Red Velvet Cake II - Diane C Kosowicz

Red Velvet Cake

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons baking cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cup Whole buttermilk
• 4 oz red food coloring
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350. Cream shortening and sugar together until fluffy. Beat in the eggs. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and salt and add alternately with the buttermilk and red color to the creamed mixture. Dissolve the baking soda in the vinegar and fold in. (the baking soda will foam up. do not use mixer, FOLD in with spatula) You should bake in two 9 inch round pans, or preferably three 8 inch pans. Pans should be greased and floured. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done. Done is when the top springs back. Cool on racks, then frost with Red Velvet Cake frosting.

Frosting....I do not measure this really so I'll try to come close.

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 3 very well rounded tablespoons unbleached flour
• 1+ about 1/8 cup Whole milk
• 5 tablespoons shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• large pinch salt
• about a tablespoon vanilla

PLEASE NOTE: Whole Milk must be USED!

In a heavy sauce pan mix flour and milk until smooth. heat, stirring until the mixture thickens, set off stove. Cream butter, shortening, sugar and salt until light fluffy add vanilla. Combine the milk mixture and creamed mixture, starting a slow speed and working up to high whip speed. Continue whipping until very fluffy. Frost and fill the layers. Cake may be refrigerated, the frosting will become solid or the cake may be left in sealed cake protector for frosting to remain loose.

Ukrainian Stuffed Cabbage-Cabbage Rolls-Голубец-Holubtsi - Diane C Kosowicz

Ok, you asked for it. Here is the way Baba taught me do make Stuffed Cabbage. This is not an easy or neat undertaking. You will make a mess or you're not doing it right!



First what you need: 

• 1. Ground beef, pork and veal. You can buy this already packaged, but I buy mine separately. I can't give you an exact amount, I don't measure, but the ratio is about 1/2 ground beef, 1/4 ground pork and 1/4 ground veal. For me it's two handfuls beef, one handful pork, one handful veal. They are very generous handfuls. Mix together
• 2. A blob of shkvartkies (bacon grease). My blob was about 2 1/2 tablespoons.
• 3. A medium onion, chopped fine
• 4. 1/4 stick unsalted butter 
• 5. 4 small cans or two large cans Campbell's tomato soup
• 8. 1 cup dry Carolina Long Grain rice
• 9. A large head of green cabbage 
• 10. Sea salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
• 11. Water

Tools: Heavy frying pan, Large deep baking pot WITH A LID (I now use an electric Nesco Roaster), a large stock pot (big enough to heat water to cover the large head of cabbage), a 2 qt sauce pot, a carving fork to hold the cabbage in the water, a very large bowl to mix meat, another bowl for the cabbage leaves, a sharp knife, tongs and a tablespoon.
Prep: Cook rice with 1 3/4 cup water until water is gone in 2 qt pot. Add cooked rice to the large bowl. Put pot of water in stock pot, enough to cover cabbage head on stove on medium heat. Put shkvartkies and butter in the frying pan on low heat to melt, when melted add onions and saute until just translucent. Add contents of fry pan to rice in bowl. Add meat mixture to bowl, Add two cans (or one large can) of tomato soup to bowl (just soup, NO WATER). Add salt and pepper (can't give amounts, you have to play). Mix all together until very well blended. Set aside.

Water in stock pot should be hot by now; you want to keep this just under boiling. Stick the carving fork into the cabbage at the core and put it into the hot water. You want to blanch the cabbage leaves. This will also soften them up making it easier to stuff them. Use the knife to cut away the leaves, and the tongs to remove them from the hot water into the bowl. They should just have a slight change of color when they're ready to put into bowl. When you have cut away all the leaves big enough to stuff, cut off the ones remaining to line the bottom of the baking pot. The first few leaves (big ones) should be kept for covering stuffed ones. Cover the bottom of the baking pot with the smallest leaves. Save the water. Turn oven on to 350 now to preheat.

My Baba and Mom made stuffed cabbages that were all the same size. Here is where I differ. Mine are whatever size they are, period. So, take one cabbage leaf at a time and stuff just enough meat mixture in so that you can roll it and push in the sides to have a roll with closed ends. Arrange the stuffed leaves neatly in the baking pot until all the meat mixture has been used. You can stack the rolls.

Put the remaining 2 cans of tomato soup into the empty mixture bowl. Add just enough water from the pot you used to blanch cabbage leaves to cover the cabbage rolls in the baking pot. Mix soup and hot water well and scrape sides of bowl well. Carefully pour this over the cabbage rolls. Cover the rolls with the large reserved leaves. Put the lid on pot and place into oven. After 20 minutes reduce heat to 325. Bake at 325 for 1 hr 45 minutes, reduce to 250 and bake for 20 minutes more. Done.

Serve carefully as the rolls will disintegrate if you just dig. (This made Baba VERY angry!) Unused portion can be refrigerated and reheated. To reheat you can heat in oven or on stove top. Microwave is NOT recommended