My wife and I have been planning to make my grandmother’s recipe for Pigs In The Blanket.
A dreary rainy afternoon in PA seemed like the perfect opportunity to make this delicious comfort food.
What is it about the dark rainy days that stir up the pleasant memories of your past?
The steady rhythm of rain drops persistently beating their sleepy song against the roof? The dark damp day that makes you want to burrow under a quilt with a good book or, like my wife, just take a nap? Or is it just being confined inside with fewer things to occupy your mind?
Whatever the reason trips down memory lane can certainly be a pleasant experience.
Combining these memories with a great meal from your past can be the icing on the cake!
My Grandma Lewis was definitely one of a kind.
She was a saint yet full of devil. Simple in her living yet wise to the ways of the world. She loved her family and loved to get together. Gram did not cook a lot in her older years but my youth is full of memories of her cooking. Recipes like these piggies that have been passed down to the next generation.
First let me say that these are real pigs in the blanket and not a wiener wrapped in refrigerated dough.
Although I imagine that they are probably pretty good as well.
For this recipe you will need your favorite ground meat, a cabbage, rice, onion, and spices.
Cook your rice and add to the meat along with onion, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Mix everything together while trying to avoid over mixing. Hands work the best for this task.
The recipe calls for the cabbage leaves to be par boiled.
My wife read about freezing the cabbage instead of boiling. We tried this method and it seemed to work just fine. Although, you need to allow time for the cabbage to thaw out.
Next she cut out the stiff stem of each cabbage leaf.
This probably would not be needed if you par boiled the leaves.
Next put a scoop of the meat mixture into a cabbage leaf.
You want a nice amount but not so much that you cannot roll the leaves up.
My wife enjoyed wrapping the little bundles as it reminded her of when my grandmother taught her how to wrap meat for the freezer.
Depending on how tight you can wrap you might need a toothpick to hold the cabbage together or just place the seam side down in the pan.
Once your pan is loaded pour canned tomato soup mixed with water or tomato juice over the little piggies. Your choice.
Baked covered with foil for at least two hours at 350.
I think these would do great in the crock pot as well.
We had the little piggies with some mashed taters and man were they good.
Another great meal brought about by even greater memories!
- 1 Lb ground meat
- 1 head cabbage
- 1 cup prepared rice
- ¼ onion diced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Garlic powder to taste
- Tomato soup or tomato juice
- Water
- Add rice and seasonings to the ground meat.
- Mix well but do not over mix.
- Pull leaves off of cabbage and par boil until tender.
- Remove cabbage from water and allow to cool until it can be handled without burning.
- Place a nice amount of meat mixture into a cabbage leaf and fold over and roll into a tight bundle.
- Place bundles in a baking dish and cover with canned tomato soup mixed with water or tomato juice.
- Cover with tin foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for two hours.
- Remove from oven and serve warm.
- If desired, use the remaining juice as a "gravy"
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