Julia Child Cabbage Stuffed With Leftover Turkey and Sausage

DIRECTIONS

• Special equipment: oven-safe large 2 1/2 or 3 quart round-bottomed bowl.
• Two days prior to making the dish: remove the core from the cabbage, wrap the head tightly in plastic, and place it in the freezer; the day you're going to make the dish thaw the frozen head in hot water and the leaves will easily peel off.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a pot, boil some water; blanch the slices of salt pork by immersing them in the boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes, then rinse them in cold water to halt the cooking and pat them dry.
• In a skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of butter with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sauté the minced onions until tender, about 7 minutes.
• Take 3/4 of the cooked onions and set aside for stuffing; take the remaining cooked onions and set them aside for the sauce.
• Using 1 tablespoon of olive oil, in a small pan over medium heat lightly brown the carrot and thinly sliced onion, about 5 minutes.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the ground cooked turkey, sausage, eggs, cloves, salt, pepper, thyme, allspice, and the cooked onions reserved for the stuffing, and mix well; add 5 tablespoons (or more, to moisten enough so that the stuffing will adhere to cabbage leaves- see steps below) of the stock and mix.
• Take the large oven-safe round-bottomed bowl and line the bottom of it with half of the blanched salt pork strips, then lay half of the sliced carrots and onions on top.
• Take the peeled cabbage leaves and select the largest and best to line the bottom (covering the pork, carrots, and onion) and sides of the bowl- place the leaves with the ends down and the stem-side up.
• Spread a layer of the stuffing mixture, about 1/2-inch thick, on the bottom and sides of the bowl (which are now covered with the cabbage leaves), then press some smaller cabbage leaves on top of the stuffing.
• Repeat the process until the bowl is filled to within 1/2-inch of the top, occasionally slipping a large green leaf down the sides of the bowl, if necessary, to be sure that no gaps appear between the leaves.
• Cover with a final layer of cabbage leaves and the remaining pork and carrot/onion mixture, then pour in enough beef stock to come within 1 inch of the bowl rim.
• Place the bowl on a pan (to catch drippings) and place in the lower-middle section of the preheated oven; cook for 30 minutes- the cabbage should simmer.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours; it is done when you place a thermometer into the thickest part of the bowl and the temperature reads 165 degrees F.
• Check it occasionally as it bakes- you want to keep the cabbage at a slow simmer, and you might need to add additional stock if too much evaporates.
• When the cabbage is almost done and there's only about 15 minutes left for it to bake, prepare the sauce: over medium heat in a saucepan, stir together the tomato and the remaining cooked minced onion, and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Remove the cabbage from the oven, remove the pork, carrot, and onion from the top layer, and drain off 1 cup of the liquid from the bowl; add the liquid to the tomato mixture and simmer an additional 5 minutes.
• Place a warm serving dish upside-down over the bowl and, while holding the dish in place, carefully un-mold the cabbage by turning bowl and dish over.
• Remove the pork, carrot, and onion mixture from where it was on the bottom of the bowl (which is now the top of the mold).
• In a saute pan, brown the pork strips.
• To serve, pour the tomato sauce around the base of the molded cabbage and garnish with the browned pork strips.