Stuffed Cabbage Rolls: Cook-Off 36

[Pierogi]

Nothing sweet. No raisins, no gingersnaps. Nope. Not an option.

My Polish mom's golabkis recipe uses ground beef (not lean, you need the fat......), some rice, sauteed diced onions and bell peppers (in butter, a LOT of butter) and hint of dry bread crumbs for the stuffing. Some Worcestershire sauce in there for seasoning, maybe an egg. (I'm trying to dredge it up from memory, I will check tomorrow and post it.) The sauce is just canned tomato sauce, poured over the rolls in a skillet. A pat of butter on top of each, and a long, slow simmer for about an hour or so. The meat is not cooked before stuffing, the rice is. Cabbage blanched whole head, and the leaves peeled off. Toothpicks if needed to hold the rolls closed, but putting them seam-side down is usually sufficient. When the rolls are done, pull them out, keep them warm, and add some sour cream (a LOT of sour cream) to the sauce.

Serve with wide egg noodles, tossed with poppy seeds and croutons that have been sauteed in butter (a LOT of butter).

Polish soul food, baby. I need to make some of these, soon.

[Mikeb19]

Hmmm, I might have to give this one a go... I grew up on stuff like vareneky and holubsti (stuffed cabbage rolls).

How does cabbage stuffed with buckwheat kasha and pork, with mushroom gravy sound? Or maybe even a millet stuffing?

Can I use beet leaves instead of cabbage? What are the rules for this anyway?

[dockhl]

I think it is fascinating how many different spellings there are for something that I have always known as "halupki". I haven't even seen that one yet !

I even have a recipe for a "Deconstructed Halupki" (there is that WORD !) that gives you the flavors in a skillet if you don't have the time to do the whole thing .

Kathy

[run2eat]

Oh man, this thread has me missing my mom and her wonderful cabbage rolls or sarma!

for hers:

- sour cabbage was a must (easy to find in Edmonton)

- after cooking, the meat-rice ratio in the filling was about 50:50. The meat was either all beef, or a mix of beef and pork, or beef-pork-veal (aka meatloaf mix). Not lamb for some reason (odd given how much lamb we ate). Seasoning was some finely chopped onion, salt and lots of black pepper.

- she'd make the rolls fairly large - the big leaves loosely packed (to allow room for the rice to expand) with as much as could be fully contained. She'd overlap smaller leaves to maintain a consistent size.

- the sauce involved a little bit of roux, either tomato paste and stock, or tomato juice, and a splash of white wine if some was on hand.

- the rolls were placed on end in the casserole pot

- for added flavour, she'd poke smoked ribs in between the rolls

This was all simmered on the stove and served on boiled potatoes for a superbly comforting meal (. The same filling went into stuffed peppers, or stuffed zucchini (but she'd leave the smoked meat out of the pot for these).

My dad carried on with his own version of cabbage rolls - he's taken some liberties :

- he often adds shredded carrot or other vegetables in the filling (I'm not so crazy about this as I find the result a bit too sweet - the thought of adding raisins or gingersnaps makes me shudder )

- he's constantly tinkering with the meat mix, bits of smoked meat or bacon often find their way into the filling.

Rather than simmering on the stovetop, he uses a slow cooker. I find they come out a bit on the mushy side with this.

I've made 'deconstructed sarma' (ground meat, rice, sauerkraut) on occasion in a hopeful attempt to capture the flavour with minimal effort. Not so close but tasty enough for a weekday dinner :-) I haven't made the real deal for ages, but think I will soon!

[Pam R]

One of my weekend projects was stuffed cabbage rolls, or halopchy.

A pictorial (not so lovely, but so tasty):

(er, please ignore the sizing)

So these were proclaimed the 'best ever cabbage rolls' by one taster.

The filling consisted of ground beef (not too lean), onion and garlic that I cooked in olive oil, just to soften, an egg, finely diced roma tomatoes, long-grain rice, salt and black pepper.

The sauce was simply tomato juice, tomato 'sauce', juice from one juicy lemon and a handful of brown sugar.

Extra, chopped cabbage went into the bottom of the pot, with some sauce poured over. Then a layer of cabbage rolls, loosely rolled (so the rice had room as it cooked), with 1/2 a lb. of thin short ribs randomly placed. Sauce. Repeat.

Tightly covered with foil, then in the oven at 350-375 for about 2 hours. It took longer than I thought it would, but the rice took a long time to cook.

These were damn good.

[christine007]

Pam R, those look just like the ones I enjoyed last September made by little old Polish ladies at their fund-raiser.

Nice. I'm going to make some this week.

[monavano]

Pam, gorgeous stuffed cabbage. What I've learned from threads on stuffed cabbage here is that a lot of people use tomato juice in the sauce. I'll have to give that a shot next time. I have the stuffing perfected to exactly how I like it, but my tomato based sauce needs a little somethin' somethin'.

And your pics are great! Golabki dont photograph all that well, but you're tutorial is exceptional.

[Jensen]

With the Spouse home from his business trip, cabbage rolls were on the menu tonight.

The flash on my camera is a little over-enthusiastic so, believe me when I tell you, the plate looked better than the photo:

I used the recipe from my Gundel's cookbook (click here for Gundel's website). The filling is a 3:2 mixture of pork and beef and the rice is toasted before going into the mix. Seasoning for the filling is primarily paprika, with a sprinkle of marjoram. The sauce is sauerkraut thickened with a sour cream roux and seasoned with more paprika and dill.

This was a great meal and I thank whoever decided on this cook off!

[tastykimmie]

One of my weekend projects was stuffed cabbage rolls, or halopchy.

A pictorial (not so lovely, but so tasty):

 

(er, please ignore the sizing)

So these were proclaimed the 'best ever cabbage rolls' by one taster. 

The filling consisted of ground beef (not too lean), onion and garlic that I cooked in olive oil, just to soften, an egg, finely diced roma tomatoes, long-grain rice, salt and black pepper.

The sauce was simply tomato juice, tomato 'sauce', juice from one juicy lemon and a handful of brown sugar.

Extra, chopped cabbage went into the bottom of the pot, with some sauce poured over.  Then a layer of cabbage rolls, loosely rolled (so the rice had room as it cooked), with 1/2 a lb. of thin short ribs randomly placed.  Sauce.  Repeat.

Tightly covered with foil, then in the oven at 350-375 for about 2 hours.  It took longer than I thought it would, but the rice took a long time to cook.

These were damn good.

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that looks heavenly..............and so easy!!

[Matt_T]

This sounds good! My mother was of Polish descent and cabbage rolls were a regular item, especially when we visted her mother. I think Grandma called them something like "gah-WUMP-key", but she was not a native speaker. I've never made them myself, though, so this should be a fun experiment.

About the recipe using gingersnaps - Are they supposed to be crushed, to thicken the sauce? I have a hard time imagining a layer of cookies on top of the rolls. I think grandma's sauce was mostly (or entirely) V8 juice but I like the idea of the sweet and sour sauce.

Another question - am I missing the place where new Cookoffs are announced? I only check this forum occasionally and seem to always show up late!

Matt T

[Pierogi]

I think Grandma called them something like "gah-WUMP-key",

YES !!!!!!!!!!!

That is *exactly* how it's pronounced. Spellings vary, but "gah-WUMP-key" is what you say.

*sigh* STILL need to make some, soon.

[Anna N]

One of my weekend projects was stuffed cabbage rolls, or halopchy.

. . .

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Pam,

Thanks so much for posting this tutorial. Can they be frozen? Cooked or uncooked?

[Pam R]

Anna, they can definitely be frozen. This is only the second time I've made them, but I remember our staff making them at work years and years ago and freezing them after they were cooked.

[Anna N]

Anna, they can definitely be frozen.  This is only the second time I've made them, but I remember our staff making them at work years and years ago and freezing them after they were cooked.

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Thanks, Pam. Have all the ingredients now and hope to make them tomorrow or Saturday but will have to freeze them as there is no room in the schedule for serving them for the next little while. But if I put it off then they will never get made.

[monavano]

I support freezing them after cooking, too. I've done this many times. It's so wonderful to have them on hand because they take a lot of love to make and by just getting them out of the freezer, you can fill the air with their smell and eat them without all the work!

[Anna N]

I was surprised how quickly these came together. However, after I had assembled the casserole very neatly in a 9 x 13 glass pan I realized there would be no room for the ribs or the sauce! So I had to find a deeper dish and transfer the works over. They took much longer to cook than I had expected.

I largely followed Pam's recipe but can never quite leave things alone so added my own twist.

I dug out one roll for my lunch yesterday and it was quite delicious. I found a good home for the rest as we are having a small family gathering on Sunday and these will be one of the pot luck contributions.

[Domestic Goddess]

Beautiful rolls Anna! Now, will you kindly FEDEX half a dish to Korea for me?

[Anna N]

Beautiful rolls Anna! Now, will you kindly FEDEX half a dish to Korea for me?

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Sorry! It's not just the logistics that intimidate me but explaining to my daughter how half of them disappeared before Sunday!

I think these cook-offs are great for encouraging us to try things that we might never have attempted.

[Domestic Goddess]

No problem, Anna! Jotting down "Oakville, Ontario, Canada" and looks up to ask '...And your street name and house number is?'

If I could afford a ticket to Canada now, I'd be knocking at your door with a big spoon in my hand.

[Pam R]

I was surprised how quickly these came together.  However, after I had assembled the casserole very neatly in a 9 x 13 glass pan I realized there would be no room for the ribs or the sauce! So I had to find a deeper dish and transfer the works over.  They took much longer to cook than I had expected.

They look great! Mine could have been made in a larger dish - I was concerned about the sauce bubbling over, but it was fine. I think my pictures make my baking dish look smaller than it is . .

How long did they take to cook? I was also surprised at how long they took. I already want to make another batch.

[Anna N]

I was surprised how quickly these came together.  However, after I had assembled the casserole very neatly in a 9 x 13 glass pan I realized there would be no room for the ribs or the sauce! So I had to find a deeper dish and transfer the works over.  They took much longer to cook than I had expected.

They look great! Mine could have been made in a larger dish - I was concerned about the sauce bubbling over, but it was fine. I think my pictures make my baking dish look smaller than it is . .

How long did they take to cook? I was also surprised at how long they took. I already want to make another batch.

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Pam,

I am not sure how long - over 3 hours for sure but I kept putting them back in the oven and re-setting the timer and I didn't keep track! I think next time I would be inclined to make a smaller batch and cook in my LC gratin dish. This Corelle dish is very heavy and I have used it only a couple of times before and I seem to recall that things took much longer than the recipes suggested.

[suzilightning]

Here was our dinner on Saturday night. I wasn't sure if Johnnybird would like them so I used a small savoy cabbage. Here's the filling: pork and veal, white pepper, celery salt, an egg, cooked rice and several shavings of nutmeg.

Stuffed into the leaves, placed in my roasting pan and then covered with a sauce made from beef stock, plum tomatoes, a bay leaf, some brown sugar and sherry vinegar. Baked for about an hour.

[Matt_T]

I finally had a chance to make these tonight....here's my first ever cookoff report.

I used Mizducky's recipe from Recipe Gullet as a basis and tweaked it a little. Instead of uncooked rice I used cooked barley, and that part came out great! Interesting texture and earthy flavor. The seasoning looked a little light so I nearly doubled it, to a short 1/2 teaspon of salt in the filling, but the rolls were still a little bland so next time I will use 3/4 teaspoon for 1 lb beef.

Instead of tomato sauce + water I used straight V8 juice, cause that's how I remember grandma used to do it. I cooked mine on the stovetop in an enameled dutch oven and used enough V8 (+ lemon juice and brown sugar) to cover the rolls....however the Creuset dutch oven sealed so well I got almost no evaporation and my sauce ended up at about the same consistency as V8 out of the bottle. Next time I will add a roux or thickener, or maybe finish cooking in the oven to get some reduction and brown the rolls. I simmered for 1.25 hours and the rolls came out perfect, beef cooked but nothing mushy, even the cooked barley still had good texture.

The most fun part was picking the leaves off the blanching cabbage in my big stockpot! After draining the leaves I rolled the rolls pretty tight and had no trouble with them falling apart, no need for toothpicks or anything.

Flavor was very good with a little added sea salt; I would have liked stickier sauce but even as is this was a very enjoyable meal. I served with egg noodles tossed in butter with a little onion and garlic powder and S&P. Looking forward to doing this again! Sorry no pics; I had the camera ready to go but by the time the rolls were ready I had hungry people clamoring to be fed. Nothing to take pics of now.

[colls509]

I found a beautiful head of Savoy cabbage in the supermarket a couple of days ago--it was begging to be Golabkis (which we called gah-LUMP-keys).

I used the recipe from Molly Steven's "All About Braising" and it was delicious. It has a combination of beef, pork, and bacon, the rolls are topped with a mixture of sauerkraut, onions and a can of squished whole tomatoes with the juice and a touch of brown sugar. I invited my Serbian girlfriend over for dinner for "Sarma"...she said the only thing her grandma would have done differently would be to brown each roll in butter before the braise. Yum.

[Jaymes]

About the recipe using gingersnaps - Are they supposed to be crushed, to thicken the sauce?  I have a hard time imagining a layer of cookies on top of the rolls.  I think grandma's sauce was mostly (or entirely) V8 juice but I like the idea of the sweet and sour sauce.

You can crush them a little, but it´s not necessary. The gingersnaps dissolve into the sauce, thickening it, and adding the touch of ginger.