Meghan Gates’ Cabbage Rolls Recipe
Growing up visiting her grandparents’ small direct-to-consumer ranch ignited Meghan Gates’ love for beef, cattle and ranching. In 2016, when she started dating her now-husband, she was introduced to another side of ranching and began to learn more about the lifestyle.
“We have been growing our own cow herd since then, and my husband still looks after cattle full time, so cattle and beef are a huge part of our lives,” Gates says. “When we started selling our own beef directly to consumers, we had the same questions come up again and again. The average consumer typically doesn’t know what a cut sheet even is, let alone how to fill one out, where all the various cuts of beef come from and how to use less common cuts in their cooking.”
The need to inform consumers concerning any questions they may have, paired with Gates’ love for cooking and utilizing the whole animal, inspired her cookbook, “Foundations of Beef.” Featuring new, classic and reworked beef recipes, “Foundations of Beef” also provides a wealth of information regarding eating nose-to-tail, different cuts of beef, nutrition and more.
“‘Foundations of Beef’ was truly just a natural melding of all of these passions and dreams to fit what I thought was a real need,” Gates says. “This cookbook is your best friend if you’ve got a beef share in your freezer that you’re trying to use up. It’s a guide with recipes about how to utilize an entire beef, which most find intimidating but is so doable.”
Featured in the cookbook and inspired by her great-great-grandmother’s recipe, Gates’ Cabbage Rolls pay homage to her family’s strong German heritage.
“I love German food. Cabbage rolls are a traditional German dish, but this recipe is different from your typical cabbage roll recipe in several (and in my opinion, better) ways,” Gates explains. “This is a slightly revised version of my great-great-grandmother Matilda’s recipe. I push to get everyone to try this recipe because it’s so hearty and nourishing, but also amazingly warming and delicious. This is German comfort food at its finest, but people are often hesitant to try it, and I love getting them out of their comfort zones to try something new. This recipe features ground beef, bacon, cabbage and carrots, so it’s also great for fall and winter produce utilization.”
Cabbage RollsIngredients:
1 medium/large cabbage
1 pound hamburger
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 pint jar/can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup carrots, grated
1 teaspoon salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F. Fill a Dutch oven with water and bring to a boil. Carefully cut out the core of the cabbage and add to the hot water, cored side down. (You want the head to stay intact while it wilts.) Boil for about 5 minutes or until the leaves are wilted. You can take a leaf off the head and check to see if they are soft enough to roll.
Remove from the water and set aside to cool slightly. While cabbage is cooling, brown hamburger and onion in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Remove from heat. Stir in carrot, rice and seasonings to finish the filling.
Begin to remove leaves from the cabbage head carefully. Add a couple of small spoonfuls of filling to the center of the leaf and roll them, folding the sides up and ending with the outer part of the leaf tucked under the bottom of the roll. Arrange the rolls in a 9-by-13 pan. There should be about 12 rolls.
Spoon any extra filling between the rolls, and add any extra cabbage leaves on top of the rolls. Slowly pour broth over the rolls until the broth reaches almost to the tops of the rolls, but do not completely submerge them. Place bacon in strips over the tops of the rolls, overlapping slightly. Cover and bake at 375 F for 45 minutes. Uncover, increase oven temperature to 385 F, and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the bacon has browned and crisped.
“You will use a lot of bone broth in these cabbage rolls. It’s going to seem soupy before it goes in the oven, but trust the process! If you follow the instructions to the recipe, they will turn out great,” Gates advises. “This is not a cool and light meal by any means; it will fill your belly, stick to your ribs and warm your whole body. I like to serve this when my family is in town because I can assemble it beforehand in the day, pop it in my fridge until I’m ready to bake and then get to spend my time with friends instead of being tethered to the kitchen. It’s great for entertaining.”
Follow along with Gates’ cooking and ranching journey on Instagram @meghanlynngates. The “Foundations of Beef” e-book is available at goodhandle.net. Happy cooking!
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