Cabbage Recipes

There is no doubt that the history of cabbage cultivation is centuries or even millenniums old. However, all attempts to study the question deeply have met with some semantic difficulties

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There is no doubt that the history of cabbage cultivation is centuries or even millenniums old. However, all attempts to study the question deeply have met with some semantic difficulties. As a rule, historians do not specify which sort they mean, so it is not quite clear whether ancient Greeks and Romans grew white cabbage, or some kind of collards, or even Chinese lettuce. The white cabbage we are used to have been an important food since early Middle Ages its role increasing over the centuries. The fact proves obvious as you look at the period"s paintings: they often feature tables or baskets with plenty of fruit and vegetables including cabbage of various shapes and sizes. Cabbage stands out in Russian cuisine, as well. You can remember that the favourite snack of all tsars and nobility was sauerkraut. Or think of everybody"s favourite cabbage pies, to say nothing of shchi, solianka and other tasty Russian dishes. Today we are presenting some new tasty dishes with cabbage...

Stuffed Cabbage

1 small cabbage
1 carrot
3 onions
1-2 bay leaves
2-3 cloves
5-8 peppercorns
salt, herbs
Filling:
400g veal
200g veal or pork lard
2-3 slices white bread
1 cup milk
2 eggs
salt, pepper

Boil cabbage until leaves start separating. Take out, drain, and put the filling between leaves without tearing them off. Fix with a thread, put in boiling water, add carrot, sliced onions, cloves, spices and salt, and boil 20-30 min at low heat until the filling is ready. Serve with sour cream or cream and sprinkle with herbs. To make the filling, grind veal with lard, and stir in bread (soaked in milk and pressed out) and whipped eggs. The filling can vary according to your taste.

Cabbage Cutlets

1 plate chopped cabbage
3 tbsp butter
3 slices white bread
1 cup cream
5 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 tbsp butter for frying
salt, herbs

Put chopped cabbage in boiling water for 15 min and stew with butter and water until ready. Combine with bread (soaked in milk and pressed out), sour cream, raw eggs, flour, butter and salt. Form flat patties. Dip them in eggs, coat in breadcrumbs, and fry in butter. Serve with boiled potatoes, boiled eggs, sour cream and herbs. The cutlets can also be made of sauerkraut or cauliflower the latter usually served with mushroom ragout and sour cream.

Russian Cabbage

2.5kg cabbage
3 carrots seeds of dill and caraway
bay leaves
brine

Combine chopped cabbage, grated carrots and spices. Add hot brine (1 litre water, 2 tbsp salt, 180g vinegar (9%), 150g sunflower oil, 1 cup sugar, 1 garlic), cover with a plate and put something heavy on it. The dish is ready to eat as soon as it chills down.

Pickled Cabbage

1.2kg cabbage
1.2L water
3 tbsp sunflower oil
6 tbsp salt
mint (or caraway seeds)
herbs, brown bread

Cut the cabbage into 4-6 parts, add salted boiling water, bread, mint (or caraway seeds), put under pressure, and leave for three days. Then slice and add strained brine and sunflower oil. Serve sprinkled with herbs.

Sauerkraut Salad

400g chopped sauerkraut
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp mustard
2 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp sunflower oil

Rinse cabbage and press out water. Make dressing from 1/2 tsp mustard thoroughly mixed with 1 tbsp sunflower oil, 1 tbsp sugar, and then 2 tbsp vinegar. Stir the dressing in the cabbage and serve.

Cabbage Pudding

1 cabbage
300g ground meat
1 cup ground breadcrumbs, boiled rice or oat flakes
1 onion
2 tbsp lard
salt, ground pepper
2 eggs
100g spick
4 tbsp sour cream

Boil cabbage in salted water and dry it in a colander. Add finely chopped onions, breadcrumbs or boiled rice, salt, pepper and sour cream to ground meat. Brush the baking pan with lard. Put alternating layers of cabbage leaves and forcemeat so that cabbage is both on the bottom and on the top. Add whipped eggs combined with sour cream, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, add thin slices of spick. Roast in the oven.

Pot Cabbage

1kg cabbage
50g onions
100g butter
200g sour cream
salt

Put chopped cabbage in salted boiling water for 10-15 min. Chill it down and drain. Fry finely chopped onions a little in 2 tbsp butter, stir it in the cabbage, add a little broth or water and salt to taste. Roast the mixture in pots. Serve dressed with sour cream.

Moscow Cabbage

1 small cabbage
400g ground meat
1 cup sour cream
1 cup milk
100g butter
3 eggs
2 onions
1/2 cup broth
1 cup breadcrumbs
Sauce:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 cup broth
1/3 cup sour cream
salt to taste

Cut out the stump from the cabbage and boil the cabbage until completely soft. Prepare the filling: fry chopped onions in half the butter, add forcemeat, and fry a little more. Add a half-cup of broth, take off the heat, stir in onions and forcemeat combined with eggs whipped in milk. Put the boiled cabbage in a deep frying pan with the remaining butter. Carefully unbending the leaves put the filling between them. Press the leaves down trying to make the cabbage look as it was. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and roast until brownish. Serve dressed with the prepared sauce. To make the sauce heat flour with butter, gradually stir in hot broth, bring to boil, add salt, and combine with sour cream.

Sauerkraut Shchi

500-600g sauerkraut
carrots
parsley
1 onion
2 tomatoes
1 tbsp wheaten flour
2 tbsp butter
parsley
bay leaves
pepper to taste
1/2 cup sour cream
2L meat stock

Make meat stock. Press out sauerkraut, put in a pan, add a cup of water, and stew 1.5-2 hrs under lid. Towards the end, add onion fried in butter. Put the sauerkraut in the stock and boil 30-40 min until ready. 15 min before the end, add browned flour, bay leaves, and pepper to taste.

Russian Stewed Cabbage

250g cabbage
5g butter or animal margarine
25g pork spick or 35g bacon
10g carrots
20g onions
5g parsley
20g tomato paste
5g vinegar (3%)
2g wheaten flour
10g butter
5g sugar
salt

Stew chopped cabbage until half-ready in water or broth with vinegar, lard, tomato paste and salt stirring it all periodically. Add browned roots, bay leaves and peppercorns. 5 min before the cabbage is ready add browned flour (white sauce), sugar and salt. Serve drizzled with butter and sprinkled with herbs. If spick or bacon is used, boil it and add in the beginning instead of lard.

Bon appetite!