BONNIE'S UKRAINIAN CABBAGE ROLLS

BONNIE'S UKRAINIAN CABBAGE ROLLS image

Yield 60-80 rolls

Number Of Ingredients 21

Ingredients

4-6 small, medium-green cabbages.
Note: Smooth, small cabbages are desired rather than heavy, veined, texteured ones. Large, tough leaves ae all good for lining the pan, and can be eaten along with the cabbage rools as they become very flavourful. If you ae buying small cabbages, you might need 7-8 of them.
Filling:
1 lb. medium uncooked ground beef
1lb ground uncooked pork
2 tsp. celery salt
4 c. well-cooked rice
3T onion flakes
2T crushed dried dill
garlic as desired
1T salt
1/4 c vinegar
1 large can diced tomatoes
6 slices fatty bacon, slow-fried to release and retain fat, then food-process the meat and fat until finely chopped
Sauce:
1 or 2 large cans tomato juice
1 or 2 large cans diced tomatoes
2T crushed dried dill
1/2 c vinegar
1T salt
pepper

Steps:

1. Cook the rice and set aside (3-4 c. after cooking) 2. Core the cabbages well, removing the heart and the dense, curled centre leaves with a strong spoon. 3. Set cabbages, hollow side down, in a large baking pan in 1-2 inches of water. Cover and steam/ boil them in a 400 degree oven for about 60-90 minutes. Every 10-15 minutes, remove the outer leaves that are becoming transparent and pliable, BEFORE they become fully cooked, thready and fragile. Slice away the back of the heavy centre vein on each cooked leaf, so the leaf is whole (Not cut down the spine) and 'roll-able' but of uniform thickness (no ridged spine) 4. Set aside each prepared leaf and wait for the other leaves as you prepare the filling 5. Combine all "Filling" ingredients together and stir well. The mixture will be sloppy, but will form a mound when dropped from a large spoon. Fill each leaf with about 2 T of filling. Roll core end once over filling - fold in ends - finish rolling. Poke finger into each end to secure the loose ends of the leaf. Use outside leaves on bottom of roaster to prevent scorching. Put end of rolled leaf towards bottom. Cover rolls with sauce (see recipe above) Cover with loose (raw or steamed) cabbage leaves and cores. Protect your oven with a large oven liner on the rack just below the roaster Bake at 375 F for about 6-8 hours, or until outer protective cabbage leaves are dark and scorched. To test for doneness, the largest cabbage roll, from the centre of the pan, should cut with a fork. Keep cooking until this is the case. When caabage is out of season, old, or heavily veined, longer cooking times are required.