Several people have asked for my wife's recipes, so here we go. First halupkies, then pierogies.
Halupkies are a dish my Grandmother makes. It's essentially a rice and beef stuffing wraped in cabbage then baked in tomato sauce.
Ingredients:
1/2 pound bacon (frozen and cut up small)
Teaspoon garlic (minced)
1 medium onion minced
1 pound ground beef
Sausage and ham in small pieces (optional)
3 cups water or beef stock
2 cups rice
2 beef bullion cubes (optional if you aren't using stock)
1 or 2 heads of cabbage
1- 28 oz can tomato sauce
1- 28 oz can skinned tomatoes cut up
1 beer - lager (optional)
Stuffing:
In a stock pot fry the bacon pieces, onions and garlic until the bacon is cooked. Add the hamburger and optional pork. Cook until done. Add rice, water and bullion or stock. Cover and cook until rice is done. Set aside to cool.
Cook the cabbage:
There are two ways to do it. Boil the cabbage until soft. OR wrap the cabbage in about 3 or 4 layers of paper towels, wet thoughly and microwave for a few minutes at a time till soft and pliable.
Preheat the oven to about 400 degrees.
Sauce:
Combine the tomato sauce, chopped tomato and one can of water together. Alternate recipe: one can tomato sauce and one beer.
In an oven-safe dish with a cover, pour enough sauce to cover the bottom. Pull off a cabbage leaf, fill it with about a table spoon or two of stuffing and fold up like an enchilada. Place in bottom of pan. Repeat until the pan is full or you run out of cabbage or stuffing. It's best to have more than one layer.
Pour the remaining sauce over the halupkies, cover and bake for 30 to 45 minutes.
Serve with sour cream or Ketchup.
