Lloyd Craft Farms Fresh Produce, Locally Grown

Everyone got a head of cabbage in their share this week. FULL Share’s got a smaller head–Gonzales Variety. The Gonzales seed was originally ordered to provide a small head before the regular cabbage was mature. However, both the Farao and Gonzales matured at the same time. Next week the HALF Shares will get the Gonzales cabbage, a common variety in the European supermarkets. Gonzales is touted to be ‘dense, uniform, sweetly spicy mini-heads’–Let me know if you find this to be true. 🙂

Below is my recipe for CABBAGE BURGERS…check out the RECIPE PAGE for other cabbage recipes. (For the story about The Farmer and his ‘love of hot sauce’ check out FARM TALES)

35. Cabbage Burgers
(My Own Special Recipe–The Farmer’s Wife)

Everyone in the Big Horn Basin loves cabbage burgers, and most have their own special way of making them. My first attempt, early in my married life, was using my mother-in-law’s recipe–she had informally jotted down the ingredients, assuming I knew some of the basics about cooking. I didn’t…I mixed all the ingredients together, including the raw hamburger, rolled all in the dough, and baked them in the oven. Needless to say, it took FOREVER for them to cook, and they were greasy. The Farmer ate them with hot sauce–loads piled on, and I became a better cook over the years.

Ingredients:
2 pounds hamburger
1 head cabbage
1 onion
optional: 1 cup grated zucchini or any other summer squash
optional: 1 cup grated carrots
optional: bacon or 5 drops of liquid smoke
Roll dough–I use frozen dinner rolls-thaw in fridge overnight

Directions:
1. Cook hamburger and onion in a huge skillet or dutch oven. Salt and pepper to taste. Drain grease. Bacon would be cooked with the hamburger at this time, too.
2. Add cabbage and any other veggies. Cook until tender. Turn off burner and let the mixture cool. (Add liquid smoke.) Grease cookie sheet.
3. Roll out dough–two dinner rolls combined, then spoon about 1/2 cup of filling into the middle of the rolled out dough. Pull all the edges up, and gently shape the burger and place on the cookie sheet, seam side down. (If the dough is too thin it will tear; if it is too thick you’ll have more dough than filling when it is cooked. If the dough won’t adhere to itself, it could be that some of the filling is in the way.) Let burgers rise a bit before placing them in the oven–5 to 10 minutes, depending on the room temperature. (I’m a slow worker, so by the time I get the last one ‘tucked’ and on the tray, they have risen…)
4. Place in 350 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes or until a golden brown color. Let cool 5-10 minutes before serving. You can butter the cabbage burgers when you take them out of the oven.

When my kids were younger, I made these as veggie burgers–no meat. They’re great! You can let them cool completely, wrap in foil, and freeze to enjoy in the winter time. I freeze them individually, and then combine 5-6 in a gallon ziplock. For us, we take them out of the freezer the night before and let them thaw in the fridge. Next day they can be heated up in the microwave or reheated in the oven.