Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
with Sour Cream Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

1 /2 lb ground beef
1 / 2 lb pork sausage
6 slices bacon
1 big onion chopped
2 tablespoons fresh chopped garlic
1 cup sauerkraut
3 / 4 raw rice (any kind)
1 / 2 cup oatmeal or bread crumbs
1 / 4 cup chopped parsley
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

1 medium to large cabbage head
1 quart chicken Stock
1 teaspoon caraway
4 bay leaves

Sauce
1 14 oz can of Tomato sauce
1/2 cup Red wine
1 pint Sour cream
Salt
Pepper

Slurry:
1/ 2 cup Flour
1 cup water
mixed smooth

Directions:

Separating the leaves from the head:
1. Core the cabbage head and plunge into a large pot of boiling salted water for 5 minutes.

2. Lift out the cabbage head carefully (a big skimmer and hot pads are good for this, or stab the cabbage with a large meat fork and lift it out.) Put the cabbage head upside-down into a colander and let cool for a few minutes.  Pull off the blanched and soft leaves carefully, as many as you can. 

3. Core the head of cabbage again and place it back in the boiling water. Simmer another 5 minutes and repeat peeling until you get all the leaves off.

Making the filling and the cabbage rolls:

1. Slice the bacon in thin strips and sauté it in a Dutch oven for a few minutes until the fat is rendered.  Add the chopped onion and garlic and sauté until the onion is tender, about 2 minutes. Pull off the heat.

2. Mix the ground beef and sausage with the sauerkraut, half of the bacon and onion mixture, the rice, the parsley, the eggs, some oatmeal or bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Blend until the mixture holds together well.

3. Place 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture on a cabbage leaf. Fold the top of the leaf over the meat mixture, then fold the sides of the leaf over the first fold, then roll the leaf up, so its base is on the outside of the roll.

4. Place the cabbage roll seam-down on the remaining bacon onion mixture. Repeat, making 2 layers of rolls in the Dutch oven. Pour the chicken stock over the rolls, along with the caraway seed and bay leaves.

5. Chop up and remaining pieces of cabbage and sprinkle on the top. Why waste it?

6. Simmer on the stove or bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Making the Tomato Sour Cream Sauce:
7. Pour the wine, tomato sauce, and 3 cups of the liquid off the baked cabbage rolls into a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Add half of the slurry in a steady stream while whipping smooth. The sauce should be a little on the thick side as the sour cream will thin it.

8. In a separate small bowl place one cup of the sauce, and then blend in the sour cream. In culinary terms this is called a “liason” as it warms up the sour cream so it won't curdle when it hits the hot sauce. Add this “liason” to the sauce and blend in.

9. To serve, place a layer of cabbage rolls in a serving dish and top with sauce. Put a second layer of cabbage rolls in the serving dish and top with more sauce.