Beef and Smoked Sausage Cabbage Rolls #FoodieExtravaganza

Ground beef and smoked sausage cabbage rolls smothered in a rich tomato sauce are the perfect meal. Vegetables and protein, all in one neat and tasty package.

I’ve never done one of those DNA tests, but with one grandmother whose maiden name was Fleming, I always figured that I am at least one quarter Irish. And while most of the recipes I learned from that grandmother were of Cajun origin (Mo, as we called her, grew up in southern Louisiana after all) a few probably came more from her Irish heritage.

Her cabbage rolls, for instance. Definitely not a Cajun thing. The way I remember it, when I was growing up, my mom used to make cabbage rolls using both ground beef and pork because I’m pretty sure that’s how my grandmother used to make them as well. Mo was always one to mix meats. She would never cook a beef pot roast alone. She added a pork roast to the pot saying that together they made each other taste better.

All my life, that’s what I’ve always done too, until just the other day when I decided that smoked sausage would be an even better idea than plain ground pork in cabbage rolls. And since I was trying to go low carb when I made them, I also left out the traditional rice my mom and grandmother would have added. If you'd like, you can add a 1/2 cup or 50g of raw rice to the filling mixture. But I promise you won't miss it if you don't.

Beef and Smoked Sausage Cabbage Rolls

Back in the day, my mother and grandmother would have blanched the cabbage leaves in hot water to soften them. By accidentally freezing lettuce at the back of my too-cold refrigerator, I discovered that freezing them does the same magic with way less fuss and bother.

Ingredients - serves 4: 2 cabbage rolls each
For the rolls:
8 whole cabbage leaves

For the filling:
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
1/2 smoked sausage link (8 oz or 225g), cut into chunks
4 cloves garlic
2 large eggs
1 lb or 450g ground beef
1/2-1 teaspoon ground cayenne
Few generous grinds black pepper
Salt to taste
2 cabbage leaves, finely chopped (hard ribs removed and discarded)
Optional: 1/2 cup or 50g uncooked rice

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 anchovy fillets
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel
1/2 cup or 120ml dry red wine
4 cups or 1 kg canned chopped tomatoes with their juice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Parsley to garnish

Method
Put the whole cabbage leaves in the freezer to soften them.

Pulse the sausage chunks, quartered onion and garlic cloves in a food processor till they are turned into small pieces.

Add in the two eggs and pulse again until just combined. In a large bowl, combine the sausage/egg with the ground beef. Season with the two peppers and mix well.

Fry a couple of teaspoons of the mixture in a small pan. Taste and add more pepper, if necessary. I put more cayenne because we like things spicy. Here’s where you can add some salt if needed as well. My smoked sausage added enough saltiness to the mixture for my taste. You may want more.

Add in the finely chopped cabbage (and optional rice if using) and mix well again. Chill the filling while you get the sauce ready to go.

In a pan big enough to eventually hold 8 cabbage rolls, sauté the garlic and the anchovies in the olive oil until the garlic softens and the anchovies turn to mush. Sprinkle in the paprika, cumin and fennel.

 Give it all a quick stir then add the wine. Pour in the chopped tomatoes. Bring the pan to a boil and then lower it to a simmer. Sprinkle on some freshly ground black pepper.

Cook for about 10-15 minutes with the lid removed. Add in the baking soda. Stir till the bubbles stop. Adding baking soda to a tomato sauce was a trick I learned from an Italian mama. It sweetens the sauce slightly by reacting with (and reducing) the natural acidity of the tomatoes.

Pop the lid back on and turn the fire off while you stuff your cabbage.

Remove the cabbage leaves from the freezer. As they thaw, they should be soft and pliable.

Use a sharp knife to cut out the hard ribs in the middle and discard them. Stuff the cabbage leaves with the filling, folding the leaves around it.

 

Fit the cabbage rolls into the sauce pan.

Spoon sauce over the tops. Put the lid of the pan on and cook over a low fire for about 50-60 minutes. Check from time to time and add a little water if the sauce looks like it's drying out.

My grandmother never considered a dish finished without some parsley for garnish. Sprinkle on a little chopped parsley before serving.

Enjoy!

This month my Foodie Extravaganza friends are celebrating National Irish Food Day, or National "Eat Like an Irishman" Day (March 17th) early, by cooking and sharing Irish recipes. Many thanks to our host Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories for her behind the scenes work and this fun theme.

• Beef and Smoked Sausage Cabbage Rolls from Food Lust People Love
• Colcannon from Sneha's Recipe
• Colcannon (Irish Potatoes and Cabbage) from Caroline's Cooking
• Cold Irish Day Cocktail from Our Good Life
• Dublin Coddle - Irish Bacon, Sausage, and Potato Stew from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Instant Pot Dublin Coddle from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Irish Cheese and Walnut Biscuits from Simply Inspired Meals
• Irish Coffee from Tara's Multicultural Table
• Mushy Peas from Pandemonium Noshery
• Traditional Shepherd's Pie from Cookaholic Wife

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays by posting delicious recipes your family will love. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a home cook looking for tasty recipes, check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board!

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Fresh Rhubarb Steamed Sponge Pudding with Rhubarb Sauce

This fresh rhubarb steamed sponge pudding is a light springtime recipe, highlighting the gorgeous pink tart rhubarb that is available now. This sticky dessert takes a while to cook but it's mostly hands off time. Wait till you bite into its soft sponge with tart topping! Totally worth it.

As an expat parent raising two daughters in foreign lands, I felt a great responsibility to make sure that they learned about the culture and traditions of the countries where we were lived. After all, one of the most valuable lessons we can take away from living overseas is that our way of doing things is not the only way; it may not even be the best way. We learn and we grow as we expand our borders.

I also considered it of grave importance to teach them about their own American heritage and cultural roots from the sweet joys of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to the reasons we value the democratic system and should always exercise our right to vote. This challenge was further expanded by our mixed origins. My husband is British, which meant that, as the person who cooks most of the meals in our family, when it came to passing on food traditions, it fell to me to cover both.

A typically British dessert, steamed sponge puddings were not part of my childhood menu. For that matter, neither was rhubarb! I remember seeing it first in a fruit and veg market in Sydney when I was 24 and wondering to myself, what sort of strange celery was this? My husband, on the other hand, grew up with both.

The first steamed pudding I ever made, and still make to this day, is one we call Granda’s Dumpling. It was shared with me by a dear friend and it is her father’s specialty. It's perfect for Christmas, a pudding full of mixed fruit that reminds me of a very moist fruitcake. For spring, a lighter sponge pudding with rhubarb is more appropriate.

Meanwhile, I've also made up for lost time on the rhubarb front. If you have ready access to rhubarb, you might want to check out some of my other rhubarb-y recipes:

• Rhubarb Nectarine Puff Pastry Tarts
• Apple Rhubarb Strawberry Pie 
• Rhubarb Fool Cocktails 
• Fresh Rhubarb Muffins
• Rhubarb Apple Ginger Crumble 

Fresh Rhubarb Sponge Pudding with Rhubarb Sauce

The glossy pink rhubarb on top of this steamed pudding is a welcome bit of color on a dreary cold day.  My recipe is adapted from .delicious magazine, (UK) March 2009 issue. In all, you will need 14 1/2 oz or 480g of rhubarb but I have given the amount divided below to make the recipe easier to follow. No rhubarb? Substitute whatever seasonal fruit you have on hand and adjust the sugar accordingly. This pudding with serve four greedy people and six with more restrained appetites.

Ingredients
For the pudding:
2 1/2 oz or 70g rhubarb, trimmed
3 tablespoons golden syrup (See Note)
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
7 tablespoons or 100g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing the pudding basin
3/4 cup or 95g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup or 57ml milk
2 large eggs
Grated zest 1 lemon
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

For the rhubarb sauce:
12 oz or 340g rhubarb, trimmed
1/8 cup or 28g sugar – or more to taste
Grated zest and juice 1 orange
Good pinch salt

To serve: pouring or whipped cream

Note: Golden syrup can be purchased in the international aisle of most large grocery stores. Substitute a cane syrup or amber corn syrup if you cannot find any.

Method
Rinse and dry the rhubarb.

Cut your choicest pieces of rhubarb into lengths that will fit nicely in the bottom of a 4+ cup or 1 liter pudding basin. Cut the rest of rhubarb into bite-size pieces, put it in a medium-sized non-reactive pan and set it aside.

Butter the pudding basin and then add the rhubarb to the bottom, curved side down. Drizzle the golden syrup over it.

Note: If you don't have a pudding basin, you can substitute a stainless steel mixing bowl. It should have a small lip.

Using your electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter together until they turn light yellow and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.

Beat in the lemon zest and vanilla.

Sift in your flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. then add the milk. Fold them both in gently.

Spoon the batter into your buttered pudding basin.

Cover the basin with folded parchment paper and secure it with kitchen string. Tie the ends of the string together to create a handle with which to lift the basin and trim any excess parchment.

Put the covered basin in a large pot. Add hot water to the pot till it comes two-thirds of the way up the side of the basin.

Bring the water to a gentle boil then cover the pot and lower the flame to simmer. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Check the water level occasionally and add more as needed.

Meanwhile, make the rhubarb sauce. Add the caster sugar, the orange zest, orange juice and a pinch of salt to the pan where you've saved the cut rhubarb.

Gently cook for 5-10 minutes over a medium until the rhubarb softens and turns saucy, stirring from time to time. Taste the sauce and add a little more sugar, if necessary. Set the rhubarb sauce aside to cool.

Once the pudding steaming time is up, carefully remove the basin from the pot, using your string handle. Set it on a wire rack.

Remove the baking parchment and leave to cool for five minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the sponge pudding. Isn't it amazing how a steamed pudding browns?

Turn it out on a serving dish.

Serve with rhubarb sauce and, if you'd like, pouring cream.

Enjoy!

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Brown Sugar Spice Swirl Muffins #MuffinMonday

These brown sugar spice swirl muffins require four bowls, two more than my normal muffin recipes because of the sweet spicy swirl and crumble topping, but I promise they are well worth the washing up!

Our younger daughter has been needing knee surgery so last week she came to Dubai for the procedure, where we could take care of her after. If there’s anything that makes a mom’s heart gladder than having one (or more) of her grown babies at home, I don’t know what it is. I don’t get that opportunity often enough anymore.

She’s been a great patient, resting when appropriate, taking the right pills when necessary and doing her recommended leg exercises. I’ve mostly been responsible for sustenance and helping her carry things while on crutches. Her motto is “everybody loves plain things” so fruit and nuts in muffins are not allowed. I decided to make a fancier muffin by adding a swirl. The crumble topping was her special request, as long as it didn't have oats.

Brown Sugar Spice Swirl Muffins

The muffins themselves are plain with only vanilla for flavoring. They’d be fine on their own if you chose to make just the batter. Adding a bit of a swirl and/or the crumble topping does make them special though.

Ingredients
For the muffin batter:
2 cups or 250g flour
1/2 cup or 113g golden caster sugar (or sub regular caster sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 240ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste

For the ginger cinnamon swirl:
1/4 cup or 60g butter, melted
1/3 cup, firmly packed, or 66g brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger

For the crumble:
1/2 cup, firmly packed, or 100g dark brown sugar
1/4 cup or 60g butter
1/4 cup or 31g flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch salt

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or grease with extra butter or oil.

In a small bowl, whisk the ginger cinnamon swirl ingredients together until well combined.

Use a pastry blender or a few quick pulses of a food processor to make the crumble with those ingredients. Set the swirl and crumble aside until ready to use. If your kitchen is warm, put the crumble bowl in the refrigerator.

To make the muffin batter, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

In a another smaller bowl (or large measuring jug), whisk together milk, oil, egg, and vanilla. Fold the wet ingredient mixture into dry ingredient mixture until just combined.

Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter to each of the prepared muffin cups. Then add 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon swirl filling to the center of the batter. Swirl with a toothpick.

Top with an additional 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter then share the balance of the swirl between the cups.

Swirl again with the toothpick.

Divide the crumble between the 12 muffin cups. Press down very gently with your fingertips so the crumble adheres to the batter.

Bake at 350°F pr 180°C for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Leave the muffins to cool in the pan for a few minutes before carefully removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

The muffins rose nicely lifting the swirl up higher than anticipated but I'm still calling this a win because of the flavor the swirl adds.

Enjoy!

Check out the lovely Muffin Monday recipes my friends are sharing today. They all sound delicious!

• Brown Sugar Spice Swirl Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Caramel Banana Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Cinnamon Toast Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Irish Soda Bread Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Whole Wheat, Corn, Cheddar, and Green Chili Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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