Comments on: alex’s mom’s stuffed cabbage

By: Mary

Mary — Sat, 12 May 2012 15:24:37 +0000

My grandmother used to make these. We pronounced them go-wump-keys, but my dad would always say, go-lump-keys. Interesting how food can bring back such fond memories.

By: Jess

Jess — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:39:07 +0000

I was pressing the “Surprise!” button the other night and saw this, so it inspired me to make my family’s version (I do a couple times per year, anyway, and had a cabbage sitting in the fridge). I am from Slovakian descent and Slovaks call stuffed cabbage ‘halupki.’ Our recipe is almost the same, minus the vegetable addition, but over the years, I’d started adding more vegetables anyway. What I make looks just like your pictures above. (And I might have added your carrots if the grater hadn’t been dirty! ;D ). Next time.

By: roxy

roxy — Mon, 07 May 2012 02:59:48 +0000

OMG, I can’t believe you made this. It looks sooooo yummy! I didn’t know it’s popular in Russia too. I am Romanian and this is one of our traditional foods (although it appears it originates in Turkey, according to some). We cook it for Christmas and Easter, along with other goodies. I’ve been living here for 2 years and still havent found the courage to do it…. until running into your recipe. It’s 11 pm and im drooling so this has to be done :) We also use grape leaves instead of courage (i think this comes from the Greek dolmadas) and I actually like it more than the cabbage (which, by the way, in Romania is usually pickled. It just gives the roll a sour taste – love it!!!) So I got a friend here and she makes them in the crock pot. Takes longer but they taste amazing. Im gonna try your recipe and probably throw them in the crock pot. Thanks for the motivation :) I have to buy your book!!

By: Lena

Lena — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:12:49 +0000

Hey! Here’s a whole wiki page about the dish with the difference pronunciations. Seems I’ve been saying it the Belarus way Halupsee or Halubcy – Belarus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabbage_roll#Poland

off to make some! yummy!

By: Lynn

Lynn — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 02:05:23 +0000

I love your recipes!!! (I’m thinking of the WONDERFUL zucchini bread I made for Christmas… yummy!!!)
I was looking for a baked stuffed cabbage recipe to remind me of temperature and how long to leave them in the oven. When I saw smitten kitchen had a recipe, I didn’t go any further.
Although I didn’t use your recipe this time, I wanted to pass along a couple tips from my mother from many years ago, when my cabbage rolls, although delicious, were hard as rocks!!!! Hmmmm…. I wonder if that’s why my son still calls them ‘grenades’? Anyway… she told me to mix the meat only enough to incorporate all the ingredients and roll the cabbage leaves loosely. Apparently, if uncooked rice doesn’t have sufficient room to expand, the cabbage rolls tend to be tough.
BTW… I cut around the core then put the cabbage in hot-to-boiling water. With this method, I find that by NOT cutting out the core it can be a ‘handle’ to hold with tongs. The leaves fall off with very little coaxing once they’ve been completely cut from the core. Then I put the loosened leaves in the roasting pan I’m going to bake them in, lined with a single layer of paper towels to collect excess water. I don’t pat them dry… a little extra extra water won’t hurt anything or change the flavor.
Thanks again for the zucchini bread recipe!!!!

By: deb

deb — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:09:17 +0000

I can’t remember but I think this recipe makes 10 to 12 rolls. So, you’d definitely have cabbage leftover but it would be the smaller leaves (not that this matters for slaw). Happy slaw-ing!

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:34:41 +0000

I’m glad you’re still answering comments on this recipe!

I want to make this next week, but I also want to make one of your slaws (I haven’t decided which yet…). Did you actually use the whole head of cabbage to make these? The head of cabbage I bought is pretty big (9 inches diameter)… do you think it’s big enough for these and a small batch of slaw?

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 11:41:11 +0000

I am Russian and was very pleased to see that you recipe is clearly very authentic. So glad that good examples of Russian food are becoming known. Have you ever tried mixing beef and pork for the stuffing? I usually do 3 parts beef and 1 part pork. Also, I miss crushed tomatoes with sour cream for the sauce. The sour cream seems to soften the acidity of the tomatoes.

By: deb

deb — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:23:08 +0000

In the last full paragraph, I suggest that you pat the leaves dry before using them. It works either way, but the final result will be less watery if you pat them dry.

By: mina

mina — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 20:37:51 +0000

you said you’d forgotten to dry out the cabbage- maybe i read it wrong, but when would you do that? after cutting the core, or after pouring the boiling water?