Halupki (Stuffed Cabbage)

My roommates and I enjoy having a nice sit down dinner on Sundays which is special because throughout the week we are usually eating on the go. But the main reason to make a big dinner on Sunday is to have leftovers for Monday and if were lucky, Tuesday. 

Cuisine from Eastern Europe incorporates a lot of cool-season, root vegetables like cabbage and beets. I like to try and buy local & fresh produce and living in State College works in my favor. It's pretty cold for a good part of the school year but most of the time you can find local cold-hardy produce. 

I've mentioned my Poppop a few times in this blog because he's a chef I look up to and halupki will always remind me of him. Although my Poppop is 100% Italian, he really knows how to cook like a hunky. I guess it was a combination of of marrying a Slovak and growing up in the coal regions. But for years my poppop ran the kitchen at his church's annual summer festival. Every year we would look forward to the event and on the Saturday night we would go and have halupki for dinner while polka music played in the background. Even as a little kid I remember being so proud of my poppop as he was running the kitchen. I would look around and see everyone with halupki on their plates and think, "They're all enjoying his food and it's putting smiles on their faces." 

Looking back at the festival, and even to this day, my Poppop still brings people together with his food. And that's what the Recovery Kitchen is all about.    

Ingredients:

Cabbage--- 1 Whole

For the filling:

Brown Rice--- 1/2 CUP (uncooked)

Ground Beef--- 1 LB

Onion (chopped)--- 1/2 CUP

Garlic (minced)--- 1 Clove

Red Pepper (chopped)--- 1/2 CUP 

Ground Pepper--- 1/2 TBSP

Salt--- Pinch

Olive Oil--- 2 TBSP

For the Sauce:

Tomato Soup (condensed)--- One 8oz Can

Beef Stock--- 8oz

All Purpose Flour--- 3 TSP

Paprika--- 2 TBSP

Hot Paprika--- 1 TSP

Onion (chopped)--- 1/2 CUP

Red Pepper (chopped)--- 1/2 CUP

Sour Cream (optional)--- 3/4 CUP

STEP BY STEP:

• 1. Make rice on stove top or rick cooker

• 2. In a mixing bowl, combine beef, onion, garlic, red pepper, salt and ground pepper

• 3. Turn burner to Medium-High heat, oil a 12" frying pan and saute beef mixture until cooked

• 4. Add rice to frying pan to absorb juices that have cooked out of the beef. Reduce to heat to Low once there is no more liquid.

• 5. In a large pot, boil cabbage until it becomes tender and the leaves begin to peel off. This can take about 15-20 minutes.

• 6. Once cabbage is tender, remove from water and carefully peel leaves off. You'll have to cut off the tough part that connects to the stem of the cabbage. 

• 7. Fill each leaf with a scoop of rice and beef. Be sure to not over fill it and be able to fold the cabbage. I usually overlap the two long sides and then tuck the ends down. I then sit the stuffed cabbage seam-side down so they stay intact while cooking. 

(Channeling my Inner Papa Joe)

• 8. Place halupki into a large skillet.

• 9. Heat a sauce pan to Medium. Once hot, add oil and saute onion and red pepper until they become tender

• 10. Add soup, stock, and paprika and evenly mix sauce together. 

• 11. In a small bowl temper flour- Combine a scoop of sauce with flour and whisk until it thickens but is not lumpy. Add mixture back to the sauce in order to thicken it. (You should also temper sour cream if you are adding it to the sauce)

• 12. Pour sauce over halupki. Place skillet on to burner and heat to Medium. This should bring the sauce to a simmer. Allow halupki to cook in the sauce for about 20 minutes. You can always go longer if you want your cabbage really tender. 

Once cooked, allow stuffed cabbage to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Hope you enjoy the recipe- It's a meal I grew up with!