Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage

All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.
                                                           ~Unknown


While I'm on a kick sharing some great Hungarian recipes I grew up with, this is one that my mother made quite often.  It's an old world recipe, but so good.  The first time Mr. Cottage had stuff cabbage, he thought it really was a whole cabbage that was scooped out and stuffed with something to eat.  My mother always made this for Christmas and that's what I always did until we started spending our Christmas' down in Florida.

HUNGARIAN STUFFED CABBAGE

2 pounds lean pork, ground up
1 medium onion, chopped
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
little more than 1/2 lb. of rice
2 small heads of cabbage
1 large can sauerkraut, well drained
3 small cans tomato sauce

Core cabbage and place in boiling water.  Mix together the pork, onions, egg, salt and pepper.  Put some sauerkraut on the bottom of a large pot.  Pour one small can of tomato sauce over it.  Put a layer of cabbage rolls on it.  Repeat layers.  Top with sauerkraut and sauce.  Fill the entire pan with water to cover everything.  Cook on low heat for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours, until cooked.  Cover the pot while it's cooking.


Look for 2 nice heads of small cabbage.  Try to find ones that aren't too torn or ripped...

To core, take a sharp knife and go around the core of the cabbage...

just enough to loose and remove...

Take the knife and go back in to try and remove as much of the center core as possible...

I use 2 large pots, one for each head of cabbage.  Put them into the hot water and steam until the leaves start to wilt and you can easily remove each leaf, one at a time...

Keep removing the leaves, until you can get as many off as possible...

When I remove each leaf, I try to separate them by size, the largest going into one pile, med, and then the smaller leaves...

When the leaves are cool enough to handle, remove the thick center from each with a sharp knife, but don't cut down too far...

Save these cut pieces to put into the pot...

Mix together the lean pork, rice, onion, egg, and salt and pepper...

Put a layer of sauerkraut on the bottom on the pot, along with the cut centers of each leaf and one small can of tomato sauce...

To make the cabbage rolls, put a small amount on the inside edge of one leaf...

Start rolling to the outer edge, but as soon as you can, fold one end to the middle...

Continue rolling to the edge and just tuck the other end into the roll, as shown below...

Put the larger cabbage rolls on the bottom of the pot, add another layer of sauerkraut and one more small can of tomato sauce over the cabbage and make another layer of cabbage rolls...

When finished, fill the pot with hot water, bring to a boil, turn to low or simmer, cover the pot and cook for approximately 2 hours or till finished..
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