I had dinner recently at a new restaurant here in Northern California. The featured entrée was a stuffed cabbage roll, and I was very excited! This is one of my all time favorite braised dishes, and if done properly, there is nothing better. Well, it wasn’t. Unfortunately, it was probably the single worst entrée I’ve ever been served (and that’s saying something, since I estimate I’ve eaten out 6,725 times!). I won’t go into details about that meal (yet), but I will say that one of the small problems was that it came to the table WITH NO CABBAGE! I got a meatball, and it wasn’t even a good meatball. So, to purge myself of that horrible experience, I decided to make stuffed cabbage rolls. And, not just any cabbage rolls, my Aunt Angela’s cabbage rolls.
One of my earliest, and fondest, culinary memories was sitting as a young child at my Aunt’s kitchen table, watching her roll these stuffed cabbage leaves. Along with my Mom, Grandmother and Grandfather, my Aunt Angela and Uncle Bill (who’s been mentioned on the site a few times) were huge influences on my early culinary development. She is probably more famous for her amazing pies, but for me, when I think of her cooking, I think cabbage rolls. The only problem is, no matter how closely I follow the recipe hers still will always taste better. That’s just how home cooking is; the only ingredient you can’t add to a recipe list is that childhood memory.
This clip was already been posted on the site when we first started, but since there is a good chance many of our newer viewers have not seen it, I decided to re-run it today. It’s probably the dish I’ve gotten the most emails about and also lots of comments on YouTube. It’s very simple, and makes for a fantastic “special occasion” dinner.
We’ve streamlined this steakhouse classic to work for the home chef. If you can find veal stock, or even demi-glace, you can use that instead of the beef stock I used in the clip. Either way, it will produce a delicious, rich pan sauce perfect for a couple tender, medium-rare filet mignons. Also, many Chefs use a combination of black and green peppercorns. So if you can get them, go ahead and add a teaspoon of crushed green peppercorns to the sauce when you add the stock and it will be even more authentic.
Speaking of old clips, if you not happy with your mashed potatoes, check out that clip on the site and watch how to make great mashers every time.
Ingredients: 2 Filet Mignon (Beef Tenderloin, about 8 oz. each) 3/4 cup Veal Stock or Beef Stock/Broth 1/3 Cognac or Brandy 1/3 Heavy Cream Cracked Black Pepper Salt Unsalted Butter
The soul of this dish is an incredibly rich, and deeply flavored, beef broth or “brodo.” This is accomplished by slowly simmering a beef shank for a long time, a really long time - like 4 hours, so if you’re in a hurry, this dish is not for you. But, if you want to enjoy a bowl of something that will warm you to the bone (or shank) then give this extremely simple soup a try.
As you’ll see in the clip the first part of the dish is making the dark and delicious beef broth, after that we add some tortellini and kale to finish. That’s the point where you can swerve in your own direction by adding different types of pasta or greens. This would be just as savory with Swiss chard, mustard greens, etc. As far as pasta substitutions, if you’re not into the cheese tortellini I added, then virtually any other short pasta or macaroni will work.
When I look at the ingredient list I find it hard to believe how such a short and simple list can produce something this satisfying and wonderful. Those “winter blues” will never know what hit them!
Ingredients: 1 beef shank (about 2 inch thick) 1 onion 3 cloves garlic olive oil 3 tbl tomato paste 1 quart beef broth plus 1 quart water 1 bunch kale 8 oz dried cheese tortellini salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste parmesan cheese to garnish
To many, the thought of adding chocolate and cinnamon to a savory dish like braised beef short ribs, would just seem too strange. I remember the first time I had Chicken Mole in San Francisco’s Mission district, it was so rich and delicious, and when I was told the sauce was actually made with dark chocolate and dried chilies, it took a while to process. It forced me to change how I thought about food, and how ingredients are “supposed” to be used. I’m not sure at that young age I would have even ordered it if I had known there was chocolate in it. Now, it’s my absolute favorite Mexican dish.
Legend has it the recipe I’m showing today comes from the Catalonia region of Spain. It’s an amazingly sexy concoction that would be perfect for that special winter dinner. The chocolate and cinnamon scent the succulent short ribs in a way that is very hard to describe. The first time I served this to my wife Michele her exact response was, and I quote, “wow... wow... wow… mmmmm.”
So, please, free your culinary mind and give this a try! All the ingredients are easy to find and the recipe is almost impossible to mess up.
Warning: to make this properly, the dish takes two days to prepare. The first day it’s braised, then left to cool in the sauce and refrigerated overnight. Day 2, you lift all the fat of the top of the sauce, reheat and serve. I served this with another unusual side dish, Celery Root and Potato Puree, which all also demo. Make sure your butcher picks out some nice meaty short ribs for you, some can have a lot of fat on them, so make sure you check them.
Ingredients: 3 pounds beef short ribs (about six 4-in. long) 3 oz Bacon (maybe 4 slices) 1 cup dry sherry 1 quart beef broth 1 onion 2 cloves garlic 2 oz bittersweet chocolate 5 springs of thyme 2 tbl flour 1 cinnamon stick 2 bay leavesblack pepper and salt
I had dinner recently at a new restaurant here in Northern California. The featured entrée was a stuffed cabbage roll, and I was very excited! This is one of my all time favorite braised dishes, and if done properly, there is nothing better. Well, it wasn’t. Unfortunately, it was probably the single worst entrée I’ve ever been served (and that’s saying something, since I estimate I’ve eaten out 6,725 times!). I won’t go into details about that meal (yet), but I will say that one of the small problems was that it came to the table WITH NO CABBAGE! I got a meatball, and it wasn’t even a good meatball. So, to purge myself of that horrible experience, I decided to make stuffed cabbage rolls. And, not just any cabbage rolls, my Aunt Angela’s cabbage rolls.
