No. 538 — Stuffed Cabbage
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 538 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
For six people, take two small cabbages weighing about three Russian pounds in all, without the stalks. Remove the green outer leaves, quarter each head and lower into salted boiling water for fifteen minutes. Bring to the boil twice, drain in a sieve and squeeze gently by hand.
Finely chop one Russian pound of tender beef and ½ pound of kidney fat. Add one teaspoon of salt, five crushed black peppercorns, five allspice berries, one finely chopped baked onion and about ¾ glass of cold water. Mix thoroughly.
Put this filling between the cabbage leaves in each quarter, tying the portions lightly with string.
Melt ½ spoonful of butter in a saucepan. Line the bottom with finely shredded raw carrot, parsley root, celery and potatoes, three allspice berries, three black peppercorns and half a bay leaf. Arrange a row of stuffed cabbage over the vegetables, then another layer of roots and spices and a bunch of dill, and finally the remaining cabbage.
Barely cover with thin broth, cover the saucepan and stew over low heat for one hour.
When the cabbage is tender, brown ½ spoonful of butter with one full spoonful of flour and dilute with the cabbage cooking broth. Bring to the boil.
Transfer the stuffed cabbage to a serving dish, arrange the stewed roots around it and pour over the sauce.
To provide
1 Russian pound of beef ½ Russian pound of kidney fat 2 spoonfuls of butter, or ¼ Russian pound 5 allspice and 5 black peppercorns 1 bunch of dill | 3 Russian pounds of cabbage 2 carrots and 2 parsley roots 1 celery root and 4 potatoes 1 large onion About 6 glasses of light broth |