Sopak Girls Stuffed Cabbage (Halupki)

Meat Mixture:
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 C. rice (long grain)
1 Tbsp. parsley flakes
2 eggs (2 yolks and only 1 white)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. onion powder
1 medium sized cabbage 

In a Dutch oven, pour 4 cups of water. Remove the core of the cabbage and place the cabbage into the water, cored side down. Place lid on pot. Turn heat to medium and steam leaves loose. Removing leaves gently with a fork, place them in water. Soften a little longer, then remove all leaves to a plate. Do this a little at a time. Set the leaves aside. You will need approximately 15-18 leaves. 

***Whatever water is remaining in the Dutch oven leave it there and turn off heat.

After removing 18ish leaves, take the rest of the cabbage that is remaining and slice up and place them in the pot with the remaining water...spread out evenly in the Dutch oven.

Mix the 1/2 C. rice (long grain), 1 Tbsp. parsley flakes, 2 eggs (2 yolks and only 1 white), 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, and the 1 tsp. onion powder all together thoroughly. Now add the ground beef and incorporate the rice mixture into the ground beef.

***Skim the veins of the leaves of cabbage with a knife to whittle them down to the entire thickness of the leaves. (This allows the leaves to be easily rolled up).

To make the rolls, add a small amount of meat mixture at the spine end of each leaf (approximately the size of a golf ball that is formed into an oval shape, DO NOT COMPACT).
Roll leaves up, tucking the sides in.
Layer rolls over the layer of  sliced up cabbage, continuing until all the mixture is used up.

In a saucepan, mix sauce ingredients together and pour it all over the rolls to cover.

Sauce Ingredients:
1 10 oz. can tomato soup
2 tomato soup cans of water
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 tomato sauce can of water
2 Tbsp. ketchup
3 beef bouillon cubes
1/8 tsp. pepper

*** If you have any leaves of cabbage left over, lay them flat over the top of the rolls.

Place a lid on the Dutch oven and cook on stove top on medium high until slightly boiling (approximately 20 minutes). Reduce heat to low or whatever temperature keeps a little bubbling going for 2-2 1/2 hours.

To me, these are the best!!!
There are no other halupkis that I enjoy eating. This recipe is so easy and tasty that once you make them, you can’t wait to make them again. The flavor is awesome. A must is to serve these with mashed potatoes and to use the tangy juice as a gravy.

This recipe is a “Sopak Girls” (Annie, my mom, Aunt Mary, Aunt Betty, Aunt Helen and Aunt Susie) concoction. The best memory of making these are with my mom and Aunt Mary. They were so fussy, and I mean that in a good way. The ingredients have to be spot on, absolutely no substitutions. They have to be rolled up small and ever so precise (I love it). It has to be cooked on the stove top, not in the oven. Oh my, I just realized, I’m getting just as fussy as they were (isn’t it great?).

Enjoy! Élvez! Piacere! Gustirati! Radosť!

STUFFED PEPPERS

The Stuffed Cabbage filling can also be used to stuff red, yellow and orange sweet peppers.
Just cut the tops of the peppers and clean out the insides. Wash well and drain.

 Make the Stuffed Cabbage filling and place a small amount of filling in each pepper. (the filling recipe will fill approximately 36 peppers).
Layer the filled peppers into a Dutch Oven pot.

Now prepare the sauce mixture as for the Stuffed Cabbage and pour over the peppers.
Cook as you do the Stuffed Cabbage:
Place a lid on and cook on stove top on medium high until slightly boiling. Reduce heat to low or whatever temperature keeps a little bubbling going for 2-2 1/2 hours.

Enjoy! Élvez! Piacere! Gustirati! Radosť!