Stuffed Cabbage... think I made a boo boo!!! (ingredients, goulash, paprika)

[movingon2vegas]

Okay I got a stuffed cabbage recipe from a friend.I normally don't cook outside of my comfort zone. I have a few dishes I'm good at and they are in heavy rotation! lol I usually stick to the basics. So today I decide to be daring and try a stuffed cabbage recipe. So the recipe calls for ground beef ad the meat of choice. I use sausage instead because I love sausage and... sausage and cabbage go together...right? In the recipe it said mix ingredients wrap inside of cabbage and bake in oven for 3.5 hrs without cooking the meat first. Now that I've done that I think... hmmm was that only for ground beef?? Since I used sausage instead should I have cooked it first?? Does anyone know??? I've never cooked sausage in the oven before. I don't want to get both my daughter and I sick!!

ANY help will be appreciated.

Thanks a bunch.

[kshe95girl]

sausage or ground beef, the same rules apply as far as internal temp. If you have a meat thermometer, insert it in one of the rolls, without putting it thru to the pan. 170 is the temp you should have......btw, I have used ground chicken, turkey and pork in my cabbage rolls, depending on my mood, its all good!
If the meat were precooked before putting in the rolls, it would be all dry and yucky.....

[I LOVE PA!]

I would think that 3.5 hours in the over would kill just about any little thing that would make you sick, wouldn't it?
Oh....what time is dinner by the way???

[LaceyEx]

That sounds like enough time-enjoy.

[South Range Family]

You cooked those tiny, little cabbage rolls for 3.5 hours????? How bad did they shrink?

Here's a decent chart to look at. Meat and Seafood Internal Temperature Cooking Chart, Meat Thermometer

Ground sausage should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 F. All ground meat is cooked to a slightly higher temperature than chunks or slabs of meat. That is because there is bacteria on the grinder that gets mixed throughout the meat. If it was just a steak, the bacteria is only on the surface.

I like to mix 3/4 pound of ground beef to a 1/4 pound of sausage, and some rice when I make stuffed cabbage. Cook at 350 F. for 1-1/2 hours. Don't forget the tomato juice.

[cynwldkat]

Originally Posted by South Range Family

You cooked them those tiny, little cabbage rolls for 3.5 hours????? How bad did they shrink?

Here's a decent chart to look at. Meat and Seafood Internal Temperature Cooking Chart, Meat Thermometer

Ground sausage should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 F. All ground meat is cooked to a slightly higher temperature than chunks or slabs of meat. That is because there is bacteria on the grinder that gets mixed throughout the meat. If it was just a steak, the bacteria is only on the surface.

I like to mix 3/4 pound of ground beef to a 1/4 pound of sausage, and some rice when I make stuffed cabbage. Cook at 350 F. for 1-1/2 hours. Don't forget the tomato juice.

Do you cook your meat first?Do you use cooked rice??

[LaceyEx]

I use raw meat and cooked rice.

[South Range Family]

Raw meat. Rice boiled for 8 minutes, then drained. No minute rice, or instant rice.

[Steve Bagu]

Oh boy, my mouth is watering for some. Being HUNGARIAN, my mother was born in Hungary and I was weened on cabbege rolls. Hungary,Poland,Russia and Checkoslavakia all made this dish, but prepared it a little different. Some used Pigs feet/sauerkraut/Pork/ground beef/tomato past/tomatos etc. My mother used all of these listed at one time or another. My dad and I liked the ground beef with a can of whole tomatos poured over the top while cooking. Its been a while so please bear with me. She would boil the rice a few mins. Mix the ground beef (raw) adding salt (to taste) blk pepper/red paprika/small onion cut fine. She would add the boiled rice to the meat mixture and stir with a large wooden spoon to blend all together. Now this can be put aside while the head of cabbage is boiling in a large pot of water. As the water boiled, she would slowly cut away each leaf as it seperated from the cabbage core. These leaves she put aside into a strainer until all had been cut loose. Some of the real small cabbage left overs she would tear up a little and place on the bottom of a LARGE POT. This is to keep the rolls from burning on the bottom while cooking. She would take a leaf,spoon an amount of the meat/rice mixture into the leaf/rolling forward and tucking the ends inward and placed it into the pot. When the meat/rolls are all done, any cabbage left over can be spread on the top. Place on stove,add water till it barely covers the rolls and now you have a choice of putting on top SAUERKRAUT/Can whole tomatos. Bring water in pot to boil and REDUCE HEAT for CABBAGE to COOK at LOW HEAT 1-1/2 hrs. Check occasionally to add a few drops of water as there will be some steam evaporating. CALL ME as I am getting hungry and would like French Bread with my meal. Such is a HUNGARIAN CABBAGE ROLLS. Stefhen (PISTA in HUNGARIAN)

[kshe95girl]

thanks Steve, i just pasted that into a document for my recipes! I bet you have a really good recipe for goulash, would you share it?