Kåldolmar
Swedish cabbage rolls
Equipment
- Stock pot
- Skillet
- Covered casserole or 9x15 baking dish covered with foil
Ingredients
For the rolls
- 1 pound ground lamb
- ¼ C oatmeal
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 1/2 medium onion diced
- 1 shallot diced
- Juice and peel from one lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 egg
- 2 TBSP fresh parsley
- 1 head cabbage
For the gravy
- 1 TSP Kitchen Bouquet Optional
- 1 TBSP butter at room temperature for the beurre manié
- 2 TBSP flour for the beurre manié
- 1 C beef broth
Instructions
Stuffing the rolls
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Fill stock pot half to two-thirds full with water and bring to boil
- Remove the core from the cabbage. This might require two steps to dig the entire core out. This will make pealing the cabbage easier later. Finely chop the core in a food processor and reserve.
- Put the head of cabbage in the boiling water, core-side down, cover, and boil for five minutes. After five minutes, you should be able to loosen the leaves, permitting the water to penetrate the head. Cover and boil another five minutes.
- While the cabbage boils, add the meat and remaining ingredients (but not those for the gravy!) to a bowl and mix with your hands.
- After ten minutes total boiling, you should be able to remove individual cabbage leaves from the pot using tongs. Put them on a cookie sheet or other pan to catch the water while they drain and cool. Save the water in the pot for later.
- The outer leaves may be too irregular and thin for wrapping. Don’t discard them—after they are cool, finely chop them and put them back in the brine, along with the finely chopped core from earlier. Bring the chopped cabbage and brine back to a boil and reduce by at least half while making the rolls.
- After they are cool enough to handle, de-vein the remaining leaves. To do this, carefully slice off the thick portion on the outer side at the bottomof the leaf so that it has uniform thickness and will roll up. You’ll want to have at least 12-14 leaves suitable for making rolls.
- To make the roll, place about 1/4 C of the meat mixture on a leaf and roll the bottom over the meat about half-way. Fold the sides of the leaf in, then complete the roll. It can be helpful to secure the roll by slipping a toothpick through the fold. If used, the toothpick shouldn't spear the roll; instead, it goes in-and-out of the fold laterally.
Browning the Rolls
- Place 1/8 inch of olive oil in the bottom a skillet and bring to medium-high heat. Dredge the rolls in flour (this is where the toothpick is helpful) and place them in the hot pan, seam-side down. Cook until brown, then turn over and cook the other side until brown.
- Drain rolls briefly on paper towels.
Making the Gravy
- Make the beurre manié by kneading together the room-temperature butter and flour.
- Strain the reduced cabbage/brine mixture, saving 1 cup of the liquid and discarding the solids. Return to pot and continue to reduce until about ½ C remains.
- Add 1 C beef broth and the Kitchen Bouquet to the simmering cabbage liquid.
- Whisk in about 1/4 of the beurre manié and continue to simmer until gravy thickens slightly—about five minutes. Add more beurre manié if sauce is too watery, but you don't want a thick gravy. You can save the unused beurre manié in the refrigerator for at least a couple of weeks and use it later. It's great for making pan sauces or even French sauces like Bechamel or Veloute.
Finishing the rolls
- Spray a 9x15 baking dish with PAM or other cooking spray
- Drizzle some gravy in the prepared baking dish--enough to just cover the bottom.
- Arrange the rolls in the baking dish, then top with the remaining gravy.
- Cover and cook at 350 degrees for 90 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let rest for 20-30 minutes.
- Serve over egg noodles, seasoned with butter and cilantro. Use a green vegetable such as Brussels sprouts or asparagus as a side dish.
Notes
