How do you prepare the cabbage for stuffed cabbage recipe.?

Do you cut the end of the cabbage off before putting in boiling water. Do you leave it in tack? Then how long do you boil a 4 lb head for? Along with the meat and seasonings do you put in sauerkraut. I don't want any tomatoe sauce in it.How do you prepare the cabbage for stuffed cabbage recipe.?
I see your dilemma Marlene, the other recipes didn't explain the technique. Yes you cut the bottom off, I put a couple Tbs. of vinegar and salt in the water. What you're doing when you put the Cabbage in the water is not cooking it but blanching (making it soft and plyable) it. About 5 min. later pull it out and put it in a colander to drain and cool, so you can handle it. Once it cooled you can cut a bit more off the bottom and peel away the leaves you'll use for stuffing. Even the smaller leaves can be used if you double them up, you'll tie them together any way. As for no Tomato sauce that's fine, an alternate could be Au ju thickend with corn starch. Enjoy, hope this helpsHow do you prepare the cabbage for stuffed cabbage recipe.?
Here's my recipe - just leave out the tomatoes.





';Stuffed Cabbage'; - Serves 4





1 head of cabbage


1 lb. lean ground beef


1 small minced onion


1 mashed clove garlic


3/4 tsp. salt


1/4 tsp. pepper


1 tbsp. dried parsley


2 cups canned tomatoes (reserve juice)





Cut the core out of the cabbage and remove 8 large leaves. Shred the rest of the head as for cole slaw. Soak leaves a few minutes in hot water to make them less brittle and easy to roll. Combine the meat, onion, garlic, parsley and seasonings. When leaves are soft, put a portion of meat on each leaf and roll up. Tuck the ends in or secure with toothpicks. Put the shredded cabbage in a large saucepan or kettle with the tomatoes and 1/2 cup of the tomato juice. Place the stuffed leaves on top, close together. Cover and simmer over low heat until cabbage is tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Add more juice from tomatoes if the pot seems to be going dry.
If you don`t use tomato there is no sense to making it.
carefully pull the leaves off of the head intact,then parboil or blanche them in boiling salted water for 2 - 3 minutes or until they are pliable but not so soft they fall apart. You can also just parboil the entire head until the leaves come loose - 3 - 5 minutes. Rinse in cold water, lay out flat to drain and then proceed with your recipe
Just remove the core and separate the leaves then par boil for 4-5 minutes or until the leaves are pliable enough to use. You can use sauerkraut in the meat mixture if you wish and I would serve with a light brown, espagnole or madiera sauce.