Comfort Me With Cabbage Rolls

I must admit that I am a huge fan of Ruth Reichl.  From the moment I picked up her book Comfort Me With Apples, until the last one published, they adorn my bookshelves proudly.  Even better, I was tickled to see her on Top Chef Masters the other night as a judge.  I hope she returns weekly.  The way she words the foods that touch her palate and shares her humorous adventures in the culinary world, delight me to no end.  Does this make me a Ruth Reichl groupie?  I'll have to think about that.  My secret dream would be to dine with her to experience her world.  I'm drawn to her simplicity, yet am enamored with her ease at enjoying something that I most likely won't see on my plate in a very long time.  But, there I go dreaming again. 

Today, though, and most of this past week, I have been thinking about the word 'comfort'. We are comforted by various ways in our lives; the wonderful hugs of a family member or friend, a hand to hold, a journal to write our thoughts in, and, with food.  There are many other things and joys that bring us comfort.  I know a few people that the thrill of shopping not only provides an adrenaline rush, but it soothes them in ways that I cannot relate to.  (OK, maybe with books.)  The crowds in a mall excite them and comfort them , whereas for me, I need a sedative to just walk into the building.  Ah, but the quiet of home and surrounded by my books, children and animals, seems to be all I hope for, and am comforted by.

The last few weeks have been difficult for my Dad.  He is at the age when one starts losing the friends they have known for the better part of fifty years.  Two, recently, have my heart breaking for him.  I am in Rochester, New York, and he is in Reading, Pennsylvania.  Our ways to comfort one another are via email or the phone.  (Although, he still loves snail mail and that's something I greatly appreciate, yet wish more people would do. It's an art that is slowly leaving us, due to the "techie" world we live in.)  I have been able to offer my condolences to him, some of the family members, and enjoy and reminisce in my own way about how these particular folks touched my own life.  All with smiles, I might add. I remember losing friends in high school and thinking how young my fellow students were in their lives and all they would have enjoyed and would have had to look forward to.  For them, another plan was their journey.  However, to lose friends at 77, one begins to see their own mortality and to relish the life that they have with even more zest.  That, my friends, is one of the legacies my father will leave behind someday.  For no one I know can embrace this life with more kindness and vitality than him. 

Food brings comfort to most of us.  On cold, winter nights, we long for meatloaf and mashed potatoes, a roast chicken sizzling from the oven after the aromas have simmered through the house, soups, stews, etc.  To me it doesn't matter the season.  I'll eat those things year 'round.  We have finally entered spring.  The daffodils in my garden are popping up and the tulips have let me know that they will bloom soon.  There are also the remnants of winter past with matted leaves to be raked and soil to be turned, and more grass to be planted.  I look outside my kitchen window and sigh with the work that is ahead, yet, knowing there will be a new fence in place soon and things will certainly be sprouting with the season. 

One of the first foods I think about that bring me comfort are my Nana's cabbage rolls.  They were passed on to me, along with her very own recipe box, complete with her writing that is difficult to read.  I'm always impressed with the cards that just list ingredients and no directions. 



The cabbage rolls Nana made are with this tangy tomato sauce, that toward the end of cooking, the lid is lifted from the oven casserole and a bit of caramelization happens because of the brown sugar that it's laced with. Nana was very much a home cook.  Chocolate cream pies, cabbage rolls, chicken divan, and many more casseroles.  Her specialties were baked goods.  Oh, she had a sweet tooth, yes she did.  My personal childhood favorite was she always made Ambrosia when we would visit; pieces of pineapple, orange segments, cherries, coconut, bananas and marshmallows, all wrapped up in fluffy whipped cream.  The whole thing would melt in your mouth.  Goodness, when was the last time I made THAT? 

The cocktail hour was always expected when Nana and Grandpa would visit or when we would visit them.  I can still hear her chewing the onion that she slid off of the skewer into her mouth from her Gibson Martini.

(I'll save other martini stories for another time.)  There were always nibbles of sorts around; dips, chips, and celery stuffed with something.  I think I could just go on and on about Nana today, for some reason. Just gives me more things to write about down the road.

I hold this recipe near and dear to my heart.  I've added things through the years to keep that tomato sauce sticking to the cabbage rolls, and, every time, I enjoy them a little more than I did the last. Everyone has their own version based on how they were raised. I wish I could bring Dad a big pot of these today.  I enjoy watching him as he eats my cooking, usually shaking his head from side to side with enjoyment (And probably wonderment of "Wow, this kid can actually cook!) and maybe evoking a memory or two as I cook the recipes of his past. Perhaps today, even though there is the feeling of spring warmth in the air, this would still bring comfort to the losses he has had to endure.

Think about the things that bring you comfort; whether in times of sadness, times of joy, or when it's the certain kind of day that you hope for a little more of 'something.'

Loss is loss.  Comfort is comfort. 

In a little while, my own comfort awaits today;  it's Sunday.  There is a crossword to be solved.

Enjoy,

Kathy

*Note:  I make these with my eyes, and lots of trial and error.  Please don't let that keep you from making them!  Read recipe all the way through, first.  This can be doubled.*

Nana's Cabbage Rolls

Filling:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (I like the 80/20 to get the flavor, but you can use leaner beef)

1/2-3/4 cup rice (Now Nana says raw, but I like to cook mine)

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

salt and pepper

garlic powder

2 Tbs. parsley

Combine all ingredients together (after rice has cooled.  You can do this step a day ahead, if you wish.)

Sauce: I tend to make extra and freeze any remaining.  (You can also do this step a day ahead, too.)

2-28 oz cans of tomato puree  (you can use crushed tomatoes, but I find that this is richer)

1-2 cans tomato paste

2-3 lemons

salt and pepper

1/2 cup brown sugar (or more to taste)

2 cups water  (use sparingly at first until you get a smooth texture with the sauce, so it's not too watery)

Combine all ingredients of sauce with whisk until you get the consistency you want.  I enjoy a semi-thick sauce.

*This sauce should be smooth, sweet, tangy due to the lemons.  Add more to your liking.*

Steam the leaves of 1 large head of cabbage in boiling water, and remove the leaves carefully.  Remove any hard stems, to make rolling easier.  (I sometimes will buy one head and a half depending on the leaves.)

Divide the filling, enough for each leaf (try 1/3 cup or less depending on size of leaf), and roll up the leaf of cabbage burrito style and secure with toothpick. Repeat until filling is used up. Set aside.  These rolls are not skinny, they are made to be plump.

Cover the bottom of a solid roasting pan with lid with extra small cabbage leaves and one onion. Pour a little of the sauce to cover the leaves.

Put the cabbage leaves on top. 

Pour the remaining sauce over the cabbage rolls.

Bring to a boil first on top of the stove. 

Remove and put into a 350 degree oven. 

Cook covered for one hour.

Remove lid, and reduce oven to 250 degrees, and cook two more hours, basting with the sauce. 

*I have been known to cook these all day*