Grandma Horvath's Hungarian Cabbage Rolls (Part I)

One of the things I miss the most about my Grandma Horvath, other than her love, her smile, and her funny little saying is her cooking. I remember growing up as a kid, and listening to my Mom talk to Grandma. I loved hearing my Mom say that she would be over there shortly to pick something up that Grandma had just cooked.

One of the favorite recipes that Grandma made though were her Hungarian Cabbage Rolls. These were not ordinary cabbage rolls, but monster cabbage rolls. In fact, just one was a meal.

It took me quite some time after Grandma died to figure out how she made these. Many people gave me their take on how a cabbage roll should be made, but they were all missing something. My biggest regret in knowing my Grandma is that I never asked to spend an afternoon with her in the kitchen to see how she made all of her wonderful dishes.

Well, what follows, is how I believe Grandma would have made this wonderful dish.

First off, to get her cabbage rolls correctly, the sauce, or what I like to call, the gravy, has to be just right. In many of my attempts, I just poured a tomato type sauce over the cabbage rolls, and this wasn't what Grandma did. After doing some research and experimenting, I found that one of the secret ingredients was sour cream.

Ingredients (enough to make about 8 cups)

• 1 tablespoon freshly rendered lard (See below)
• 5 – 20 tablespoons Hungarian paprika or more to taste (don’t buy cheap paprika… Grandma would have a fit)
• 10 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled and chopped (not powdered garlic)
• 1 cup seeded and chopped Anaheim green peppers or chopped but not seeded Cubanella peppers

• 1 cup peeled and chopped yellow onions
• ½ cup chopped ripe tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon chicken base
• 6 cups beef stock
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 cup sour cream
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour

Heat a large heavy stove top stock pot and add the lard and paprika. Cook over medium heat for a moment and then add the garlic, green pepper, onion, and tomatoes. Simmer for a few minutes until all is tender. Add the chicken base and beef stock, along with the salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

In a metal bowl, mix the sour cream and flour together. Mix it well with a wire whip as you do not want lumps. Add a cup of the gravy from the pot and quickly stir it into the cream and flour mixture with the wisk. Remove the gravy from the heat and stir in the cream mixture, mixing it well. Return to the heat and simmer, stirring often, for 15 minutes/ Strain the gravy and discard the solids…or lumps.

Serve this over stuffed bell peppers, Hungarian cabbage rolls, chicken paprikas, or just with Hungarian dumplings.

Now you ask, well where is the recipe for the actually cabbage rolls? That will be coming next, please be patient.

Rendered Lard

Okay, you must be asking yourself, has he lost his mind? He's using lard! That can't be good for you! Well, in moderation, I don't think it will hurt us too much, and besides, it gives us the taste that we need, and let's face it, my Grandma lived into her 80's so it couldn't have hurt her too much. Yes, it may not be that good for us, but perhaps we should enjoy it just one in a while.

Tell your butcher that you want fresh pork fatback, coarsely chopped, for rendering. Get 2 or 3 pounds. Place this in a heavy stock pot or kettle and add one cup of water. Set it over medium heat until all is boiling and then reduce heat to medium low. Cook until the pork fat pieces have shrunk to small toasty bits and the fat is clear yellow, about 2 hours. Allow the fat to cool and store it in glass jars in the refrigerator.

Stay tuned for how to make the rolls....