SWEET & SOUR CABBAGE ROLLS

Sweet & Sour Cabbage Rolls image

After combing through dozens of cabbage roll recipes on Zaar, this is the only one I could find that has a sauce quite like this one. The secret ingredients are bottled chili sauce and grape jelly. There is also no rice and no brown sugar in this recipe and there are no tomatoes except for ketchup. Adapted from "Best of the Best of Georgia." Recipe may be halved. This makes 28 cabbage rolls, great for a potluck.

Provided by HeatherFeather

Categories Vegetable

Time 3h30m

Yield 28 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 12

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Ingredients

3 lbs lean ground beef
2 teaspoons salt, to taste
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons celery salt, to taste
1/2 cup ketchup
2 large eggs
1/2 cup crushed unsalted cracker (measure after crushing)
2 heads green cabbage
6 quarts boiling water
3 cups onions, chopped
2 cups bottled mild chili sauce (such as Heinz)
1 (12 ounce) jar grape jelly

Steps:

Core the cabbages and place into large pot; pour boiling water over the cabbage and let stand until the leaves start to get soft enough to bend and can be easily pulled from th heads (5 minutes or so); you may need to pull off some of the outer leaves, then return the cabbage head to the pot to soften the middle ones; drain leaves well in a colander.
This leaf peeling process takes some time, but you want to get enough intact leaves to make 28 cabbage rolls.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Combine meat with seasonings, ketchup, eggs, and crushed crackers, mixing by hand just until combined- don't overwork.
Using a 1/4 cup measure, scoop up a scant 1/4 cupful of the meat mixture, then use hands to form the meat into an oblong shape- about 3" long; make 28 oblong meat shapes.
Place a meat shape onto one of the cabbage leaves, folding the top of the leaf over the meat snugly, then folding in one side, then rolling forward a bit, then the other side, and rolling all the way up.
Repeat until you have 28 filled cabbage leaves.
Place chopped onion into the bottom of a very large roasting pan (12"x11" size).
Place cabbage rolls neatly on top of the onions in rows.
Combine chili sauce and jelly with 1/4 cup water in a small pan over medium heat, stirring until jelly melts.
Pour over cabbage rolls.
Cover pan tightly with foil and bake for 2 hours.
Remove foil, baste rolls with sauce, and then return to the oven uncovered for 40 minutes more- or until sauce has thickened and rolls are glazed.
Ladle sauce over rolls to serve.