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Ukrainian Famous Recipes
Cabbage Rolls
By Oksana Vitruk
Copyright 2013 by Oksana Vitruk. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this publication may be replicated, redistributed, or given away in any form without the prior written consent of the author/publisher or the terms relayed to you herein.
Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................... 3
Ingredients: ............................................................................................................ 4
Directions: .............................................................................................................. 5
Cabbage Preparation ......................................................................................... 5
Rice Preparation .............................................................................................. 14
Onion and Carrots ............................................................................................ 15
Stuffing Preparation ......................................................................................... 17
Halves leaves: ............................................................................................... 19
Whole leaves: ............................................................................................... 22
Preparing to Cook ............................................................................................ 26
Option 1: ...................................................................................................... 26
Option 2: ...................................................................................................... 30
Wrap-up: Brief Directions ................................................................................... 35
Bonus Recipe: Lazy Cabbage Rolls ....................................................................... 39
About the author: ................................................................................................ 40
My other recipe books: ........................................................................................ 41
Introduction
Cabbage rolls are popular in many countries around the world.
It is one of the most favorite meals in Ukraine for holidays and
other events. Preparation of this delicious food requires some
time but it definitely worth it.
As many other popular recipes, this one is also made in
different variations. In this book you'll find step-by-step
instructions on how to prepare and make this wonderful meal
the way I like to do it myself.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Ground meat - 1 lb (450 g) - pork is my favorite
Cabbage - 1 medium size
Carrots - 3 medium size
Onion - 1 medium or large size
White rice - 2 cups
Olive oil or coconut oil - 4+ tbsp for sautéing
Olive oil or vegetable oil - 2+ tbsp for rice cooking
Butter - 1 tbsp
Sour cream - 1 ½ tbsp plus for serving
Mayonnaise - 1 ½ tbsp
Sea salt - 1 tsp for rice cooking
Sea salt - ½ tbsp for stuffing
Ground pepper - ½ tsp
Adobo Goya seasoning (or similar) - ½ tsp (optional)
Bay leaves
Whipping cream (liquid, also called heavy cream) - 1 cup
Directions:
Cabbage Preparation
Choose the cabbage that the leaves would be easy to detach.
Note: not all kinds of cabbage are good for this recipe.
Remove and discard the top dark-green leaves. If you are
going to use the option 1 in this cookbook, you may keep these
outer leaves and cook them as well.
Put the cabbage into a pot of water, stem down, bring to boil.
After water is boiling, cook for about 5 minutes on medium
heat.
During the cooking you may adjust the heat from lower to
higher. If making double size recipe, and cooking more than
one cabbage, you may need to add water during the cooking.
Rotate stem up and continue cooking on a medium heat.
Grab the stem with the tongs for easier hold. If no tongs, use
a fork. Cut around the stem to pull off the leaves.
The upper leaves are cooked quicker comparing to the inner
leaves.
Pull apart the leaves one by one, cook for a few minutes until
they are soft. Do not overcook; otherwise they will tear easily
when making rolls.
One-by-one remove the cooked leaves to the bowl or platter.
Let them cool down.
Cut off the thick stem part of each leaf.
Cut the bigger leaves into two halves.
Leave the smaller leaves whole as is.
Rice Preparation
Rinse the rice with water until the water is clear.
Cook 2 cups of rice with 4 cups of water, 2 or more tbsp olive
or vegetable oil, and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil, cook on the low
heat for 15-20 minutes.
Onion and Carrots
Peel the onion and carrots.
Grate the carrots and chop the onion, if doing it manually.
Or grate both in a blender if you have one.
On medium heat add the coconut or olive oil and the butter
into the frying pan. Add grated carrot and onion in it and
sauté for a few minutes, mixing with a wooden spatula. After
the mix is soft, add mayonnaise and sour cream, and mix
again. Sauté for another few minutes.
You may add 1 tbsp of tomato sauce or ketchup into this mix,
if desired.
Stuffing Preparation
In a big bowl combine the rice, ground meat, and ½ of the
carrot-onion mixture.
Add ½ tbsp salt, pepper, Adobo Goya seasoning or similar.
Mix everything well. Check for taste, add more salt and
pepper if desired.
Making Cabbage Rolls
Halves leaves:
Put about 1 tbsp or less of stuffing, depending on the size of
the leave, into the half-leaf. Start wrapping as shown on the
next pictures.
Whole leaves:
Put about 1 tbsp of stuffing into the whole leaf, start wrapping.
Begin with the thicker side (where the stem part was removed
earlier).
Preparing to Cook
Option 1:
If using a stainless steel cooking pot, I put one or two darker
outer green leaves (or the smallest from inside) on the bottom.
This step is optional, but sometimes it may prevent the
cabbage rolls from burning, if there is too much heat. This
shouldn't happen for experienced cooks, but I do this just in
case. Years ago, when the ovens were not available in every
house in my country, women cooked the cabbage rolls on a
kitchen range top. In this way putting extra leaves on the
bottom was necessary, to prevent burning the cabbage rolls.
Lay down the cabbage rolls by layers, adding one or two bay
leaves between each layer. I usually don't add a bay leave on
the top, only between layers.
Pour and spread the second half of the onion-carrot mix on the
top of the cabbage rolls.
I do not add any water if I cook it in the oven.
Years before, when I had to cook it on a kitchen range top, I
always added a little amount of water to cover the bottom of
the cooking pot to keep the cabbage rolls juicy.
In the oven, cabbage rolls will make some juice by themselves.
On top of the range the juice evaporates during cooking, that's
why I had to add water.
Cover with a lid.
Put into the preheated oven at 350 degrees F for about 1½
hours or until it's ready.
About 20-30 minutes before it is finished, take the lid off, and
keep it off until the end of the cooking time.
Option 2:
Put cabbage rolls into a ceramic or glass dish, adding few bay
leaves between layers.
Take the remaining second half of the onion-carrot mixture.
Pour ½ - 1 cup of whipping cream, turn on the heat, mix for a
few minutes.
Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls.
Cover with a lid.
Put into the preheated oven at 350 degrees F for about 1 ½
hours or until it's ready.
Serve cabbage rolls hot with sour cream. Sprinkle salt if desired.
Enjoy Your Meal!
Bon Appetite!
Wrap-up: Brief Directions
Cabbage Preparation:
Choose the cabbage that the leaves would be easy to
detach.
Remove and discard the top dark-green leaves.
Put the cabbage into a pot of water, stem down, bring it
to boil. After water is boiling, cook for about 5 minutes
on medium heat.
During the cooking you may adjust the heat from lower
to higher. If making double size recipe, and cooking
more than one cabbage, you may need to add water
during the cooking.
Rotate stem up and continue cooking on a medium
heat.
Grab the stem with the tongs for easier hold. If no
tongs, use a fork. Cut around the stem to pull off the
leaves.
Pull apart the leaves one by one, cook for a few minutes
until they are soft. Do not overcook, otherwise they will
tear easily when making rolls.
One-by-one remove the cooked leaves to the bowl or
platter.
Let them cool down.
Cut off the thick stem part of each leaf.
Cut the bigger leaves into two halves.
Leave the smaller leaves whole as is.
Rice Preparation:
Rinse the rice with water until the water is clear.
Cook 2 cups of rice with 4 cups of water, 2+ tbsp olive or
vegetable oil, and 1 tsp salt. Bring to boil, cook on the
low heat for 15-20 minutes.
Onion and Carrots:
Peel off the onion and carrots.
Grate the carrots and chop the onion, if doing it
manually. Or grate both in a blender if you have one.
On medium heat add the coconut or olive oil and the
butter into the frying pan. Add grated carrot and onion
in it and sauté for few minutes, mixing with a wooden
spatula. After the mix is soft, add mayonnaise and sour
cream, mix again. Sauté for another few minutes.
You may add 1 tbsp of tomato sauce or ketchup into this
mix, if desired.
Stuffing Preparation:
In the big bowl combine the rice, ground meat, and ½ of
the carrot-onion mixture.
Add ½ tbsp salt, pepper, Adobo Goya seasoning or
similar.
Mix everything well. Check for taste, add more salt and
pepper if desired.
Making Cabbage Rolls:
Halves leaves:
Put about 1 tbsp or less or stuffing, depend of the size of
the leave, into the half-leaf. Start wrapping as was
shown on the pictures above.
Whole leaves:
Put about 1 tbsp of stuffing into the whole leaf, start
wrapping. Begin with the thicker side (where the stem
part was removed earlier).
Preparing to Cook
Option 1:
If using a stainless steel cooking pot, I put one or two
darker outer green leaves (or the smallest from inside)
on the bottom. This is optional.
Lay down the cabbage rolls by layers, adding one or two
bay leaves between each layer.
Pour and spread the second half of the onion-carrot mix
on the top of the cabbage rolls. I do not add any water if
I cook it in the oven.
Cover with a lid.
Put into the preheated oven 350 degrees F for about 1½
hours or until it's ready.
About 20-30 minutes before it is finished, take the lid
off, and keep it off until the end of the cooking time.
Option 2:
Put cabbage rolls into a glass dish (or ceramic), adding
few bay leaves between layers.
Take the remaining second half of the onion-carrot mix.
Pour 1 cup of whipping cream, turn on the heat, mix for
a few minutes.
Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls.
Cover with a lid.
Put into the preheated oven at 350 degrees F for about
1½ hours or until it's ready.
Serve cabbage rolls hot with sour cream.
Sprinkle salt if desired.
Enjoy Your Meal!
Bon Appetite!
Bonus Recipe: Lazy Cabbage Rolls
If your cabbage leaves came out overcooked, don't worry, you can still use them for a different variation of this recipe. It's called Lazy Cabbage Rolls.
To get it free go to my website http://ukrainianfoodrecipes.com/lazy-cabbage-rolls-golubtsi
About the author:
Being born and grown up in Ukraine, I've
learned lots of best recipes from my
grandmother, mother and other women.
Interestingly, most of those recipes have
never been written in cookbooks for many
years. Meals were prepared from memory.
Women learned recipes from word of mouth. Yet, those meals
were so delicious, and became famous in Ukraine and other
countries.
With growing own natural and organic gardens, preparing
meals with home-grown vegetables and greens, it was much
easier to prepare healthy food, without even worrying to get
overweight or get other health problems from use of chemical
additions that we can find plenty these days.
Home cooking is a huge part of Ukrainian culture and life style.
And because of that, most women there are very good cooks.
Now, living in the United States, I continue cooking at home
and teaching my children many delicious recipes.
I'm also glad to share my recipes with my new American
friends who have open hearts for the Ukrainian orphans,
hosting them during summer and winter vacations, and
adopting some of those precious kids.
My other recipe books:
Get my Stewed Cabbage recipe here.
Get my Red Borsch (soup) recipe here
Get my Potato Salad recipe here
Get my "Shuba" Salad recipe here
More recipes are coming soon. To get updates, please sign up
on my website page - ukrainianfoodrecipes.com.
If you enjoyed this book, please click here and leave your
honest review.
Thank You!
