Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

I don't seem to make my stuffed cabbage rolls the way most recipes call for it.  Mine is pretty close to the Polish recipes I see, though.  My best friend is from Poland and when we were kids she said my mom made it like her mom does.  She actually said, "How do you know how to make Golabki?"  We had no idea what she was talking about.  I think that somehow my family got the Polish recipe from someone somewhere a few generations ago, and I've added a touch to mine.  They are very good, the cabbage is done just right so that it has flavor and is the right texture, and they do not dry out because they are submersed entirely in tomato juice throughout cooking.

You will need:

1 head of cabbage as large as you can find

1 lb. ground beef
1 c. long grain rice
1 egg
1/4 c. parsley
salt to taste
pepper to taste

1 full sized can of tomato juice
hot sauce to taste
Hungarian Paprika

Fill a large pot halfway with water, then add the raw cabbage and steam it slowly, if you wish, use a steamer basket to keep most of the nutrients in the cabbage.  When the cabbage gets slightly fork tender, gently cut the leaves off one at a time and pull them aside onto a plate until you have eight or ten large leaves.  If your leaves are smaller, just make more rolls with smaller amounts of meat in them.

While the leaves cool, in a separate bowl, mix ground beef with the rice, parsley and egg until it is completely combined.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Depending on the size of your leaves and how much meat it takes to fill them, form balls of meat large enough to fill your leaf without any oozing out when you fold both sides in and then roll them over to completely cover the meat.  Do this with every leaf and gently place them inside a Dutch oven or crock pot layered until they are all filled and rolled.

Slowly pour the entire can of tomato juice over the rolls making sure they are covered.  If need be, gently push the rolls under the juice with a wooden spoon.  Add salt, pepper, a few shakes of Hungarian paprika and a dash of hot pepper sauce if you don't mind a hint of heat and flavor.  Do not stir or you will upset your rolls.

Turn the heat on medium low until you bring the liquid to a slight, simmering boil.  Continue the simmering boil for 10 to 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to the simmer setting for at least 90 minutes before serving.  Some people simmer these all day or cook them all day in a slow cooker, which you may also do.  However, the longer you cook them, the more disintegrated your cabbage leaves will become.  I like them to be firm and sweet, so I only cook them a couple of hours total.

To serve, you may want to make a side of mashed potatoes and I know it's another starch but I have to have corn with my stuffed cabbage rolls.  Then I ladle the tomato juice (which will have thickened a bit) over my meat and potatoes and enjoy.  It's a very hearty meal for cold winter days, and it feeds an army.