Cabbage Tamales

1. Freeze the cabbage leaves or blanch them for about 3 minutes in a large pot of boiling water to soften.

2. Place the ground beef, rice, tomato sauce, chile powder, garlic, onion, salt, and black pepper in a bowl. Mix with your hands until combined. Divide the meat mixture into 8 portions and place the meat on the softened cabbage leaves. Roll the leaves up to form logs and tuck the edges under the logs.

3. Place the tamales into a pressure cooker or slow cooker. Pour diced tomatoes with green chiles over tamales.

4. To cook tamales in a pressure cooker: seal the lid of the pressure cooker and bring it up to full pressure. Reduce the heat to low, maintaining full pressure, and cook for 1 hour. Use the quick-release function or allow the pressure to reduce naturally.

5. To cook tamales in a slow cooker: place the lid on the slow cooker and set it on High. Cook the tamales for 4 hours.

Cook's Notes:

I also make this in the morning and bake it in the evening. I put them into a 9x13-inch baking dish and bake them for 2 hours, topped with tomatoes and green chiles and covered with foil, at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). The tamales can be frozen for up to three months.

If you can't find canned tomatoes with green chiles and garlic, use 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup canned chopped green chiles, and 1 tablespoon minced garlic.