I love cruising through YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and other sights with an eye out for authentic old recipes and old cooks.  I follow “Pasta Grannies”, “Friends Who Love Italian Food”,  and just anything that pops up when I google a recipe.  A few years ago we went to Puerto Rico and I fell in love.  The people, the food, the culture were so special to me.  I talked to many people about food, and came home with a huge desire to re-create some of the foods I found there.  Majorca’s come to mind.  I searched them on YouTube and ran across this lady from San Juan who made them in her kitchen.  The video was extremely ‘rustic’.  She wore an old tee-shirt, obviously took no care for her appearance, and you could hear her grandkids yelling the the background.  All this and she had 188,000 views!  That was the day I decided I could do Instagram videos, and maybe eventually even have my own YouTube channel. (My grandkids don’t yell much anymore).  Anyway, I forgot all about the quality of the video and learned in detail how to make Majorca’s (a Puerto Rican sweet bread similar to cinnamon rolls).  I was so thrilled with the results that I ended up giving a pan full to my Puerto Rican friend, Maytee, for her birthday.  She pronounced them Excellent!  But I digress……back to Cabbage Rolls.

I don’t think anyone in the world makes better cabbage rolls than me (my mom’s recipe). But if you go to the table of contents in this blog you can see that this method is much different.  Mine are sweeter, and they are smothered in sweetened saurkraut.  These are more savory.   Thank you Gramma Gina, for this new method.  I am one of your 423,000 fans!

Core the cabbage and gently remove the leaves, trying to keep them whole.  Drop them in boiling water for about 30 seconds.  Gently remove  from water and set aside on a towel.

Make the sauce by sautéing the garlic and onion till soft.  Add all the other ingredients and simmer about 20 minutes while you make the filling.

Saute the onion, garlic and beef.  Then put all the ingredients  (except the cheese)  in a large bowl, mix and stuff the cabbage leaves with about 1/3 cup filling. Push into a 9×13 baking dish, pour sauce over and cover with cheese.  Bake about 35-45 minutes at 350.  Enjoy!