December

Golabki
Polish Cabbage Rolls

This recipe has been passed down from my Grandma Wanda. She lived and raised a family in the Polish district of Detroit. This is a recipe I often make for the holidays and is great for large groups or potlucks. 

"Golabki are the reason for my holiday season!"

Polish Golabkis

Makes 24 Cabbage Rolls (roughly)

1/2 lb Ground Beef
1/2 lb Ground Pork
1/2 lb Ground Veal
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, small dice
4 cloves of garlic, small dice
2 cups cooked rice
4 cans campbell's tomato soup
1 10 oz can whole tomatoes
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1-2 cups of water
Squeeze of Sriracha, optional

2 medium heads of green cabbage

Tips:

• If you don't like veal you can omit it and use more beef or pork. Any ratio will do. 
• You can substitute white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar or sherry vinegar.
• If you have extra filling you can freeze the mixture and make stuffed peppers later in the week. I use the same sauce method! 

1. Pour yourself a glass of wine! Preheat oven to 350 
2. Cook the rice according to package instructions and let cool a bit.
3. Boil a large pot of water for the cabbage. Using a paring knife carefully core the cabbage. I use small angled cuts to go around the core. Then gently leverage the knife to release the core. Once cored add the whole head of cabbage to the boiling water. After about 4 minutes you can begin to peel away each leaf with tongs. Move them to a sheet pan to cool.
4. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil with salt and pepper for about 7 minutes until soft and slightly golden. Remove to a large bowl and let cool a bit. 
5. Add your ground meat mixture to the bowl of onions and garlic along with 2 cups cooked and cooled rice. Season meat generously with salt and pepper. Add 2 cups of tomato soup right out of the can to the mixture. 
6. I like to use my hands to evenly mix the meat, rice, onions, garlic and sauce. Once mixed take a tablespoons of meat mixture and cook in the saute pan like a patty. Eat the little snack! This is a great way to check for seasoning in your mixture. Adjust to taste and get ready to roll!
7. Assemble the tomato sauce by blending the can of whole tomatoes with remaining tomato soup mix, vinegar, sugar, sriracha, salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in 1-2 cups of water. You want the sauce to resemble a thick soup and it should coat the back of a spoon. 
8. In a large roasting pan spoon some of the sauce to spread a thin layer on the bottom of the pan. 
9. Take a leaf of cabbage and spoon about 1 to 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the leaf near where the core used to be. (The amount of filling will depend on the size of the cabbage leaf. The smaller the leaves get the less filling will be able to be rolled up) Now using a "burrito method" roll the bottom of the leaf up and over the filling pulling back to tighten. Then fold the left corner, right corner  and roll up to the top of the leaf. Place golabki seam side down in the roasting pan and repeat until the pan is full. 
10. Pour remaining sauce over the galabki until almost covered. Reserve extra sauce for later. 
11. Cover loosely with foil and bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes more. Let rest 10 minutes. Heat extra sauce and serve on side. 

I like to enjoy the golabkis with nice crusty bread! The sauce is sweet and sour and reduces while the cabbage rolls bubble away. Try the recipe in my bread battle for a truly homemade meal. 

Smacznego!

Enjoy!