Greek Stuffed Cabbage Rolls -Lahanodomathes

Lahanodolmathes:  Greek Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

I was not planning on making these today but it seems I broke my cardinal rule and ran out of one of my main pantry items, which I should NEVER not have on hand!  Canned tomatoes!  If it were summer, I would be able to rely on fresh tomatoes, but alas it is very early spring and fresh tomatoes just are not worth buying now!

So the planned spaghetti sauce with ground meat and tomatoes was out and plan B had to be hatched. I had in the refrigerator left over head of cabbage (from my corned beef and cabbage made for St. Patty’s day) and Greek stuffed cabbage rolls came to mind.

Created mostly in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, they are rolls made of cabbage and stuffed with various meats, vegetables and grains like rice and barley and boiled, baked or stemmed.  . Cabbage rolls come in various styles and tastes depending on the spices used and ingredients and my favorite is the Greek style or Lahanodolmathes!

These are very easy to make and if making them for a large group you need a little extra time to roll them all. Otherwise it is a simple meal and very tasty.  The key for mine is the DILL.

•1 pound of ground beef
• About 8 large cabbage leaves
•1 egg
•1/2 cups rice
• 4 tablespoon chopped Dill
• 2 teaspoon salt
 1 teaspoon minced garlic
•freshly ground black pepper (I always like allot)
•1 small onion, finely chopped
•1 teaspoon olive oil

FOR POT

Gr Beef, rice, egg, onion, basil,, garlic, salt/pepper

•1/2 onion chopped in 3 pieces. 1 carrot chopped in three pieces and 4 leaves of broken pieces of cabbage unable to be used in rolls
•water to just cover the rolls

Outer leaves of Cabbage

Boil a large pot of water and place the cabbage large leaves in for about 3-4 minutes until soft enough to roll and yet not break apart.

Combine all ingredients up to the ½ onion, carrot and cabbage pieces.  Mix well and use the tools given to you – your HANDS! So mixture is soft and all is incorporated well.  Roll into a ball about the size of a golf ball and smooth out into a log shape. Lay out the cabbage leaf and place the log in the middle.  Fold the two outer sizes in to over-lap the edge of the meat log. Roll cabbage leaf length-wise until the end.  In large pan lay the rolls seamed down tightly next to each other.

Place an inverted plate on top of rolls. Cover with water and bring to a boil and then turn heat down to a simmer and cook on low for about one hour.  Remove plate and place rolls on plate and serve with Avgolemonono Sauce 

AVGOLEMONO EGG-LEMON Sauce:

3 egg yolks
 1/3 cup lemon juice

 1 cup hot cabbage broth

Whisk the yolks and slowly add the lemon juice.  Keep whisking and add slowly (not to cook eggs) the broth. 

TIPS:

To make is easy to get the large leaves off the cabbage head in tack, stab the middle of the cabbage with a long tonged fork.  Lower into boiling water and simmer a few minutes Remove the outer leaves as they become tender and repeat the same action to get the leaves off easily.

The Sauce is excellent on chicken breasts and stuffed grape leaves.

When placing a plate on the pot (inverted) please make sure there is room around the edges so it does not get suctioned down and then it becomes almost impossible to get off.  ((Believe me it was a terrible experience!)

As always be your own Creative Dump Cook and change this recipe to what YOU have on hand

BOILED CORNED BEEF DINNER

In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day and the big sale on corned beef brisket, I am making a boiled corned beef dinner.

Simple and easy, it is a meal all in one!  The corned beef brisket comes in a package with a spice package included. I like to “spice it up” a bit more and then add the traditional vegetables.

I corned beef brisket (with spice pack inside) about 2 ½ pounds

3 white potatoes peeled and cut in 1/4ths

15 baby carrots

½ head of cabbage in chunks

1 onion cut in 1/4ths

1 bay leaf

6 whole cloves

1/8 teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon garlic powder

Ground pepper and salt to taste

water to cover meat by about 1 inch

Place all in a large stew pot and bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 3 hours until the brisket meat is tender to the pull.

TIPS:

Serve in a bowl with juice from the pan poured over all
Remember to take the bay leaf out!
Leftover beef makes an amazing sandwich sliced thinly and piled on rye bread with Russian dressing and coleslaw..YUM!.

Breakfast Smoothies

A smoothie,  or smoothy, is a blended beverage made with fruit and juice. Usually fresh fruit is best but frozen fruit can also be substituted.   In addition to fruit, many smoothies include ice, vegetables, milk, honey , peanut butter, ginger and yogurt. They are very filling, full of nutrients and vitamins and are a good healthy way to start a day. Blended in a blender they become thick and smooth as the name implies.

This one was taught to me by my daughter and is the staple "smoothie"in our house.

2 cups spinach
1/2 cup lettuce
1/8 teaspoons chopped ginger
3 cups juice of choice
1 green apple skinned and chopped roughly
1/2 avocado

Place all in a blender and blend away!

My husband likes banana in his, so I add a few frozen pieces of banana.

TIP:
Banana Ice
  Slice bananas and place on cookie sheet.  Freeze until hard and place in a zip lock baggy and refreeze.  Once ready to use take out what portion you need and keep the rest in the freezer. 

Add to baggy and refreeze

Using frozen Bananas slices instead of ice makes for a tastier smoothie.

 As always be your own Creative Dump Cook and change this recipe to what YOU have on hand

Baked Fresh Trout

Baked fresh whole trout

2 whole rainbow trout fish (about 1 pound each)

2 lemons

$ large sprigs fresh dill chopped

Sea salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

1/2 cup white wine optional

Preheat oven to 475 F ( if you wish to place the fish on a rack it will yield a crispier skin.)

Rinse the fish under cold water and pat dry. I took off the head (cutting behind the gills straight down) but you can leave the head on for a nicer table side presentation. .  I was multi tasking and used the head and some scallions ends and shrimp shells in the water to make a fish broth.

Slice one of the lemons in half and the other into rounds thinly.

Lightly sprinkle the cavities of the fish with salt,  pepper, and chopped fresh dill.and  then place half of the lemon slices inside on top of the salted/peppered cavity.

 Optional: pour white wine around fish.

Place on rack in the prepared pan. Sprinkle lightly with olive oil.  Spread dill sprigs over the skin and top with remaining lemon slices. Sprinkle lightly with paprika. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 375 degrees. 

TIPS:
Garnish with remaining lemon, cut into wedges, and a dill sprig.
If you roll the lemons first before cutting them they will produce more juice.
Leave heads on the fish ifyou are presenting  the whole fish on platter to guests.

 As always be your own Creative Dump Cook and change this recipe to what YOU have on hand