A Roll By Any Other Name

We are in full Fall mode here in New England. Even though the trees haven't really started turning, morning temperatures are brisk making it REALLY hard to get out of bed. While everyone else is talking about pumpkin spice lattes (gross), I am all about the comfort food that doesn't really go well with 98 degree weather with 98% humidity. You know those recipes that require long periods on the stove or in the oven and are best eaten piping hot. Soups, stews, and the subject of this post, GOLABKI!or is it Golumpki? Halupki? Sarma? No matter what you call it, it is a stuffed cabbage roll and it is delicious! To makes things even better, I recently was informed that boiling the head of cabbage and peeling off the leaves one by one is no longer required. HALLELUJAH!!! All you need to do is freeze that head of cabbage solid and then let it defrost. The leaves peel right off and you don't have to burn your fingers. SWEET! You do still need to cut out the thick veins where necessary. This is a basic and relatively small batch recipe since the hubs turns his nose up at cabbage, but it still manages to turn out a couple dozen rolls (some were small - like cabbage dumplings). Hope you like it as much as I do.

Cabbage Rolls
1 small to medium sized cabbage

Filling
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground veal
2/3 cup white rice, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
1 medium onion chopped fine
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley
3 cloves garlic
2 Tbs worcestershire
1/4 C ketchup
1 carrot, grated (optional)

Sauce
1 bottle tomato juice
6 slices good quality cooked bacon
2 cups apple juice or 2 Tbs brown sugar
bay leaves (optional)

Freeze cabbage overnight and allow to thaw in a colander set in a bowl
When thawed, remove leaves cutting away and thick veins.
Dry and set aside

Mix the filling ingredients together until fully incorporated.
Place a few spoonfuls of filling mixture into the cabbage leaf and roll like a burrito (click here for a tutorial)

Once cabbage rolls are all rolled, coat the bottom of a deep roasting pan with tomato juice. Place half of the bacon on the bottom of the pan. Place cabbage rolls in the pan. Multiple layers are ok. Once all the rolls are in, add remaining bacon to the pan and pour apple juice and remaining tomato juice over the top to cover rolls. Add bay leaves if using. Cover tightly with foil or a lid and bake a 350F for 2-3 hours or until cabbage is tender. Serve with sour cream.

Sauce 2
This is an alternative to the sauce recipe above. I came up with it because they didn't have tomato juice at BJs and I didn't want to go to another store so I bought V8. The V8 was noticeably thinner. I think I like this sauce better than the original!

1 small can tomato paste
2 Tbs brown sugar
V8 juice
2 bay leaves

pour enough V8 juice to cover the bottom of the stock pot about 1/2 inch. Add brown sugar and tomato paste. Whisk together until smooth. Add cabbage rolls and then add additional V8 to cover the rolls. Cover and simmer until rolls are done (1-2 hrs)