Don’t judge a dish by how mine looks

I have been reading Ellen’s Collection of Russian Recipes, and decided to try one of her recipes for dinner last night. It turned out to be very tasty:

You are asking what in the world that red saucy mess is. Well, it’s Stuffed Cabbage (Golubtzi)! Can’t you tell from the veins of the cabbage leaf peeking through the sauce I have slathered all over the rolled cabbage? Oh, you can’t?! Hmmm… I can assure you that it’s stuffed cabbage – you’d have to trust me on this! ;)

I think my dinner plate looks much better than how my stuffed cabbage turned out, don’t you? I promise you this is a very delicious dish, and Ellen has MUCH better and more appetizing pictures on her blog.

The recipe in the following is copied (without the tips) from her blog:

2 lbs Hamburger
1 – 1/2 cup cooked rice (1/2 cup uncooked)
1/2 onion grated
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
1 can tomato soup
1 8oz can tomato sauce
2 Tablespoons ketchup
1 onion chopped
1-1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups water
1 head cabbage

Core cabbage. You can carefully separate leaves or cook the cabbage whole. Boil in water until soft and pliable. Combine first 6 ingredients. Place about 1/3 Cup of the hamburger mixture onto a cabbage leave and fold over the edges and roll up. Place in a baking dish.

Fry the onion in oil until it is translucent. Add soup, sauce, ketchup and water. Stir until well mixed. Bring to a boil. Add a little of sauce to the sour cream to temper it, then add the sour cream mixture to the sauce. Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls. Bake in 350 degree oven for approximately 1-1/2 hours.

It was definitely a fun recipe. Thanks Ellen, for sharing the recipe. I will for sure make these rolls again, except… urm, Ellen… I didn’t know separating the cabbage leaves without tearing them up in the process could be SUCH an art!? :)

Alrightie everyone, it’s back to work for me!

p.s. Shhh… please don’t tell anyone, but I also sneaked in some crumbed bacon bits into the meat mixture.