No. 547 — Golubtsy — Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 547 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
Take a head of cabbage weighing 1½ Russian pounds without its core. Lower into boiling salted water and bring to the boil once or twice, then remove and separate into leaves.
Place a portion of forcemeat in the middle of each leaf, fold the edges over it and roll into a tube. Coat with flour, arrange tightly seam-side down in a deep frying pan or, preferably, a sauté pan, add melted butter and stew covered, adding broth when necessary.
When the rolls have browned, pour over sour cream and bring to the boil once. Alternatively, cover the golubtsy with tomato sauce mixed with a spoonful of sour cream and bake.
For the forcemeat, chop 1½ Russian pounds of tender beef from the rump as for cutlets. Add kidney fat, a piece of ice or ½ glass of cold water—preferably rich broth—salt, pepper and one baked or raw grated onion. Mix thoroughly.
When the filling is made from already boiled beef, fluffy boiled rice may be added.
In the southern provinces, the author notes, the filling is sometimes wrapped in lettuce, large sorrel leaves or nettle leaves, using several leaves together. First scald these greens so they shrink, then plunge them into cold water so they open out again.
To provide
1 cabbage head weighing 1½ Russian pounds, without core 1 glass of flour ¼ glass of melted butter Optional 2 spoonfuls of tomato sauce and 1 spoonful of sour cream Or ¾–1 glass of sour cream without tomato | For the filling: 1½ Russian pounds of beef flesh ¾ Russian pound of kidney fat 1 onion 2½ level teaspoons of salt 5 black peppercorns and 5 allspice berries A piece of ice or ½ glass of cold water or broth ½ glass of rice |