Cabbage Rolls, Southwestern Style

It's been said that I do things a little bit differently. I suppose that's true. Smoked Salmon Tamales. Sushi Ravioli. Stuff that comes out delicious, just different from anything anyone else does. So, not surprising that I make that old European favorite, Cabbage Rolls, into something completely different.

Why not though? Southwestern food is so unique, so flavorful, it lends itself to making EVERYTHING a bit better.

 They might look a might odd, but that's because the sauce I used was my best selling 'Passion of the Garlic' salsa. I make it with tomatillos and lots of oven roasted garlic. A bit of spice and this stuff is the absolute bomb, as my old dear friend Key always told me about the foods I used to make for her. 

This time, I had some organic pork from my friend Kenny the 
Fishhugger. (Kenny) Nice stuff, I browned some and used half for some tacos for someone. The other half I put in a glass container in the freezer for a couple weeks. I bought a big head of Savoy Cabbage at the farmers market and said to myself, "Self, this is going to be spectacular" Saying stuff like that to yourself is okay, I never answer myself back so all's good. My shrink said it's okay. So, I took a half a red onion and a yellow bell and diced them up. a cup of cooked brown rice (I always have extra, I eat it nearly every day) And I diced up about 3 ounces each of Mozzarella  and Asiago cheeses. Cooked the onion and pepper in a bit of olive oil about 4 minutes, then took off the heat and added a big bunch of fresh basil, oregano and thyme leaves from my patio garden in pots. Chopped of course. Threw in the frozen already cooked pork and let sit until the pork was thawed. Added the rice and cheeses, tossed well and then set aside. I love Savoy as the leaves come off easily. I removed eight of them, very few tears, so cool. I brought an inch of water to a boil in a stock pot and put the leaves in a metal colander and put inside the pot. Steamed them about ten minutes. Savoy are pretty hardy.

Then proceeded to let cool and roll them up into these babies. Oops, I poured about a quarter of the jar into the rice mix and tossed that as well. Then the rest of the jar of salsa, I mixed with a half jar of water. Poured a bit on the bottoms of the pans and after put the stuffed rolls into the pans, I poured the rest of the sauce over the tops.I covered with parchment paper, then sealed with aluminum foil. NEVER LET ALUMINUM FOIL TOUCH ANY FOOD!!!! That's why the paper first. Protection. And salsa is acidic, it would eat holes in the foil and if you ate that residue, then it does horrible things to your brain. Anyway, bake at 350 for an hour and holy cow, these are incredible

 

Yup