Hungarian Cabbage Rolls

When your dad and I first married, one of his favorite dishes that Nanny made was Cabbage Rolls, or stuffed cabbage. When she was living she taught me how to make them, but of course, I can’t find the recipe now. The other day Jeff came home with a recipe that he had gotten from a family recipe book that he was leafing through in a co-worker’s office. We have no idea who “Wanda Kittle” is, but this is her recipe, as I received it – as mixed up as it is written.

Hungarian Cabbage Rolls
2 Large heads of cabbage
2 lbs. ground beef
1 ½ cups rice (uncooked)
2 small onions chopped
2 large eggs
1 tsp salt
1/3 tsp pepper

Put cabbage in boiling water. Set 40 minutes so you can pull leaves apart. Chop rest of cabbage and lay in bottom of large dutch oven. Combine next 5 ingredients mix well set aside.
Take cabbage leaves and put 1 tbsp. mixture in each one and roll up. Lay on top of chop leaves.
Slice onions very thin. Take bell peppers slice very thin – chop garlic up – about 5 cloves very thin – 2 cans diced tomatoes 3 tbsp. brown sugar mix all of this together pour over top and bake on 350 until done about 2 ½ hours.

Now, I didn’t tell your dad this, but this recipe has me pretty confused to put it mildly. What peppers and garlic? They are not mentioned in the ingredients at all! Brown sugar? Tomatoes? Where did that come from?
The similarities to Nanny’s seem to me to be: cabbage, ground beef and rice – that’s all. But I am going to try it. Immediately, these are the changes I am making:

1 head cabbage
2 lbs ground chuck
1 ½ cup rice uncooked
1 large Vidalia onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
5 cloves garlic chopped
2 large eggs
2 cans diced tomatoes
3 tbsp. brown sugar blend

Boil cabbage in large pan (I’m using my soup pot with the colander insert), completely covering the cabbage with water. I’ve just started it cooking, and I have left it whole, and set the timer for 40 minutes as instructed. However, I am thinking that I could have separated the leaves before cooking, and they might have cooked quicker.
I am going to sauté half of the onion, bell pepper and garlic until just tender, then mix this with the ground chuck, rice, salt and pepper. I am going to roll enough meat mixture into the cabbage leaf to make a roll about the size of an egg roll. Then I am going to place a layer of chopped cabbage leaves in the bottom of a large casserole dish and place each roll on top. I am going to mix together the brown sugar, the rest of the onion/pepper/garlic, and the tomatoes and pour over the top. I will cover the dish with foil, and bake at 350. For how long? That remains to be seen. I find it hard to believe that it will take 2 ½ hours! More later………….
That was my plan. However, while the cabbage was cooking, I started looking online at recipes, and changed things yet again. It was DELICIOUS!!!!!!! But, as we were eating, we realized a couple of more changes that needed to be made to perfect the recipe. So, the final REAL recipe is below.

2 heads of cabbage
2 lbs ground beef
1 ½ cup long grain uncooked rice
1 large Vidalia onion sliced thin
1 large bell pepper sliced thin
2 large eggs
2 cans diced tomatoes
¼ cup brown sugar blend
2 cans sauerkraut
salt
pepper

Cut the bottom off the cabbages, and place in a large soup or stew pot. Cover completely with hot water. Boil until cabbage is tender enough to be flexible. Remove cabbages from water, but save 3 cups of the water the cabbage cooked in.
While the cabbage is cooking, mix together ground beef, rice, ½ of the bell pepper, 2 large eggs, salt and pepper.
After the cabbage is taken out of the water, let it cool enough to handle, then carefully separate the leaves, and spread them out on a cookie sheet. Have a box of toothpicks handy! Take a small handful of meat mixture, and shape it into a “log”. You will get the feel for how much meat to put in each one quickly. Beginning at the bottom end of the cabbage leaf, wrap the leaf around the meat, and secure with a toothpick. You will have enough meat for about 20 – 25 small cabbage rolls. Take the inner most part of the cabbage (too small to use to wrap) and chop it up. Place it in a small and mix with a can of sauerkraut. Put a layer of cabbage/sauerkraut on the bottom of the soup pot. Top with a layer of cabbage rolls. Place a layer of bell pepper & onion slices, and another layer of rolls, placing all the rest of the cabbage rolls in the pot (on top of each other is ok). Top with the rest of the cabbage/kraut mixture. Top with 2 cans of tomatoes and sprinkle the brown sugar on the top.
Put the top on the pot. Turn the burner on medium high and set the timer for 1 hour. After an hour, check to make sure there is still plenty of liquid in the pot, and set the timer for 1 ½ hour. (add water if needed) At the end of the 2 ½ hours, eat up! I served it with mashed sweet potatoes.
They were fantastic! Of course, I have enough for Pharoah's Army, as Grandmother would say! Looks like I know what I'm having for lunch this week!