My mother made this dish fairly often. She wrote the recipe in Hungarian so I couldn’t read it, but I remember watching her and cooking with her so this is pretty much the most accurate recipe I have. She also left a sample of the way in which the leaf should be folded. One 32 ounce can of sauerkraut
one 32 ounce can of tomato juice
One large cabbage with large dark green leaves
1 chopped onion
2 lb.. of ground lean meat beef
1 cup of steamed rice
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
pinch of ground black pepper
Simmer the sauerkraut in a large pot while you prepare the other ingredients.
Core and steam the cabbage head until the leaves are wilted. Cool and drain.
Remove 12 leaves and shave the center stem so it is as flat as the leaf and the leaf is more flexible. Shred the remaining cabbage. Set aside while you prepare the meat mixture.
Add the eggs, rice, onion, paprika, salt, and 1/2 cup of tomato juice to the ground beef and blend well with your fingers.
Divide the meat mixture into a portion in the center of each cabbage leaf . Fold the bottom and top of the leaf in and roll from the side so that the leaf is tucked in.
Remove half of the sauerkraut from the pot and place 6 cabbage rolls on top of the remaining sauerkraut. Cover this with some of the shredded cabbage and sauerkraut and add the remaining 6 cabbage rolls. Cover with the remainder of the sauerkraut and cabbage and add as much tomato juice as the pot can hold.
Simmer for about 2 hours.
My mother used 1/2 cup uncooked rice, but I discovered that it is easier to get a well done product if I use cooked rice because it isn’t very successful when the rice is still hard.
Some recipes call for cooking the meat and onions before mixing in the other ingredients, but my mom didn’t do this and I don’t either.
I also have cooked this in a casserole dish in a 325 F oven.
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Contributor's Note
My mother was an amazing cook. She was fast and efficient and nothing was too much trouble for her.
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