Stuffed Cabbage Rolls in Beef Gravy

I love stuffed cabbage but I'm not always in the mood for tomato sauce so this is a great alternative. These are quite simple to make too.

 The recipe:

• 1 medium to large head green cabbage (about 3 lb)
• 1 lb ground lean beef
• 1 lb ground pork
• 2 eggs
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• ½ cup bread crumbs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Montreal steak spice
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• ½ tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
•  1/4 tsp. dried rosemary
• 
  
• about 2 Tbsp oil and 2 Tbsp butter
• about 2 cups beef broth
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• about 1 - 2 Tbsp cornstarch

Instructions:

• Prepare cabbage head by removing the stalk. Cook head in a large pot of boiling, salted water for about 10 minutes until the leaves loosen. Remove leaves.Slice remaining cabbage and add to the pot with the rolls.  Hey, extra cabbage!
• Prepare meat mixture by mixing together the beef, pork, eggs, onion, bread crumbs and remaining seasoning.
• Put about 1 heaping Tbsp meat mixture on end of cabbage leaf. Roll up tightly, tucking in sides. Fasten with a wooden toothpick.
• In a large saucepan, over high heat, add oil and butter. In batches, carefully brown cabbage rolls on all sides. When all have been browned, return all cabbage rolls to pan and add beef broth and bouillon so that the liquid almost covers the rolls.
• Simmer gently for about 1 hour.
• Carefully remove cabbage rolls on to a platter, removing the toothpicks. Keep rolls warm while you make the gravy.
• Mix corn starch with a bit of cold water. Add as much as needed to the liquid in the saucepan until it is the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper if needed. Taste first because the bouillon adds salt.
• Serve cabbage rolls with potatoes (boiled or mashed) or noodles.

 I cut the core out of the cabbage and plop the head in a deep pot and let it simmer while I prepare the filling.

 Weave the toothpicks in and out of the cabbage.

 Fill the 'pocket' end of the cabbage with the filling and then fold the edges in and roll to the opposite end.

 Once I've rolled the cabbage, I flatten the roll a bit as I weave the toothpick through it.  (Click on any pic for a closer look.)

 You can start to brown the rolls as you roll the rest of them.  I cook these over medium heat and let them brown gradually.

 Mmmmm.....the browning adds a lot of flavor to the cabbage.

 I divided these to give them away. This recipe made about 24 rolls.  You can freeze them too.

 You can see the extra cabbage to the pot while the rolls are cooking.  It's so good!

 I didn't make the gravy very thick.  You can make it as thick or thin as you like by how much cornstarch you use.  Remember that cornstarch gravies thicken as they cool.  You don't want it to be too thick.

I served mine with mashed potatoes but it would work well with egg noodles or even rice. I might make an Asian version of these to serve with rice.  I think that would be very good too.