Gołąbki

Adapted from my mommy's recipe, Gather and another food blogger, 6-8 servings
Date made: 1/19/2011

1 large head of cabbage*
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
2 c cooked Cajun brown rice*
2 eggs
3 garlic cloves, minced
2  10 oz cans condensed tomato soup
1 14 oz can tomato sauce
3 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
3 ribs of celery, peeled and finely chopped
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
thyme, salt, pepper, parsley to taste, other seasonings can be used as desired.

Core cabbage and place in boiling water.  Peel the leaves as they get soft and remove from the pot and set aside.
Saute onion in oil or butter until translucent.  Mix half of the onion with ground beef, pork, one egg, one cup of rice, and two garlic cloves.  Add about 1-2 tsp each of the seasonings.
Mix other half of onion with bell pepper, celery, carrot, the remaining rice, garlic, and one egg.  Again, add about 1-2 tsp each of the seasonings.
Take a cabbage leaf and cut off the thick stem.  Place a spoonful of filling in the middle of a leaf, fold the left and right sides over, and starting at the end closest to you, roll the cabbage up (see referenced recipes for photos).
Repeat until you have used all the mixture up.
Mix together two cans of tomato soup and tomato sauce.  Add 3 bay leaves and salt and pepper to taste.
Place cabbage rolls seam side down into crockpot and pour tomato soup/sauce mixture over the rolls.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Jason and I had made a Russian version (Голубцы - golubtsy) of this dish a while ago, but it it was my first time making this Polish version that my family has been eating at reunions, parties, etc. for years.  My friends have been doing a "family dinner night" where every other Wednesday evening someone hosts the group for dinner.  The veggie version was for the vegetarian in our group.  Since I had gotten a huge head of cabbage from Hollygrove Market and Farm the week prior, I figured I'd try my hand at this and also make cabbage noodles.  All-in-all it turned out okay -- it was pretty underseasoned, but that was my fault since I'm pretty timid when it comes to seasoning my food.