Gołąbki (Cabbage Rolls)

 

     I was blessed to grow up in a home where we had a strong tradition of certain foods for certain occasions; pierogis, perishky (little sauerkraut buns); kutia at Christmas, and of course, cabbage rolls (Holubtsi in Ukrainian;  Gołąbki in Polish) at least once or twice a year. I also danced at the Polish club for 10 years, then came back and volunteered when my kids danced, for Folklorama, a wonderful cultural event in our city; Gołąbki was definitely a favorite on the menu!  Our city also has a large Slavic population, so pretty much any wedding or large family gathering we attended had pierogis and cabbage rolls for dinner.

I've had good ones, great ones, and some really, really awful ones (not saying where!!). So I know a thing or two about cabbage rolls.  But honestly, hands DOWN the best ones I've ever had, and where I got my recipe from, was a guy I used to nanny for!  He was a guard at the penitentiary, and his wife was a nurse, and they shared the cooking (as far as I remember), but he was an AMAZING cook.  I learned a lot about cooking, childcare and household management from them, and I will be forever grateful. I wish we would have kept in touch, but unfortunately things change and people move on.  Sometimes you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone, I guess!  But I digress....

Here is my recipe.... I've been told they're the best (by some pretty reliable sources OTHER than my kids and husband, lol)

3 or 4 heads of cabbage (depending on size)

 

Filling:

 

3 c cooked rice

1 large onion, chopped

3 or 4 stalks celery, chopped FINE

1 lb ground beef, well browned

1 lb bacon (chopped and cooked; do NOT drain)

about 1 c chopped, sautéed mushrooms (this is optional)

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 sm can tomato paste (and 1/2 can of water)

 

Sauce:  several cans of condensed tomato soup (how many you need depends on your layers of cabbage rolls)

Directions:   First, you'll need to start your cabbage steaming to be able to separate the leaves.  Yes, yes, I know that some people just freeze their cabbage, let it thaw and break the leaves off . That's nice.  That's not the way I do it. 

  Fill a BIG stock pot (the biggest you have) about 1/2 way with water.
Core the cabbage (take a knife and cut out the core, as deep down as possible; makes it SO much easier to remove the leaves).  Add the cabbage to the pot of water.  If you can add more than one head at a time, by all means do so.

 While you're waiting for your cabbage to boil, you can chop and cook your bacon. Try not to eat it (well, not all of it, anyway).  Do NOT drain it!  Trust me. 
While your bacon is frying, add the chopped onion and finely chopped celery, and fry along with the bacon.
Put your cooked rice (this should have been done already, hence in the ingredients it says COOKED rice) into a large mixing bowl. 

Add the COOKED ground beef and the cooked bacon/onion/celery to the rice.  YES, pour EVERYTHING into the rice (all that lovely bacon grease) (I never said this was a healthy recipe).
Add the mushrooms if desired (SO much better with mushrooms!), and the cans of diced tomatoes and tomato paste. 

 You can mix the paste with about 1/2 can of water to make it mix more easily before you add it to the rice, or just add a half can of water to everything - your choice).
Your filling is now ready!

 

By this time, your cabbage should be boiling.  Shut it off, and carefully take out one head and put it into a bowl of cold water in the sink (the other heads can stay in the water while you are working with the first one).  Using tongs, gently pull off one leaf at a time.  The first couple of leaves will be set aside to line the bottom of your roaster, and to cover the cabbage rolls while they cook (this is IMPORTANT!).  You can slightly grease your roasting pan, or even line it with tinfoil if you like. Place as many of the large leaves as needed to completely cover the bottom of the roaster, and up the sides (you need to do this to prevent burning!)
Set aside as many as the leaves as possible for the rolls, until there are no longer large enough ones to use.

 

Take one leaf, carefully cut off the hard part (stem) - this just makes it easier to roll.  Place about a  tablespoon full of filling in the middle of your leaf, close to the top.  Start by folding in the sides over the filling, then carefully rolling it up.  You may have to push the filling back in with a spoon as you go along.  Wrap it tightly! Place it seam side down onto the bed of cabbage leaves in your roaster.

 

Now, repeat with the remaining leaves until you have completed one row on the bottom of your roaster, of snugly fitting cabbage rolls. 
Place a can of condensed tomato soup into a bowl, add about a 1/4 can of water, just enough to make it spreadable.  Pour this over your cabbage rolls, repeating with a second can if necessary. 

 

Repeat with your remaining cabbage, lining them up on top of the first row of rolls, then covering with a layer of soup. 

 

When you are done your final row and covered it with soup, take more cabbage leaves (the ones set aside), and COVER everything.  This must be done or your cabbage rolls will burn!

Your cabbage rolls are now ready to be baked, or they can be frozen if you are making them ahead of time.

 

To bake:  Place in a preheated 350 degree oven, for about 3 1/2 hours.  You will know when they're done by testing; if a fork can go through the layers of cabbage VERY easily (with no resistance), they are done!

I know this recipe looks intimidating, but really, once you start going, you'll see that cabbage rolls are actually very easy to make.  If you can roll your own soft taco, you can make cabbage rolls.
They are so very much worth the effort!!