Cooking Classes

7.2.10

Home again...finally!



After 5 days and 3000 miles I am back in Canada.  What a nice feeling to be home!  If it had not been -21C (-5F) I would have bent down and kissed the ground!

Thank you everyone for keeping tabs on me!  I love my blogging friends!  I am so frustrated without reliable internet.   Today I am in Calgary catching up on a few months of mail and errands.  Plus, I have a sister in town having surgery so I am glad to be here to help her out.  On Monday I am back to the little house on the prairie.

New experiences are wonderful but coming home is always exciting.  I don’t know if I have mentioned, but I am homeless at the moment.  I have sold my house in Calgary and now I have the task of finding a new house to call home.

In the meantime, I am living in a friend’s house in Neville, Saskatchewan.  I know, I had never heard of it either until they moved here.  It is in the middle of NOWHERE!  The village has about 10 houses, a post office and one grain elevator.  I am 37 km from a small city.   It is mixed ranching and grain farming in this area.

This is a picture of what I arrived to – freshly fallen snow.  This is the little house I will be living in for the time being.


Hey, I found an advantage to this cold.  Check out this Canadian champagne chiller!  It works really well and it was free!

I have no cell phone service or internet and I have finally figured out the satellite television.  This is quiet!  But I do have television!  Yeah for the Canadian Food Network – Chef Michael Smith is one of my favourite.  And Restaurant Makeover is another favourite program.

I had an overwhelming urge to make cabbage rolls.  This is the recipe from The Joy of Cooking.

Cabbage Rolls           adapted from The Joy of Cooking

Combine in a large bowl:
1 lb. lean ground beef
½ c white rice
1 large egg
½ c breadcrumbs
½ c water
1 carrot, shredded
1 onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Bring to a rolling boil in a pot large enough to hold the head of cabbage:
Water to cover the package
1 ½ t salt

With a small sharp knife cut the core out of the cabbage.  Cook in the boiling water for 4 or 5 minutes or until the outer leaves are soft enough to pull off.  Remove the cabbage from the water and remove as many leaves as possible.  Return the cabbage to the boiling water for a few more minutes.  Remove the rest of the leaves.

The cabbage can also be frozen for 24 hours rather than boiling to soften the leaves.

Trim off the back spine of each leaf so it will be supple and can be easily rolled.  With the core end of the leaf near you and the hollow side up, put enough filling to leave a 1 ½ inch space at each end.  Roll firmly and fold in the right end as you roll up.  Tuck the left end into itself, closing the opening.  Repeat until all the filling and leaves are used.

Coarsely chop the leaves that were too small to use and a half onion.  Sauté in olive oil until soft.  Add:
1 28 oz can of plum tomatoes, puréed, cut up or broken
1 c water
2 T brown sugar

Put this sauce in the bottom of the baking dish and place the cabbage rolls on top.  Be sure to fit the rolls in tightly.  If they are not covered in the tomato sauce, add water or stock to cover.  Simmer for 1 ½ hours or bake in a 350F oven for 1 ½ hours.

Kaalikääryleet (Cabbage Rolls)

23 comments:

  1. I really hope you find the most perfect house in the world with a 5 star kitchen, of course!!! I went through a year between houses with everything in storage... it was so frustrating! Whenever you want something it's in a box somewhere else! But no internet????? That is hardship!

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  2. Welcome back! I hope your househunting is rewarding and you find the one of your dreams..I love the food Network also..

    And the rolls look like a plate of comfort and taste!

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  3. Welcome home! The snow is beautiful - love your champagne chiller :) Your stuffed cabbage rolls look wonderful as well. I'm going to have to try your recipe for cabbage rolls soon. When I think of a stuffed cabbage roll I get a picture exactly like you posted in my mind. They look delicious!

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  4. Glad to have you back up here! Calgary's winter has been surprisingly ok the past 2 months :) Delicious looking cabbage rolls! I have only ever made the lazy version.

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  5. Congrats on getting figuratively home and good luck finding your next physical home. The snow and your cabbage rolls look beautiful. The rolls are so neatly done.

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  6. I thought I would never hear anyone mention Neville. My grandparents have friends from there, my grandmother being from Vangaurd. Cabbage rolls seem perfect for that Saskatchewan winter.

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  7. Yay you made it!

    You know what I just realized??? We should have tried to get together before you left TN!!

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  8. Welcome home Sarah. Never heard of cabbage rolls. They look so delicious!
    Cheers,

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  9. lostpastremembered - thank you for the good wishes. I had a beautiful kitchen in the house I sold but it was time for changes. I am really missing all of my kitchen stuff.

    Nana, Andrea, Cathy & Sarah - thanks :)

    danaliciouseats - I can't believe that someone who is reading my blog knows Neville! It truly is a small world.

    Pam - you are right. If I wasn't a blogging neophyte I would have been a little more forthwith and contacted you.

    Mamatkamal - cabbage rolls are eastern European, such as Ukranian, Polish, etc. Comfort food. We have a lot of Ukranian immigrants on the Canadian prairies from two generations ago.

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  10. I'm so glad you made it back home safely! I really did miss you. Seriously.

    I'm so jealous of the snow all around you! How lovely!! Good luck on finding a house. In the meantime, I hope you are happy where you are and you make the most of it. Well, I guess you already are because you're already in the kitchen making yummy cabbage rolls. These look fantastic!!

    Take care, and don't go anywhere anytime soon. I'll have "Sarah Withdrawals" again haha.

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  11. I'm so glad you arrived safely! You're one strong chickie babe!

    Those cabbage rolls will be made for hubby for Valentine's Day. I consider them a labor of love because I don't care for them, but they're his all time favorite food.

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  12. Memoria - Well, the snow was a bit of a shock even though I am from here. Also, it was the isolation of this little village (we call them hamlets) and remembering what it is like to live with your own ingenuity. It was like riding a bicycle. After a couple of days, I was ok.

    Mags - Thanks! I had times of wondering if I was doing the right thing, on those lonely isolated drives. But when you come to a place like Sheridan, Wyoming and meet such nice people, you are glad you are there.

    It is nice to feel safe. Home always feels safer.

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  13. Oh Wow! These cabbage rolls look really good. I must try them some day...

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  14. Welcome home!!! These cabbage rolls look totally delicious! I have always wanted to try them, but never have - this recipe looks like a winner!!

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  15. Beautiful ice bucket! :) Can't think of a better use for a snowbank. Cabbage rolls are always a treat. These look delicious.

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  16. Ooohhh cabbage rolls. Here in Lithuania we call it balandeliai (turtledove). :) Mmmm love it when fresh cabbage straigt from the garden is avialable. And they are so elegant. Here in LT we make it much more bigger, with lots of carrots, onions in tomatoe sauce and serve with potatoes.

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  17. Thanks, Kate & Amy! Daliam, turtledove? That is different. I'll have to try them bigger when summer comes and I can buy local cabbage. One would be a meal! Especially if served with potatoes. I also like them served with potato perogies but I am trying to watch my calories!

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  18. Your cabbage rolls look great! My mother used to make them with a thicker tomato sauce on them. We have avoided major snowfalls so far this season, but it looks like we're going to get about 6" tonight. Oh, it's not much, but people like to whine. Welcome home!

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  19. This was really cool I made mine with ground turkey and served it with pierogi
    i posted it to my blog here
    http://daninfrance.tumblr.com/post/380995839/polish-dinner

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  20. Marjie - 6 inches is a lot of snow no matter where you are. Take care.

    Dan - I'll check out our your cabbage rolls.

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  21. Sarah, your cabbage rools look delightful-A very nice tight roll.
    I smile everytime you mention that are in the middle of nowhere. At least you know you have plenty of snow space to chill your sparkling wine!

    btw, I had an opportunity to be a guest blogger today if you are interested you can check it out at www.secretinnerlife.com. Today, I got to rant and rave about food politics which is very different than what I do on my food blog. I really enjoyed doing it, and it is an issue that I care deeply about. Let me know what you think. Also, please don't hesitate to leave a comment if you do read it-She has a wonderful blog.

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  22. Those cabbage rolls look so tasty. I have never even tried them before but think they will soon be added to my cooking 'To Do' list. Feel free to send your snow to Southern Australia, it's currently very hot and humid here :-)

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  23. I love Cabbage Rolls......when I make them I use 4 Cabbage heads as then I give some out to my Brothers and a friend. Coming from a Ukrainian background I learned to make these when I was a lil' kid.

    thanks for sharing. I' now a Follwer of your Blog.

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