Golabki - Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

When I was a little girl, my mom tried to make cabbage rolls because she wanted us to try new things. I remember watching her prepare them in a completely different manner than I do, but only because she didn't know how to do it from scratch. She used ground beef and minute rice she didn't cook, egg to bind, maybe salt and pepper, then wrapped in the cabbage leaves and poured some off brand of spaghetti sauce over them before baking, as opposed to the way I do it. Needless to say, we were a bit young to understand cabbage rolls and it wasn't very popular in our household. Mom got discouraged and never tried it again.

I was running my old blog and was looking for ideas on what to do for a post, and then I fell asleep while watching Martha Stewart. The episode I woke up to was the one where she was making cabbage rolls, and I thought back to my childhood when mom was trying to get us to eat them. So thus, I went looking for a good recipe through my family, as opposed to online, because I really wanted to pay homage to my mom and my great aunts. My grandmother ended up handing me a cookbook that had a receipt in it, and I opened it up... It was right on the page with cabbage rolls! Thanks, Grandma! It was funny because she didn't put the receipt there knowing that I wanted to do this.

I brought the cook book home, and then I took the recipe there, the methods I saw Martha doing with blanching the whole head of cabbage and peeling leaves, added seasonings I thought would work besides just paprika and parsley, and cooked it on the stove instead of in the oven (another method I saw Martha use). If you cannot tell, her shows are my guilty pleasure. Don't hate.

What ended up happening was beautiful. Not only did I make something that I used to loathe and really liked it, but I bonded with my mother over it, as well as my grandmother. It just goes to show that food isn't just about sustenance, but also the joy that it can bring and the memories. The best part of having done these that first time was the look of enjoyment on my mom's face, she ended up liking my version so much that sometimes she would go and buy the ingredients and say, "Hint, hint."

Fair warning to those of you who have never made these before, they are a labor of love. You have a lot of prep work to do just to get them from point A, to point B, but it is completely worth it in the end. Golabki (Pronounced Golumki) are made different by people in Poland, as well as those of us in the US who love to make it. The recipe I saw on a youtube channel ran by an infamous former talk show host, well... She used mushrooms in hers. I wrinkled my nose but to each their own (besides, I am allergic).

Either way you look at it, these are high on the list of comfort foods to eat and enjoyed by many.

THE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

1. 1 Lb ground beef
2. 1 lb ground pork
3. 1 cup cooked rice
4. 1/2-1 cup tomato juice
5. Seasonings To Taste: Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Parsley, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder
6. 1 Head of cabbage
7. 1 pot of salted water
8. 4 cups tomato juice
9. 2 cans petite diced tomatoes
10. Same seasoning as above, plus caraway seed

EQUIPMENT

• Large Mixing Bowls
• Dutch Oven
• Cutting Board
• Measuring Cup or small bowl for cabbage water
• Paring knife
• Chef knife
• Large spoons for turning cabbage
• Tongues to peel leaves

Meat Mixture:

• Mix ground beef and pork together
• Add rice and tomato juice, along with seasoning
• Mix until a loose meatloaf typed consistency
• Cover and set aside in fridge

Cabbage:

• Remove the core using a paring knife, be careful. This is to help the leaves pull off a lot easier during the blanching process.
• Place core side down in boiling water, turn after a minute, and peel the layers of leaves as they become easy to do so. You do not want to cook the leaves too much as it will affect the flavor.
• Drop leaves into an ice bath or spray with cold water to stop the cooking process.
• Gather as many leaves as you think you can fit into a dutch oven with juice and tomatoes
• Shred up the remainder of the head

Assembly:

• Trim any of the thicker ridges from the big leaves for easier rolling
• Place a leaf flat on your work space, take 3-4 TBSP of the meat mixture and form into small log, then place onto leaf toward the end where the ridge is or was
• Fold over the ridge end first, then the sides, and roll toward the opposite end.
• Place a layer of sauce and diced tomatoes w/seasoning, then some of the shredded cabbage, and place the assembled rolls on top of that, add some of the cabbage water too to tie in flavors.
• Layer until you can't fit any more ingredients in the pot, cover, and stew at medium temperature for 60-90 minutes or until the meat mixture is done and please do not be alarmed by the oil bubbles at the top, it is hard to skim off the extra fat when the pot is full, and it is bound to happen when you are stewing uncooked ground pork and beef. It's perfectly normal! If you want to get rid of the excess oils, just remove all of the cabbage rolls from the pot, then skim the top.
• Serve and enjoy.

Prep time 45-60 minutes, cook time 60-90 minutes.

I hope you enjoyed this reblog as much as I did with making it. Please do enjoy this comfort food, it is one of the tastiest things if you like cabbage!

Happy Eating,
--Kimmie