Golabki (Cabbage Rolls)

As any good Polish kid growing up in Michigan this was one of those dishes that was a regular visitor on my Busia’s table. If you grew up in a Polish American family this was something you ate regularly and your Busia’s was always the best.

We have certain tenants here in Cannonsburg Village that we follow and the one that is the most important to us is celebrating the history of things and continuing traditions. For us most of those traditions are food-related ones. This recipe is a melding of Don’s Busia (the founder of the Village) and my Busia’s recipes and techniques to give us these cabbage rolls that we make thousands of every October here in the Village.

It is great the day of, it holds well to take to a potluck or family dinner, or can be cooled down and reheated the day you would like to eat them. When we think of comfort food this is the dish that pops into our heads first. Serve them with some really buttery mashed potatoes and some cucumber salad and you too can be Polish for a day or revisit some childhood memories.

Ingredients

• 1 flathead cabbage (green cabbage as sub)
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 1/2 cups onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 cup rice, parboiled
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup worcestershire 
• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 Tbsp marjoram
• 1 cup chicken stock

• 2 Tbsp butter, unsalted
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 1/2 cups cooking liquid (from cabbage rolls)
• 3 cups plum tomato in juice (hand-crushed tomatoes)
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/3 cup distilled vinegar
• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp black pepper

Directions

1. To make cabbage rolls: core cabbage and remove any damaged outer leaves.
2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add cabbage, peel away leaves as they become tender, shave protruding ridge from cabbage leaf stem, leaving the cabbage leaf whole, set aside. 
3. Chop the remaining cabbage and set aside.
4. Rinse rice well, add to a pot and cover with a 1/2 inch of water, simmer until water is absorbed, remove from heat and set aside.
5. Saute onions and garlic until the onions are translucent.
6. In a large bowl, whisk egg, add worcestershire, salt, pepper, and marjoram.
7. Add beef and pork and mix with your hands until well combined, add rice and mix again with your hands until well combined.
8. Lay cabbage leaves out on your work surface with the shaved stem side facing you and the bottom edge of the leaf facing down. 
9. Add 3 oz of filling per leaf, spread in an even layer (like a log) leaving 1 inch of space on each edge, fold the outer edges in and roll the cabbage roll like a burrito. 
10. In a 9×9 pan put a layer of the reserved chopped cabbage.
11. Lay cabbage rolls, seam side down into an even layer in the pan, pour chicken stock over the cabbage rolls.
12. Wrap with plastic wrap and then foil, bake at 350°F for 45 minutes.

Tomato Sauce

1. in a heavy bottom saucepan, make a roux with the butter and flour.
2. Add 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid from the cabbage roll pan, whisk well and bring to a simmer.
3. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer stirring frequently.
4. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently until the tomato sauce has just thickened.