Saturday night found us in church with the aroma of cabbage rolls wafting up from the hall below. The ladies (and maybe even a few gentlemen) were making the cabbage rolls for the upcoming Christmas Bazaar. This got my husband to thinking that I should be making some rolls soon but never in all my years have I found a fool proof method of getting nice pliable cabbage leaves for my cabbage rolls. Some say: boil the stuffing out of the leaves, freeze the cabbage, boil it whole, rip off leaves one at a time and then boil them, use really green cabbage, use savoy cabbage, and on and on. Any and all suggestions will be appreciated and seriously considered. I'm ok with my filling and my cooking method but those darn leaves are a challenge.

I love cabbage rolls. I buy the nicest, larges cabbage I can find. Peel off only the dirty outer leaves. Dunk the whole cabbage into rapidly boiling water for about a minute. Let it cool so you can handle it. Turn it core side up and carefully remove the core. Then peel the outer leaves away. Take the individual leaves and dunk them back into the pot of boiling water until they look limp. I do mine one at a time.
Remove with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel, cut out any hard woody veins, Stuff with about 3 Tbsp. stuffing and roll from the core side. ( I secure with toothpicks only if they are falling apart.) Place the seam side down in baking dish.

I do mine he same way as shequilts.

I just made 106 of them! I make a years worth at a time. I buy large heads of cabbage. Make sure they are not split. I make up my filling before I start the cabbage. Remove outter leaves. Using a heavy blade knife, I cut around the core & remove it. I then place it in a large pot of boiling water, core end up. The head needs to be completely under the water. It takes a few to several minutes for the leaves to get soft enough to remove. I use tongs to pull the leaves off as they soften. I lay them on a large platter to cool a few minutes. As the leaves soften & start to turn translucent I keep pulling them off. If I need to cut more core out I remove the head from the water(I use a 2 prong meat fork in the core), let the water drain out, set it on cutting board, cut it & put it back in. I use as many leaves as I can, even down to the tiny ones. I make baby sized rolls :). Hate waste. While I wait for leaves to soften in the water I stuff the ones I already took off. Place leaf with stem end towards you. Place your filling in. Fold the sides in (right, then left), then fold the leaf end, then the stem end. Your filling should not squish out. They don't need toothpicks to hold them shut if you fold this way. After I have them all made I divide them up into portions for meals, place them in a plastic bag & freeze them. After 24 hours in the freezer I then put the packages in a paper bag. Paper bags help keep things from getting freezer burn. They'll keep for a full year this way. When you remove them from the freezer let them set at room temp for abut 30 minutes. They'll break apart easy, with no damage. Been doing them this way for over 40 years now.

sounds so good ladies...my mom use to make these when i was a kid...i think i will give it a go...thank you for the tips

I also do my leaves the same as shequilts although I don't do the each leaf individually. I put them all back into the big pot and boil for a few minutes until pliable but not mushy. Great, now I have a urge for these and will have to make them soon.

I made a big batch of cabbage rolls yesterday, boy were they good. I've got enough for the freezer too. I don't mind making them if it wasn't for the cabbage leaves. That is thre worst job.

I decided after years to make cabbage rolls since our cauliflower plants purchased from our local garden store turned out to be cabbage. There's some Polish term (?) golumpi, haluski, not sure -- just forgot how to do the cabbage although I know the filling. Thanks -- this is how I did it & my brain froze about it. You've refreshed a brain that's losing her Polish heritage.

Gwumpkies and Halupkies are the names I also know these cabbage rolls by but don't hold me to the spellings. I will often use these as a covered dish in the winter if I am going to an affair that calls for a dish. Wow, I can almost smell them cooking as I type even though I am not making them at the moment. lol

We always called them "pigs in a blanket", but used beef instead of the traditional pork. Everyone has thier way of doign those, including the filling. I also use condensed tomato soup instead of tomato or spaghetti sauce.

Found the "terms"....
Golabski: Cabbage Rolls:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go%C5%82%C4%85bki

Halujki: Cabbage & Noodles: Sort of like what we called "Chicken Pot Pie"...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halu%C5%A1ky

Altho there's no Polish in my background, many from PA knew how to make these. I assume our ancestors swapped recipes too :). I was lucky to be raised by my Grandparents, who were born in the 1800's. Learned allot of the "old ways".

Feather 3 - Do you cook them before freezing them?

Nope. Freeze them raw. I do NOT cook the filling either.

I use 5# ground chuck, cooked rice (about 3-4 cups cooked let cool before adding to meat), onions, a couple eggs & 1 can condensed tomato soup. Mix it all together. This is placed in the cabbage leaves, then frozen.

When I cook them I use a metal roasting pan. Pull them out of the freezer, let stand long enough to break apart. I lay them in the pan, stack if needed. I then use 3 cans of condensed tomato soup, with a half can of water for each can. Mix it up & pour it over the cabbage rolls. Cover pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2-2 hours, or until done. You check for doneness by sticking a fork in the thick part of the cabbage leaf stem. If they look like they're getting too brown, just baste them. If you have any leftovers they should be cut/sliced to reheat in microwave or they won't get warm in the middle.

When my mom made them she used to take a big meat fork and put it in the core of the cabbage, submerge the whole head in boiling water. Every few minutes she would pull out the head and cut off a few, return the thing to the pot and repeat.
As much as I love them there are no fans in my house, and since my mom has passed away I make a simpler version that I call inside out stuffed cabbage. Saute the beef and onions. Add some rice, chopped cabbage, canned tomatoes and some sauce and simmer covered until everything is done.

That's pretty much the way I make mine but I add garlic salt because we like garlic. I've been thinking about making some and this makes me think it even more! And they are good left over. Good idea on freezing them. I think I'll try that. I had never even heard of cabbage rolls until I married my Slovak husband 46 years ago and I got the recipe from his mother and changed it a little by adding the garlic salt since she didn't like galic.

when i was working got hungry for cabbage rolls so i shreed the cabbage and added meat rice onions and poured crushed tom and tom juice over it came out like rolls

The way that 'shequilts' described the method is about as good as it gets. My polish ancestors taught me the method and everyone keeps asking me for more. Cooking them in a slow cooker helps to keep them together as well.

Good idea, I'll have to try that. I do have a recipe for "Stuffed Cabbage Casserole". My daughter made it one time and the cabbage didn't get done and her new husband called it "Cabbage Surprise" and told her he didn't want it again. Since then he has eaten my cabbage rolls and likes them.

I love this, my sister makes them for me when I go home to visit, they are sooooo good.

Cookie

I could never find ny large cabbage so started making in a pot . cooked the meat and onions then add my sauce and cut up cabbage cook till tender. serve over rice or mix the cooked rice into the mixture in the pan.

I found that making cabbage rolls too time consuming so have done it this way for years. Half and core cabbage slice thin, brown hamburger and onions, layer in a roasting pan, pour tomatoes or tomato sauce over and bake at 350* stirring several times, until cabbage is tender. My dh loves this.

then do you cook them with a tomato sauce? I make mine this way but I have never considered freezing so many. Probably because I don't have a large freezer. But, I suppose a few dozen at the ready would be good.

Yes, boil the leaves to tender BUT then take a paring knife and shave down the spine, don't cut it out, just shave it thinner to make the leaf pliable to roll your stuffing in it.

warm quilt hugs, sue in CA

My Ukrainian mom taught me how to make cabbage rolls but an Hungarian friend helped me tweak them so that they are even better. I like to cook mine in a large dutch oven. First I line the bottom of the pot with pieces of the discarded or small leaves. Then I layer them into the pot but on top of each layer, I place a heaping helping of sauerkraut. When I finish with each layer and have filled the pot, I pour in a large can of tomato juice. Enough so that I can see the juice come up the sides. Cover the pot, turn on the burner to low and then let them bubble and cook away.

I agree with posting above, but we also add some tomato paste and usually add a few stuffed green peppers too for added flavor and we LOVE halupki and stuffed peppers. Love it ALL.

Also, they taste even better a day or 2 after cooking. So if you can keep away from eating when first comes out of the oven, save it for the next day, yummy.

warm quilt hugs, sue in CA

Good idea. Thanks for that tip!

I do mine the same as Shequilts only I do depending on how many I have
I use one large can of Tomato soup and 1 Large can of Cream of Mushroom
that was my dads favorite way so fore herself my mom would make a small pan for herself with plain canned tomatoes. Bake in a 350 degree oven for
a couple of hours. I cook the cabbage did its almost done in the boiling water and in the hole where the core would have been you pour in some white vinagar, as the out side leaves are done pull out with thongs place on a platter to cool and keep cooking the cabbage. When leaves are cool enough to handle start rolling while the cabbage cooks.

This is the way our family makes them, too. I thought we were the only ones who made them with sauerkraut! When I was a kid, mom used a whole head of sour cabbage which you can't get any more. Maybe it's still available in Europe. We use a beef and pork combination, onions, garlic, rice, etc. Anyway, we layer the rolls with sauerkraut and the extra cabbage just like you described. We also add kielbasa pieces between each layer, and we don't use tomatoes. After the pot is filled with the cabbage rolls, kraut and kielbasa, we pour in a little water or beef broth and just let the whole thing cook as you described. When it's done, we thicken whatever juice is in the bottom of the pot with a little fat/flour roux (bacon drippings make it delicious) and mix it with the kraut. It's so good - my mouth is watering!

You saved me lots of writing :-) I do the same as you & I cut the ribs out of the leaves...that way, they roll very easy & no toothpicks needed.

Sounds good!

I grew up with the liquid mixture being that of vinegar, sugar and water. Have you ever tried them like that? Everyone I know always used the tomato mixture until they tried them this way. It's the way my baba used to make them.

I just made some last week. Tried a new (to me) idea. I cut the core off short. Took off the nice large outer leaves. Rinsed them, stacked loosely, and microwaved them until just starting to wilt. (Started with 3 minutes, had to add more time in high power m'wave.) Take out, rinse with cold water, shake off and you're "ready to roll".

I use a mix of crushed tomato & tomato soup I do add sugar &vinegar, but haven't tried the water/sugar & vinegar. Might do that for a small pan & see how we like it.

I too add the saurkraut, but we've always used raw rice and let it cook as the cabbage cooked. If I were freezing them I would cook the rice first. Making me hungry

In order for my mom to stretch the cabbage rolls for our family of 6, she made her cabbage rolls with more rice than meat. She would cook the rice and meat, mix it up, and stuff. Through the years I have made mine with far more meat, little rice, and lots of cooked onions. The rice and meat are raw and I find that the stuffing stays firmly together this way. As the cabbage rolls cook, the stuffing cooks too and the result is a nice firm little roll of stuffing. Yum.

I core my cabbage, run water into the cabbage where you took the core out, turn it upside down, give it a good shake and put it on a dish, cover and put in the microwave and nuke it until the outer leaves are pliable, take them off, put it back in and continue process. I find this to be less messy than the other methods.

I also use tomato soup rather than juice, I like the flavor better than what you get with tomato juice.

As an extra touch I layer sauerkraut between the layers of rolls. If I am making one layer I put the kraut in the bottom of the dish first.

So glad to know I can freeze them first. I have always made an 18 quart roaster full and then froze them. Doing them raw would be less of a mess.

I love the idea of the kielbasa being added as well as the roux made with the bacon fat. Bacon fat, used sparingly, makes most savory foods taste better.

I use the pressure cooker.I just roll my hamburg mixture in a cabbage leaf then I add about 2 cups of water and I pour one can of tomato soup on the top of that and cook them for about 10- 15 minutes. You can also lay some extra cabbage leaves on the top. I do not boil the leaves or dip them in hot water at all.They always turn out great!

I remember Mom saying bacon makes anything taste better.
She also added a slice or too of real butter (made by neighbor) to her veggies & mash potatoes.The potatoes with butter & canned milk are wonderful

I never heard of putting food in a paper bag after putting them in a plastic bag. I have a food saver so I don't use the freezer bags too much any more. The paper bag sounds great though as long it stops them from freezer burn.

FINCH: I use the pressure cooker.
I just roll my hamburg mixture in a cabbage leaf then I add about 2 cups of water and I pour one can of tomato soup on the top of that and cook them for about 10- 15 minutes. You can also lay some extra cabbage leaves on the top. I do not boil the leaves or dip them in hot water at all.They always turn out great![/quote]

Please clarify re:water & tomato soup:
do you put the 2 C. water in the pressure cooker & then the rolls & then the tomato soup?? Or does the water and soup, mixed together, all go into the cooker first?

I love my pressure cookers & do stuffed peppers (with cooked filling) for about 2 minutes at full pressure; turns out perfect. Have often wondered about doing cabbage rolls so was very glad to see your entry. Looking forward to your answer. Thanks!