#11 Lazy Man's Stuffed Cabbage

Oh snap.  I just saw on the America's Test Kitchen website that they are coming out with a volume 2 Slow Cooker Revolution, in September, the Easy Prep edition!  That's awesome, because this book I'm working out of right now has a lot of recipes that require a lot of prep work.  Oh my, this blog could go on for years.

So "Lazyman's Stuffed Cabbage" today, from Slow Cooker Revolution, by America's Test Kitchen. 

Welcome, cabbage season.  Mid-August to mid-September is when cabbage is at it's best, so by George, it's going into the pot this week. 

My family used to have a negative view of cabbage (because of the smell) until I introduced them to cabbage rolls; a paleo (grain free/dairy free) version I found at www.everydaypaleo.com . ( Here is that link for you.)  The recipe on everyday paleo is made in the pressure cooker, but can be made in the crock pot, and that was how I made them. 

I was very interested when I saw this ""lazy man's" version in Slow Cooker Revolution.  It's a bit on the "carb-y" side for me with the rice and the bread, but I decided to do it the first time as written in the book, for the sake of experimentation.  After that, I may revert to the paleo filling, but use the technique in Slow Cooker Revolution of cutting and layering the cabbage, instead of fussing with rolling whole leaves.   I took a quick peek on the internet, and there are many versions of lazyman's stuffed cabbage out there you could try if this technique interests you. 

Hmmm...could this be"Lazy Mom's Stuffed Cabbage?"...uh, no.  More like "Busy Mom's Stuffed Cabbage", or perhaps "Mom-who-has-neither-the-time-nor-inclination-to-mess-around-all-day's Stuffed Cabbage"!

Let me just say this...there is nothing lazy about this recipe.  It involves some work.  Not "fussy" work, like separating those cabbage leaves and rolling each one individually, but let's keep it real...it took a little effort, and some dishes.  Again, not one of those slow-cooking meals you can throw in in just a few minutes...there's chopping and sautéing, and mixing and assembling, which can be fun and rewarding.  Just saying, it's not just a toss-it-in-and-go kind of dish as the name implies.  So don't plan this one for a day when you are very short on time.

It's almost not fair to claim an accurate testing of this dish, because I made several changes:  I halved the recipe for starters...and I omitted the pound of kielbasa, and just used the ground beef.  I did not have any fresh onions left, so I used dehydrated onions.  I, of course, used gluten free bread and flour substitutes. 

The cabbage started to smell fabulous after the first few minutes of cooking in the microwave.  Kinda like some nice, authentic Asian cuisine.  Be sure to stir it every few minutes or you will get some cabbage starting to brown along the edges.

The sauce smelled sublime:  it was so different and unexpected with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in it, but it totally, totally worked.  Everyone who tasted it agreed.

So basically, this is put together just like a cabbage-lasagna: you layer up the sauce, meat/rice mix, cabbage, etc. etc. etc.

Here's what it looked like going in to the pot:  You drop meat mixture in by the tablespoon, like cookie dough!

The cabbage really, really, cooks down in the microwave.  When I went to layer it up I kept feeling like Christopher Walken in the classic Saturday Night Live skit "More Cowbell"...only instead of "more cowbell" I kept going "More Cabbage...I need More Cabbage!".  Next time I would double the cabbage, personally.

The recipe says to make a foil "collar" to go around the inside.  I did not do this.  I'm not a fan of cooking in aluminum foil, so I just greased the inside up with Spectrum Organic vegetable shortening (palm oil).  Though I didn't even need to because there was a lot of grease in the meat that came out during cooking.

I was very leery about putting the meat in raw, but...it did cook up just fine, in exactly 4 hours on low, just as they said it would.

I don't know, man.  It was a little too greasy for me.  You can see it on the top when it was fully cooked.  I skimmed it off.  It was just a little too thick, or, uh...gloopy?  Maybe the sauce was too thick.  I need to figure it out.

Don't get me wrong, it tasted awesome.  Hubby said "this is the best use of cabbage ever".  It got a unanimous thumbs up.

I will definitely make it again, but I gotta tweak this whole excess grease thing.  Like, maybe I'll use ground chicken.  Or maybe I'll pre-cook the ground beef?  At least enough to render the fat a little bit?  Maybe I won't add the GF flour to thicken the sauce...it really doesn't need it. It just needs less starch and less grease in general, in my opinion.

And it definitely needs more cowbell...I mean, cabbage!