Today's recipe is cabbage stuffed with rice and meat flavored with garlic and other yummy seasonings. Preparing this dish is a bit time-consuming, but I promise it is worth it. Our favorite joke about Lebanese food is it takes hours to prepare, and only minutes to eat up!
Ingredients:
1 whole cabbage
1/2 pound of ground beef or diced steak
3/4 cup of uncooked rice
2 tablespoons of melted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
5 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Instructions:
1. Fill a pot with salted water and bring to boil
2. Clean cabbage by peeling the outer layer and cutting the core out as much as you can, place cabbage into the boiling water
3. As the cabbage cooks, peel the layers off until wilted and remove to a strainer
4. Once the cabbage is cooked, lie cabbage on cutting board and cut out center triangle of each cabbage leaf, then cut leaf in half (unless it is smaller than the others, you want to be able to roll the cabbage leaf)
5. Line up the bottom of a pot with some cut up cabbage to cover
6. In a bowl, add uncooked rice, meat, melted butter, salt, pepper, and mix well. Eva uses her hands to blend the ingredients well
7. For each individual cabbage leaf, place about 1/2 an ounce of the mixture onto it and roll (it's easier to lay the cabbage leaf on a cutting board and roll) squeeze the rolled cabbage for any excess liquid
8. Pile each rolled cabbage leaf in pot (in a circle starting from the outer edge)
9. Slice 3 peeled garlic cloves in half and tuck into pot between rolls of cabbage
10. Sprinkle salt on top and cover with oven proof plate to keep them together
11. Pour enough water to cover bottom part of the plate
12. Turn stove on high and bring to boil
13. Once boiling, simmer on low heat and cover for about 45 minutes. Around 30 minutes in, if most juice is gone, remove plate and continue to cook
14. In another bowl, mince 2 garlic cloves and add in 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and pour on top of cabbage before turning the stove off
15. Rest for 5 minutes for the garlic and lemon juice to soak through
Source: Eva's Lebanese Cooking