HUNGARIAN CABBAGE ROLLS

A fellow blogger requested the recipe for our Cabbage Rolls, so I've included it here. This recipe (which I got from my MIL) is the one I use. My husband, however, doesn't use a recipe &
they always taste wonderful.
He prefers to use the refrigerated packages of sauerkraut instead of canned. He also likes to include chunks of Kolbasi in with the sauce around the rolls.


Hungarian Cabbage Rolls

1 large head Cabbage

Ingredients for cabbage rolls:
1 lb. ground Pork Shoulder*
1 Onion, minced
1/2 c. uncooked Rice
1 clove Garlic, minced (or
1/4 t. Garlic Powder)
1 t. Salt
1/4 t. Pepper

Cut core from cabbage; wash, shake,
& put in large pot of boiling water.
Cook about 5-7 min., covered. Remove
from heat and let stand in the water
10-15 min. to soften leaves; then drain.

Mix thoroughly next 6 ingredients.

Separate cabbage leaves carefully,
keeping them whole. Put one leaf at a time
on a board, and with a sharp knife, shave
off rib to the thickness of the rest of the
leaf. Put a spoonful of the meat mixture
at base of leaf and roll up loosely (to
permit swelling of the rice as it cooks).

Ingredients for mixture to pour over &
around cabbage rolls while cooking:

1 large Onion, sliced
1 T. Bacon fat
1 can (18 oz.) Tomato Juice
1 can Bavarian Sauerkraut (approx. 2 cups)
1 t. Brown sugar
1 cup Water

Cook sliced onion in fat in Dutch oven or
large kettle until golden. Add tomato juice
and sauerkraut. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Arrange cabbage rolls in pot and pour water
over all. Make a couple of layers of rolls.
Don't crowd them too closely together.

Cover and simmer over low heat for at least
1 1/2 hours. Check to see if rice is soft.

Makes 18-20 rolls. About 6 servings

*Ground beef can be used, or half beef and
half pork, but the original Hungarian recipe
uses all pork, & I've found it to be softer and
tastier.

These freeze very well, so we always double
the recipe and put some in the freezer for
another day.