqueness, but I don't think I will be having this again. I made this recipe for PAC Spring '06.