When I visited my dear friend Sharon in Jacksonville, Florida,
she took me to St. Augustine, the oldest city in America.
As we walked through the narrow streets of this beautiful city,
taking a lot of pictures, I spotted a sign, in perfect Polish: "Smaczne golabki".
Excitedly, I said: " Let's go in"!
Cooking the traditional Polish dishes were a mother and father,
and their 14-year-old son was tending the cash register.
In no time, we were speaking in Polish. I got the golabki to take out.
When we tasted them the next day, in that lovely tomato sauce,
we agreed they were delicious. As to tradition, Sharon asked me:
"Are they truly as they should be?" I said, " Definitely!"
(That's my daughter, Irene, in the picture, the day I tried this recipe at home.)
- Julia
In advance boil the rice till nice and fluffy.
Fill 1/2 of the large pot with the water. Add
1 Tbsp of salt. and bring it to boil.
Remove outer leaves of a large head of cabbage.
Cut out the core.
Place the cabbage in the boiling water for 2-3 min to soften.
Lift the cabbage out and place on a platter.
When cool enough to handle, remove the leaves one at a time,
with the help of a knife.
Repeat the procedure till you remove almost all the leaves.
Sautee onions in butter or olive oil.
In a bowl mix ground meat (beef, with some pork sausage for kick),
onions, egg, and salt and pepper to taste.
Maybe add a little Worcestershire sauce.
Place 1-2 Tbsp of meat mix. on each leaf. Fold the edges over and roll it
to the end.
Cover the bottom of the pot with one layer of cabbage leaves.
Place the rolls next to each other (so the don't unroll).
Pour small amount of water at the bottom of the pot to prevent burning.
Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 1 hour.
Add tomato sauce and pureed tomatoes and simmer for additional 10-20 min.
Mix some of the tomatoes sauce from the pot with 1-2 Tbsp of sour
cream and pour it over "golabki", and simmer together for additional
2-3 min.
Serve as is or with boiled potatoes.
If you taste the golabki and they seem ho-hum, just add lots of freshly ground pepper. Then they'll be terrific.
