Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (162 page)

Stuffed cabbage is the kind of dish that guests and family always seem to love because it has the hearty, earthy look and the rich, satisfying aroma that promise good eating. To stuff a whole cabbage you first make a delicious mixture using something like the fresh sausage and ham suggested here, or leftover meat as in the variation following it. You then pull off the cabbage leaves, boiling them until pliable, and re-form the cabbage into approximately its original shape with your delicious mixture spread between layers of leaves. Finally you braise, sauce, and serve it up, and it looks just like a beautiful,
decorated, whole cabbage sitting on the serving platter. You must, of course, have some method for holding the cabbage leaves in the shape of the whole while braising. If you have struggled to mold cabbage with string, towels, cheesecloth, or even the net shopping bag that is occasionally used in Provence, we think you will welcome the ease of the following bowl-molding method. Parslied boiled potatoes, French bread, and rosé wine would go well with the cabbage.

NOTE
: Braised stuffed cabbage is equally good cold, and could well be baked specially for a cold lunch or a picnic. If so, drain and unmold it as soon as it is done, so there will be no bits of congealed fat on the leaves.

For 8 to 10 people

1)
Fresh sausage, rice, and ham stuffing—about 6 cups

2 cups (1 lb.) fresh sausage meat,
preferably homemade

A medium sized (10-inch) frying pan

A 5- to 6-quart mixing bowl and large wooden spoon

1½ cups diced mild-cured ham (such as a store-bought ready-to-cook ham slice)

2 cups minced onions

2 cups boiled rice (⅔ cup raw rice, boiled)

½ tsp sage

½ tsp caraway seeds

¼ cup minced fresh parsley

2 cloves mashed garlic

1 egg

Salt and pepper

(Start the water boiling for Step 2.) Break up the sausage meat and sauté over moderate heat for 5 to 6 minutes, just until it is beginning to brown lightly. Remove to mixing bowl, leaving fat in pan. Brown the ham lightly in the fat; remove it to the bowl, again leaving fat in pan. Finally stir in the onions and cook slowly for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender and beginning to brown very lightly. Scrape them into the bowl and beat in all the rest of the ingredients. Taste carefully for seasoning, adding more salt and herbs if you feel them necessary. (Chopped, blanched leaves from the heart of the cabbage will be stirred in later.)

2)
Preparing the cabbage for stuffing

A firm, fresh, crisp 2¼- to 2½-lb. cabbage (about 8 inches in diameter), either the crinkle-leafed Savoy or the smooth-leafed Danish or domestic

A large kettle of boiling salted water

A large tray covered with a towel

With a small, stout knife, make a bias cut all around the stem of the cabbage, going 2 to 2½ inches deep, and remove the tough core. Discard any outside leaves that seem tough or wilted.
If you have the crinkle-leafed Savoy cabbage,
you usually need not blanch it to remove the leaves. Peel them off carefully so as not to tear them, until you come to the heart, where leaves are small and bend inward. Drop as many cabbage leaves as will easily fit into the boiling water and boil, uncovered, for 3 to 4 minutes, until leaves are pliable
enough to bend without breaking. (This is called blanching.) Drain on towel and continue with the rest of the leaves and the heart, boiling it 5 minutes.

If you have a smooth-leafed cabbage (or an unpeelable Savoy)
, drop the whole cabbage core side down into the boiling water. In 5 minutes, start loosening leaves carefully, nudging them off the cabbage with 2 long spoons as they free themselves from the core. Remove these leaves to the tray. Continue loosening and removing leaves to tray until you come to the heart, where leaves bend inward. Leave heart to boil for 5 minutes, and add as many of the removed leaves as will easily fit, boiling them 3 to 4 minutes or until they are just pliable. Continue with the rest of the leaves. (Do not discard boiling water yet.) Chop the heart of the cabbage, salt and pepper lightly, and stir into the already prepared stuffing from Step 1.

3)
Other miscellaneous preliminaries

10 to 12 slices of lean salt pork or bacon approximately 4 by 1½ inches and ⅜ inch thick

The boiling cabbage water

1 medium onion, sliced

1 medium carrot, sliced

2 Tb rendered goose or pork fat, or cooking oil

The frying pan

Drop the slices of salt pork or bacon into the boiling water and boil slowly for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water, and set aside on paper toweling. Meanwhile, cook the vegetables in the fat or oil until tender and just beginning to brown, then remove to a side dish. (Note that there is also a sauce base in Step 6, which you may prepare now if you wish.)

4)
Stuffing the cabbage

A lightly buttered 2½- to 3-quart stainless-steel bowl, flame-proof mold, baking dish, or charlotte mold 3½ to 4 inches deep (with a cover)

Salt and pepper

3 to 4 cups excellent brown stock or bouillon

Lay several strips of the blanched pork or bacon in the bottom of the stainless steel bowl or flameproof mold and cover with the lightly browned carrot and onion slices.