1/01/2012

{Recipe} Cabbage Burgers and Happy New Year

Last Week I Guest Posted over at One Artsy Mama, I love her blog and all of the great projects she does for kids.  She asked me to post about a holiday tradition and I chose one of the best.

Growing up, New Years Day was always one of my favorite holidays.  
New Years Day meant Cabbage Burgers.  
It is the only day of the year we get them, which makes them taste extra good.  
For the first time in my 27 years of life I have broke the tradition and made Cabbage Burgers early, so that I could take a picture for this post.

The legend for New Years Day is...  however much cabbage you eat on the first day of the year, that is how much fortune/prosperity you will have in the coming year.  
We eat Cabbage Burgers, 
Homemade KFC Coleslaw, 
and yummy Oriental Cabbage Salad.  

A southern tradition is to also eat as many black eyed peas as you can for luck.  
My great grandma who originates from Louisiana, brings those every year.  
I don't need luck that bad, because those are not my favorite:)  


When most people hear about cabbage burgers they're like, "What is that?" 
 I think it comes from Germany, though my heritage is French, so who knows how it came about... as it was pointed out to me this week, it makes sense that it most likely originated in Ireland.
 
When people hear about it, they are skeptical until they try it.  
My mom got the recipe from my dad's side of the family and it has spread to multiple family members now.  Now I spread it further by sharing it with you.



Cabbage Burger Recipe

A double batch of Homemade Bread Dough rolled out 1/4 inch thick and cut into 5x5 inch squares
1 large + 1 small head of Green Cabbage- shredded
approx. 2lbs Ground Beef
1 medium Onion- minced
Salt and Pepper to taste

Makes approx 30 burgers

Drop the ground beef and minced onion into a large stock pot and start browning the beef and onions. 
 Do not drain.  Start adding cabbage until it reaches the top of the pot.  You probably won't be able to fit all of the cabbage in at once, so wait until it cooks down, add the rest until it all fits.

After everything has been in the pot for about an hour on medium heat you are ready to add it to the bread dough.  Roll it out 1/4 inch thick and cut it into 5x5 inch squares.  Place a spoonful of the cabbage mix in the middle of the dough square.  Pull all of the sides up and pinch it in the middle so that no filling falls out.  Flip the burger over and bake at 350 degrees until the bottoms of the burgers are browned. 
 I start checking at about seven minutes on my oven.  As soon as they are browned pull them out and butter the tops.  Let it cool for a couple of minutes then dig into the deliciousness:)

My mom and I use homemade dough, but to simplify, you could totally use Rhodes Rolls and Cole Slaw Shredded Cabbage bags.
These may just taste ordinary to you, but they are special because I only get them once a year. 
May you have a 
Happy New Year 
filled withProsperity and Luck in 2012.