Echoes of Elul, Day 19: On the Menu

Hollis O’Brien

When the High Holy days are near, I have many mouthwatering memories of the food my grandmother used to make. One of my favorites was her stuffed cabbage. She had the time to carefully make individual stuffed cabbage olls for her appreciative family., However, these days our lives are so busy, we rarely have the opportunity to prepare this time-consuming dish. The following recipe is a simpler version with the same sweet and tangy taste that always reminds me of evenings with our family sitting together, sharing Rosh Hashanah dinner.

Unstuffed Sweet ‘n Sour Cabbage

1 (2-lb) head green cabbage, quartered lengthwise and cored
1 – 2 cups chicken broth
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 lb. ground beef
1 (28-oz.) can diced tomatoes in juice
½ cup raisins
¼ cup cider vinegar
3 Tbs. dark brown sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Garnish – chopped Italian parsley
Serve with steamed white rice, if desired.

1. Place cabbage in a deep skillet or Dutch oven with 1 cup of broth, 1 clove of the sliced garlic and ½ tsp. salt. Bring to a boil; then simmer, covered, turning occasionally, until very tender, about 30 minutes. Do not let the liquid boil away. You can add more broth if necessary.

2. In a separate deep skillet or Dutch oven, cook the onion and remaining garlic in the oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown – about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium high and add the ground beef and ½ tsp. salt and ½ tsp. pepper. Cook, stirring, breaking up the ground beef until it is no longer pink. Add the tomatoes with their juice, raisins, vinegar and brown sugar. Simmer, uncovered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper if necessary.

3. To serve, pour tomato-beef sauce over cabbage and sprinkle with parsley.

Note: Can be made ahead, refrigerated and reheated over medium-low heat, or in microwave.