Galumpkis (Stuffed Cabbage)

[Claire]

By-the-way, I've always heard it pronounced gwa-loomp-kees. Doesn't mean it's right. My husband loves them, called halupkes in his family (Slovene and Slovak as opposed to Polish). I make it once a year and make it a huge batch and invite people over. I have an elderly friend with no teeth, and I make extra "juice" (her word, the tomato + stock I cook them in) and chop everything into a couple of containers of soup. I use a combination of my mom's, her best friends (who taught me to put some Polish sausage iin the "juice" for smoky flavor!), and my late mother-in-law (who taught me how to do the roll ups that I found so difficult).

I will say they don't take well to freezing then nuking. I've never noticed a problem with the ground meat, but the cabbage can become downright rubbery. If you must freeze (and I must), it is better to let them thaw at room temp, then slowly re-heat.

They are a favorite -- in my house and my neighborhood. Everyone loves them.

 

[Polish Cook]

clare - I agree, I always make a huge batch of them and then obviously freeze some, and yes, when they come out of the freezer, I microwave them and if I keep them there for too long they kind of look 'burnt' but not! the cabbage kind of shrivels and doesnt look appetising at all, although still taste wonderful ... I had to laugh about the no teeth... have to remember to make lots of golabki when I'm old! I do agree the minced beef inside is very no teeth edible! lol!

 

[Polish Cook]

sorry mispelt your name - should write Claire!

 

[Claire]

Don't worry about it. My family happens to be French-Canadian, hence the spelling. Clair is a French-man's name, but in whatever afterlife she's in, don't tell Claire Chenault's mom that. Clare, Klara. Don't think too much about it. I did take exception to a woman from Mississippi taking my one syllable name and stretching it to four! kah-lay-err-ah. it was so unrecognizable that she couldn't get my attention, and believe me, I've been call "krayer" by many Asian friends!

I agree with those who say that there is no right or wrong for what you call food from one country to the next. My MIL called them halupke and she spoke, I think, 4 languages. My mom called them pigs in a blanket. I always tell people my cooking is authentic to no one except the piece of ground where my kitchen happens to be at any given time.

 

[justplainbill]

This is a dish of many different names. fillings wrapped in vegetable leaves were and ancient staple in many parts of the world. My Armenian ancestors wrapped cabbage leaves around lamb and rice and braised them. They also used grape leaves. We call them dolma and serve them with yogurt. The Greeks call them dolmades and serve them with a lemon sauce. The Jewish community called them holoshkis.

Golampkis (or whatever you call them) are all over Eastern Europe and beyond. They are popular because they were cheap eats for poor people.

Halušky (IPA: [ɦaluʃki], Slovak: haluška, Hungarian: galuska, Romanian: găluşcă, Ukrainian: галушка, Lithuanian: virtinukai) are a traditional variety of thick, soft noodles or dumplings cooked in the Central and Eastern European cuisines (Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Romania and Hungary). Halušky can refer to the lumps themselves or to the complete dish.

 

[CWS4322]

All this discussion about cabbage rolls...the ones I grew up eating (and still make) were the Swedish variation, got me curious about the history of cabbage rolls.

Cabbage roll - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls ( Comfort Food, History and Recipes) « Once Upon a Paradigm

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Recipe Secrets

They are also an easy way to use cabbage, a crop that is easy to grow (one can only eat so much sauerkraut).

I freeze mine after they are stuffed. I pop the pan in the oven and cook about 90 minutes. I haven't noticed a deterioration in the flavor or texture of the meat. I typically use a combination of ground beef and ground pork, or just ground pork. Although, the past couple of years, I've taken to making cabbage-roll meatloaf or lazy day cabbage roll casserole. I actually like the meatloaf better than traditional cabbage rolls...and, I make cabbage-roll soup. I think cabbage rolls are either something you love or you hate.

 

[Steve Kroll]

All this talk of cabbage rolls with mushroom sauce has me hungry. It was a childhood food for me. The only problem is that my wife despises both cabbage and mushrooms (I know - unbelievable, right? LOL). So my plan is to wait until next month when she goes off to the UK to work for a couple of weeks, at which time I'm going to prepare a large batch and freeze some. I'm going to try using the vacuum sealer.

 

[Andy M.]

...
Cabbage roll - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls ( Comfort Food, History and Recipes) « Once Upon a Paradigm

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Recipe Secrets

...

Isn't the term stuffed cabbage rolls redundant?

 

[CWS4322]

Yes, but I didn't write the titles...I just copied and pasted the links.

 

[CWS4322]

All this talk of cabbage rolls with mushroom sauce has me hungry. It was a childhood food for me. The only problem is that my wife despises both cabbage and mushrooms (I know - unbelievable, right? LOL). So my plan is to wait until next month when she goes off to the UK to work for a couple of weeks, at which time I'm going to prepare a large batch and freeze some. I'm going to try using the vacuum sealer.

Sounds like a plan, Steve. You should be able to get some fresh cabbage at the farmer's market (or maybe from my friend in Rochester). I find that the cabbage we grow is so much better to use than cabbage from the store.

We blanch and freeze cabbage heads. When I make the meatloaf, I thaw the head of cabbage overnight in the fridge (the heads were small), and then put a bit of sauce in the bottom, line the loaf pan with leaves, put some sauce in, put 1/3 of the meat mixture on top, some more cabbage, some sauce, more meat, more cabbage, more sauce, the remaining meat, cabbage, sauce, cover and bake for about 1-1/2 hours at 350. It has been a hit with us (I made it for the first time last year because I didn't have time to make the rolls, had the meat ready, and did this. We liked it so well, it became one of the standard Thursday evening [curling night] dishes that the DH put in the oven when he got to the farm so it would be ready when I got home). I used a tomato-based sauce (wonder why--haven't started cultivating mushrooms and we don't have a dairy cow). I would think this would freeze well after baking...haven't tried it, but think it would work.

For those who don't like cabbage, this works with Swiss Chard or spinach.

 

[Polish Cook]

cabbage meat loaf

cabbage meat loaf - yum I am liking the sound of that one too! I have heard of this but never had the recipe, but this sounds like a winner to me and I'm going to have a go and use it as a time saver meatloaf with cabbage versus cabbage rolls! I'm sure the taste is almost the same! thanks for sharing the recipe too!

 

[Claire]

cabbage meat loaf - yum I am liking the sound of that one too! I have heard of this but never had the recipe, but this sounds like a winner to me and I'm going to have a go and use it as a time saver meatloaf with cabbage versus cabbage rolls! I'm sure the taste is almost the same! thanks for sharing the recipe too!

That is a great way of putting it. My husband likes anything meatloaf or meat ball. The thing is that there isn't a real recipe (oh, you'll find them in cook-books). But ... experience. Pick a recipe and start there and take off.

My mother made them with ground beef, rice, chopped onions and green peppers and maybe an egg to hold the filling together. Then she rolled and put them in a pot with a couple of cans of tomatoes.

I was pushing 30 when my husband told me "halupke" was his favorite dish. My MIL came to visit us (we were living in Hawaii), and, being the military diplomat I now know I was, but didn't then, in conversation we mentioned that dish. So she took over my kitchen and made them, teaching me along the way. The main thing I learned from her was method. She took a big fork from my drawer, and my biggest stew pot. She took a small knife and cut 4 or 5 spikes (for lack of a better around the core of the cabbage head. Then she put the whole damned head into the pot. Periodically she would haul the head out (by the old fork I was using), let it sit for a bit, and we'd do what I'm sure there's a word for, and "spine" the leaves, that is to say, shave the coarsest part of the leaf.

We'd put the head, big, meat fork, and all back into this huge pot of water and start all over again.

When the head of cabbage was cold enough to handle and pliant, the filling part started.


See why this is an all day project for winter months? Seriously, I don't have an air conditioned kitchen. I'm not kidding, this is just the start of the meal.

I haven't even come close to how long this meal can take. It takes all day, period. To make it


It is one of those labors of love, because, trus me , it won't be a dish you can make or most of the people.

Cant or won't eat rice--
won't meat cabbage --
Onion, garlic, paprica, peppers

It can become insane. So I only make it for friends I know well.

 

[CWS4322]

cabbage meat loaf - yum I am liking the sound of that one too! I have heard of this but never had the recipe, but this sounds like a winner to me and I'm going to have a go and use it as a time saver meatloaf with cabbage versus cabbage rolls! I'm sure the taste is almost the same! thanks for sharing the recipe too!

Sorry--I don't have a recipe--I just took my usual meat mixture that I would use for cabbage rolls that I learned at my grandma's knee and the usual sauce she taught me, and just changed the shape and the amount of cabbage. BTW, I usually use wild rice, but that's because I'm from MN (Minne-SOOOOO-Tah). I just changed the shape and baked it as if it were a "normal" meatloaf. Play with your food--it is FUN!