Well, episode four was the last show before the final round, which will air on December 26 – Boxing Day – on Food Network Canada.  Ingredients on this episode included frozen deep fried pickles and tempeh in the appetizer round as well as white chocolate chips and pizza dough for dessert.  However, for the main course, the four mandatory ingredients were:  Frenched Berkshire pork chops, conehead cabbage, soft goat cheese and French onion dip.  So what would I make if I had to participate?  Cabbage rolls, of course.

Use pork chops in a cabbage roll?  Why not?

First, the pork is deboned, chopped into bite sized pieces, seasoned (minced garlic as well as dried oregano, basil and black pepper) and mixed along with some chopped onions and celery as well as grated carrots and mixed with some tomato sauce and French onion dip.    After rinsing the cabbage, it is blanched in hot water and cooled in ice water before the rolls are put together.  Rolls are then topped with some pico de galo and soft goat cheese and baked in a 350 F oven for two hours or until tender.

While the rolls are cooking in the oven, it is time to prepare the side dish.  Quinoa and cracked freekeh (cracked freekeh has the same cooking time as quinoa while whole freekeh takes approximately 40 minutes) are rinsed and placed in a saucepan.  Boil in twice the amount of water for approximately 15 minutes.  Drain any water remaining.  While the quinoa and freekeh are cooking, saute portobello and white mushrooms in a little bit of olive oil.  Once the mushrooms are cooked, it is time to plate.  The quinoa and freekeh are plated first, followed by two rolls and some of the sauce it was cooked in and then the mushrooms.  Top the dish off with some chopped parsley if desired.

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