Occassionally, I crave stuffed cabbage rolls. Must be something from my childhood. It's hard to find some that taste just right and satisfy my cravings. But, these do it amazingly well! I think these are some of the best I've ever had.

This recipe is from Andreas Viestad's book "Kitchen of Light". Pennie and I made them for our Scandanavian Quarterly Culinary Adventure.

Serves 4

1/2 cup salt
12 large cabbage leaves, trimmed, rough stems removed
2 Tb unsalted butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/2 lb ground pork
1/4 lb ground beef
1/2 cup cooked long grain white rice ( Premium White Rice? from Whole Foods)
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp ground fennel (we toasted the spices and ground them, I think)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp veg. Oil
1 TB maple syrup (or sugar)
Lingonberry Preserves or whole berry cranberry sauce

In a large pot, bring water and salt to a boil over high heat. Place 6 cabbage leaves in the pot. Reduce to medium-low and cook 3-4 minutes until soft, but not limp. Drain on paper towel. (We had to blanche the whole head of lettuce a few times to get the leaves off) Cook all the leaves. Cut them lengthwise, in half, removing tough center rib (we didn't do this and just used leaves as is and it was just fine)

Heat 1 TB butter in large non-stick skillet. Saute onion and garlic until golden. Remove from heat.

In a bowl, combine ground meats, rice, the sauteed onion-garlic mixture (set the skillet aside to use again later) and milk until you have a loose mixture. Season with fennel, cumin, salt and pepper.

Place one cabbage leaf on work surface. Place 2-3 heaping TB of meat in center and mold into cylinder. Fold and roll, tucking in ends. Repeat till all done.

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease large baking dish with vegetable oil.

Heat remaining 1 Tb butter in the skillet. Add 4-6 rolls at a time. Sprinkle with maple syrup and cook till golden, 2-3 minutes. Transfer to baking dish. When done sautéing all rolls, deglaze the skillet with 1/2 cup water. Boil down till reduced to 2-3 TB and pour over the rolls.

Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Let cool a little and serve with Lingonberry preserves. (Great brand:   Scandinavian Delights from Cost Plus World Market on 28 th St, in Boulder)