03/09/2022
We've been quiet for most of 2021 and 2022. With all that's been happening, it just seems frivolous. The past few days I've been angry. While it's an uncomfortable emotion, one I try to stuff down, it's also allowed me to find clarity. Strangely.
At one point in life, I wanted to be a journalist. Mostly because people fascinate me and there are so many stories that deserve to be told. We find ourselves at a moment in history where from Afghanistan, to Yemen, to Palestine, to Ukraine there are stories that need to be told. Traditions upheld. Culture preserved. Starting today, and going forward as much as I can, I'll be sharing traditional recipes of the places aforementioned and beyond.
Today, I start with Ukrainian Golubsti. I was surprised in my research to discover that this is a dish that was served in my childhood frequently, especially on birthdays. It's a beautiful reminder of how food transcends and has a way of nourishing us in ways beyond the physical.
The recipe can be found on our website and here:
INGREDIENTS:
1 large green cabbage
2 1/2 pounds ground beef or mix of turkey and pork
11/2 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup buckwheat, rinsed twice with boiling water and drained
1 medium onion
1 medium green bell pepper
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
10 cherry tomatoes quartered
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 1 large can of stewed tomatoes
4 bay leaves, dried
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Sour Cream, optional
INSTRUCTIONS:
Rinse 2 cups white rice and cook in 3 1/2 cups water with 2 Tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp salt. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed. Or do the same thing in a rice maker.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and preheat oven to 350 F
Remove core from cabbage and place in pot of salted water. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, or until softened enough to pull off individual leaves.
Carefully remove cabbage from water and allow it to cool until it's easy to handle. Peel cabbage leaves away from the thick stem. You'll need about 18 stemless leaves.
Finely chop remaining cabbage and place it at the bottom of a casserole dish or Dutch oven.
In a small skillet, sautƩ chopped onion in butter until tender. Remove from heat and let cool.
In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, cooled rice and buckwheat, onion, eggs, and salt. Using your hands, work the mixture until combined.
In another bowl, combine the cherry tomatoes quartered, 1 tablespoon Kosher salt, 1 large can of stewed tomatoes, 4 bay leaves, dried and salt, to taste.
Add a coating of the tomato sauce to the bottom of a roasting pan or Dutch oven, spreading to coat. You do not need much.
Begin rolling/stuffing the cabbage leaves one at a time, by taking a loose handful of beef mixture and centering in a leaf. Fold side to side, and top to bottom so that they look like cigar-shaped bundles. Place seam side down in the roasting pan and repeat until all of the meat mixture has been used.
Once all of the cabbage rolls are placed tightly in the roasting pan, cover with the remaining tomato sauce. Use remaining unstuffed cabbage leaves as a 'blanket' and cover the dumplings completely.
Cover the roasting pan and bake at 350Ā°F for 2 hours. Turn off the oven heat, crack the oven door, and leave the roasting pan in the oven, undisturbed, for an additional hour.
