Re: polish stuffed cabbage (golabki) recipes (looking for authentic)

I'm not Polish, but married a Polish family, and yes, when you marry someone Polish, you marry the whole family!!

Naturally, I had to learn my hubby's traditions so here's his mother's recipe from long ago, written by hand on yellowed paper - I don't have to use it anymore since I make them often enough to remember. He says they taste even better than "mom's"!! Wow!

Here goes:

CLARA'S GALOMBKI

1 large head of cabbage - pick one without a lot of cracked leafs
2 # hamburger (don't use lean, use the nice FATTY kind, tastes better)
2 c. cooked rice
1/4 # salt pork, diced into tiny pieces
1 small onion (this is my one modification, cause we love onions)
1 large can tomatoes, I use my Braun outboard motor to break them up
or get the crushed kind
small bottle of ketchup
Package of bacon - you won't use it all, depends on size of cooking
container
salt and pepper (you'll have to figure out how much, I add some to the
meat/rice part, and some more to tomato mixture)

Directions:
Core the center out of the cabbage and using a large kettle parboil, flipping it over once to insure the leaves are fairly soft and eash to peel off and handle. Don't over cook or they'll fall apart. (I'm going to try the method I just read below here about freezing the head - sounds easier)

In large bowl, put the crushed tomatoes, ketcup, and SOME of the very finely chopped onion. Season with salt/pepper. Set aside.

Slowly fry the salt pork until golden brown - don't overcook, and watch carefully because too high heat will burn them pretty quickly. Set aside

In a large bowl, put the meat, cooked rice, seasonings, rest of finely chopped onion, and with slotted spoon, add the little cubes of cooked salt pork, and a LITTLE bit of grease that rendered out from salt pork.

Add some more of the rendered grease (just a little) to the tomato mixture.

I line everything up across my counter for preparation on a big wooden board.
I use a large black old-fashioned roasting pan and make a lot - this isn't a difficult recipe, just time-consuming! Place 4 - 5 raw bacon slices evenly across bottom of pan, then spoon a little tomato mix over that, then cover those with the largest tougher outer leaves of the cooked cabbage. This makes a nice bed for the galombkis to rest on.

Then take one leaf, put filling in center, and roll the bottom up, the sides in, and finally the heavier top part over, making a pretty tight "package" - place seam side down on top of the big leaves in bottom of pan. Finish them all, then pour MOST of the tomato mix on top of all, making sure it gets down in between each one. Place some more bacon slices over this, and cover with any leftover cabbage leaves you have - I always end up with some left over, even if they're small it's ok, try to cover them pretty well.

Then pour the remaining tomato mixture over that layer, and you can add more bacon slices here if you want.

Cover the baking pan.

The secret is planning ahead for long, slow cooking. The cabbage will stay tough if you try to rush the cooking, and the flavors wont blend right.

Obviously, this recipe is not for the FatGram conscious - it's clear that back in the "old days" they weren't very concerned about cholesterol - however, that's what makes these taste so good!!

I cook at 325 for 2 hours, at least. They're always better the second day, so if I'm doing them for company (yes, I consider this a company meal in the fall) I make them the day ahead, refrigerate, and then just warm them back up in the oven at low temp until you know the centers are not still cold. I've never really know what to serve with them - they're a meal in themselves, but I usually do a batch of homemade applesauce as a side dish, and some crusty bread.

I know I've rambled, sorry! Enjoy.