Then it was Thursday

I have some beautiful heads of cabbage from my CSA so today I am going to make some Stuffed Cabbages using my mother-in-laws recipe.  My MIL is pure Polish so needless to say she is a wonderful cook and has shared her memories and recipes with me.  For the first few years she would come over and we would make a day of cooking all her Polish recipes.  It was always a wonderful experience.  Mom Klik is nearing 90 now and while she is still very sharp she is unable to drive all this way so I don't get to see her as often as I would like.  Now we try to get together with her a few times a month for lunch or dinner and if we have a free day Frank will go get her and bring her here to spend the day with us.  Life changes....we adjust.....and we cherish the memories.

I am happy to share this memory with you.

 

Remove the core from your cabbage.

 

 

In a large bowl combine the meat, onions, eggs , rice, salt and pepper.

 

 

 Immerse Cabbage into boiling water.

 

 

The leaves will loosen and come right off when you pull on them with tongs.

 

 

Line your roaster with the largest leaves to prevent the cabbage rolls from sticking.

 

 

You need to cut off the top half of the rib at the bottom so that your leaf lays flat.

 

 

Once the leaf is mostly flat place a handful of meat mixture in the rounded bowl part of the leaf.

 

 

 Fold in the sides and roll as if you were making a burrito.

 

 

 After the first layer is in the roaster, pour half of the tomato soup over before add second layer.

 

 

Once the second layer is in place, pour the rest of the soup and half can of water over the entire thing.

 

 

Cover with more cabbage leaves to keep your rolls from burning.  These upper leaves will burn and char but will be removed before serving.

 

 

I will use these inner cores of the cabbage to make Sauerkraut.  Tutorial on that next week.

 

 

And Dinner is served.

 

 

 

Mom Klik's Stuffed Cabbage

 

1 large or 2 small heads of cabbage

1 lb. ground beef

1 lb. ground pork

1 cup cooked rice

1 small onion, diced

2 T. butter

2 t. salt

1/2 t. pepper

2 eggs

1 family size can of Tomato Soup.

 



Remove core from cabbage and immerse head in boiling water.  As leaves loosen remove and set aside.  Once all the leaves have been removed and the inner core has no more leaves large enough to roll you can remove the core and set aside for another purpose. Use the largest leaves to line a roasting pan.  Trim the bottom rib of each remaining leaf so that the leaf can be laid flat.

Saute the onion in 2 T. butter until soft.

Combine meat, rice, onion, salt, pepper and eggs.  I use my hands to combine.

Place a handful of meat mixture onto each cabbage leaf and roll up as you would a burrito, and place into lined roaster. When the bottom of the roaster is covered, pour half the can of soup over the rolls and continue as above making a second layer.  Pour the remaining soup and half a can of water over the cabbage rolls and cover with any remaining leaves.  Bake at 350* for 2-3 hrs or until the cabbage is fork tender. Print Recipe