Cabbage Rolls - Sarma

Cabbage Rolls - Sarma


2 lb. Sauerkraut washed (kapusta)
4 lb. whole head of sour cabbage
2 onions
½ cup oil or rendered salt pork fat
1 lb. Pork ground
½ lb. Beef ground
¼ cup rice-cook in 1 cup salted water until cooked ½ way through
Salt & pepper
Parsley sprig
7 oz. Smoked spare ribs rinsed
5 oz. Smoked bacon rinsed - Slab bacon not sliced
6 ½ cups water
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
1/8 teaspoon marjoram
Medium - sized sour cabbage. Detach leaves one by one remove the hard centre. Wash the leaves several times.
Stuffing: Chop the onion and fry in ½ cup fat until golden brown and let cool. Add the raw meat, mix it with rice, and dust with marjoram, salt and pepper, and chopped parsley, mix well. Put some cabbage leaves on the bottom of a 3-quart casserole and ½ the sauerkraut. Take one cabbage leaf; place a teaspoon of the meat mixture in the middle of the leaf. Folds two opposite ends of the leaf first, then roll the leaf with the meat in it into a neat, well-packed cylinder from which the meat cannot fall out while cooking. Arrange the cabbage rolls in layers with the smoked spare ribs cut into long pieces and diced bacon cover with the remaining sauerkraut. End with a layer of cabbage rolls. Pour cold water over the dish and bake gently for 3-4 hours covered tightly with aluminium foil and lid placed on
In a separate saucepan make a roux with ¼ cup fat and 1 tablespoon flour and 1 teaspoon paprika. When the cabbage is tender, pour this roux into the dish, shaking the casserole, but not stirring. Cover the casserole and let bake 30 minutes longer. Serve with sour cream.