Recipe Highlights: Benny Blanco’s Cabbage Rolls

Ingredients (Serves 6-8):
1 large or 2 medium heads green cabbage (about 3lbs), 2 onions (chopped), 6 cloves garlic (chopped), 2 tbsp unsalted butter, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, 2lbs ground beef (80% fat), ¾ cup uncooked white rice, 2 eggs, 1 can crushed tomatoes, 1 cup water, ½ cup chopped golden raisins, 1 cup granulated sugar, ½ cup ketchup, juice of 3 lemons, juice of 1 orange, ½ cup sauerkraut, ½ cup white wine vinegar, ½ tbsp cinnamon.

Method:
1. Prepare Cabbage: Remove core and separate leaves. Blanch in salted water until pliable. Cool and remove ribs.
2. Cook Onions and Garlic: Sauté onions and garlic in butter with salt over medium heat until softened.
3. Combine Filling: Mix beef, rice, eggs, half the sautéed onion mixture, salt, and pepper. Fill and roll cabbage leaves.
4. Make Sauce: Combine remaining onion mixture with tomatoes, water, raisins, sugar, ketchup, lemon juice, orange juice, chopped cabbage, sauerkraut, vinegar, and cinnamon. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Assemble Rolls: Layer sauce in a pan, pack cabbage rolls, cover with remaining sauce, and sprinkle with sugar.
6. Bake: Place on center rack at 350°F (177°C) for 2 to 2.5 hours until meat is tender and rice cooked.

Recipe Highlights: Felicity Cloake’s Vietnamese Summer Rolls

Ingredients (Makes 8):
150g pork belly (optional), salt, 16 large prawns (optional), 1 lemongrass stalk (crushed), 200-225g rice vermicelli or other rice noodles, 8 rice paper wrappers, herbs (mint, coriander, Thai basil, etc.), 1 carrot (grated), ¼ cucumber (matchsticks), 1 soft lettuce, 4 tbsp roasted peanuts.

Dipping Sauce:
1 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 garlic clove (crushed), 1 bird’s eye chili (sliced).

Method:
1. Poach Pork: Boil pork in salted water until cooked through. Cool and slice.
2. Poach Prawns: Boil water with lemongrass and salt. Poach prawns until pink. Drain and halve.
3. Cook Noodles: Soak noodles in boiling water with salt until al dente. Drain and dry.
4. Prepare Wrappers: Soften rice paper wrappers in cold water.
5. Fill and Roll: Place fillings on the softened wrapper and roll tightly.
6. Dipping Sauce: Mix sugar with lime juice, add fish sauce, garlic, and chili.

Assembly Notes: Prepare everything ahead but assemble rolls just before eating for freshness or set up an assembly station for guests.

Benny Blanco’s “Open Wide: A Cookbook For Friends” is available from Dey Street Books for £25. Photography by Johnny Miller.