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An eastern european classic that's good for a cold day. Here's my recipe:

Stuffed Cabbage

1 head cabbage
1 lb ground beef
? cup white rice (not quick-cook) uncooked
? large onion or 1 small onion
3 cloves garlic, minced fine
5 tBSP olive oil
Two 26.5 containers strained tomatoes OR equivalent amnt tomato sauce
1 TBSP salt plus more to taste
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp black pepper
3 TBSP garlic powder plus more to taste
3 TBSP tsp onion power plus more to taste
2 TBSP Worchestershire sauce
? cup red wine vinegar
3/8 cup sugar
Splash white wine (2-3 Tbsp)


Blanch cabbage for 7 minutes in boiling water, remove to cool and drain.

Make sauce: pour strained tomatoes or tomato sauce in saucepan. Add white pepper, 1.5 TBSP garlic powder, 1.5 TBSP garlic powder, vinegar and sugar. Bring to boil. Taste: add more of spices, sugar or vinegar to taste: You want a sweet/sour tangyness to the sauce. Simmer 10 minutes and then reserve.

Prepare filling: chop onion. In a dutch oven or large pan with lid, saute onion in 2 TBSP of olive oil until soft (5 min). Add garlic, saute 1 minute. Add wine and deglaze pan – scrape up bits stuck to bottom. Remove ? of onion, garlic and wine mixture to mixing bowl, leave rest in pan. Add ground beef to mixing bowl, add salt, black pepper, remaining 1.5 TBSP of garlic powder and onion powder, and worchestershire sauce. Add uncooked rice, ? cup of the reserved sauce, and mix thoroughly with hands.

Unpeel cabbage, cut the “vein” or hard part in the middle of each leaf out. Add approx 1/8 to ? cup filling to leaf and roll up, aiming to completely cover filling and roll up like a burrito. You can be messy – just make sure they are rolled up fairly tight. You will want to cover the bottom of your dutch oven with the rolls – so freeze any extra filling. Avoid middle leaves which are small and not pliable.

Add 3 tbsp olive oil to dutch oven (on top of the ground beef/onion mix you've left in the dutch over), then carefully pack in the rolled cabbage into the dutch oven. Pour enough sauce over the rolls to cover and then a little more. Cover and bring to boil, then simmer for approximately 45 minutes, remove cover and simmer 5 minutes more. Do not stir during this process. Remove from heat, let rest 5 minutes, and serve with plenty of sauce. Good with mashed potatoes.

Grilled Swordfish
Grilled swordfish poached in olive oil and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Accompanied with roasted tomatoes and grilled red onions. ($25)

This was a special for the evening. It is not on the menu.

Notes: I was a little confused on the cooking technique for this fish. Our server had described it to us as "braised." I think he meant poached in olive oil - as that is how this fish tasted. Normally, I don't like swordfish because it's too meaty and dense (and I didn't order this one either). However, this cut tasted like it was poached in olive oil - it was tender, and silky. But, the grill marks are a mystery to me... perhaps they poached it first and then quickly seared it on the grille for the marks... not sure.

The first bite was a tad fish - but the rest of the cut, save the part near the skin was very good. The swordfish tasted very fresh, which may explain the pricetag.