Award-Winning Halupki Recipe

Blue Ribbon Hunter traveled to Whiting, Indiana for their annual Pierogi Festival, where over 200,000 people came out to party Polish style. We sampled classic and unique pierogies, danced the polka, and learned a lot about polish food and culture. One of the foods we learned about is called "halupki". This traditional Polish dish is beef and/or pork mixed with rice and onion, wrapped in steamed cabbage, and topped with tomato sauce. There was a halupki cook-off and we got the winning recipe:

Award-Winning "Halupki" Recipe

(aka Stuffed Cabbage)

By Nancy Tatarek

*Makes about 25 medium rolls

1 pound ground chuck

1 pound ground pork

1 16 ounce box of regular rice (not instant)

1 large onion, chopped

1/4 cup butter or margarine

2 eggs

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 large can of sour kraut

2 large cans of tomato sauce

1. Remove core of cabbage head and steam head until leaves can be separated. Cut off hard rib on cabbage leaf to make rolling easier. Put rice in saucepan and cover with water; heat until boiling then turn off heat. Let sit until all water is absorbed (rice will be par-boiled at this point).

2. Sauté chopped onions in butter or margarine until light brown. Remove from heat and add meats, rice, salt, pepper and eggs. Mix well until blended (using your hands with a plastic glove works best).

3. Rinse sour kraut with water and place 1/2 of the can in the bottom of pot with 1 can of the tomato sauce. Fill each cabbage leaf with filling and roll, tucking in sides, then place in layers in the pot with open seams down. When all cabbage rolls are filled cover them with the remaining sour kraut and other can of tomato sauce. Add hot water to cover the rolls. It is a good idea to weigh down the cabbage rolls with a flat lid until the water boils, otherwise they may float and come unrolled. Simmer for 1 hour. If all water is absorbed after cooking, add more water to cover rolls before storing in refrigerator. This keeps them moist. More tomato sauce can also be added, if desired.

**There are many steps to this recipe and they can be a chore to make, but they can be frozen, so while you're going through the trouble, you may as well make some to freeze for later.

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