Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

I am part Irish, and so is my husband. My husband's great-great-grandfather immigrated from Ireland in the late 1880s at the age of 15 by himself  and went on to be a great American cowboy.  After getting off the boat, he rode the train out West before jumping on a stage coach to the Oklahoma territory where he worked on his Uncle's ranch.   He lost his hat while traveling to Oklahoma - a must have item for any cowboy.  But he didn't have money to buy a new one so a store owner loaned him a hat until he could earn enough money to buy his own.    He became a well-known and respected cowboy and later a successful banker. 


Even though we are part Irish, I must admit we haven't cooked any traditional authentic Irish foods. When I think of Irish food, the quintessential ingredients that come to mind are potatoes and cabbage. Earlier this week I shared on of my favorite potato recipes for Creamy Potato Soup. Today I made these delicious Cabbage Rolls stuffed with a mixture of ground beef and rice. This is the first time I've made these and they were so delicious!

Ingredients:
1 large whole cabbage
2 lbs ground beef
1 cup cooked white rice
1/2 onion finely diced
1 whole egg
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce

First carefully remove the leaves of the cabbage one by one, if they are particularly tight you can cut them away from the base of the cabbage first then peel them off. You will need about 12-15 large cabbage leaves. Once you get to the center of the cabbage with the small thick leaves just chop these up and save for your Garden Vegetable Soup...that's what I did. Boil the leaves whole in a large pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. Then remove and set aside to drain and cool.
Next in a mixing bowl mix thoroughly all the remaining ingredients except for the sauce. Place a heaping spoonful of the mixture into the center of one cabbage leaf. Fold in the sides then roll up the leaf. Think of wrapping the mixture like you would a burrito. Place in a 9x13 baking dish (or smaller individual baking dishes) seam side down. Repeat until you have used all of the ground beef mixture.

 Next add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the baking dish. This will help the cabbage to steam. Cover the cabbage rolls with your favorite sauce. Bake in a 350 oven covered for 1hr and 15 minutes or until the cabbage is tender and the meat is cooked through.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did! And to my readers in Ireland - Please share some of your favorite traditional Irish foods.

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