Polish Golumpki for New Years Day

I promised Polish food for New Years Day dinner this year and one of the dishes I made was golumpki with mashed potatoes.

 I love making these.  I find the whole process very meditative. Mix 1 pound of ground beef or pork with 1 cup of cooked rice, 8 pieces of crumbled bacon, 1 grated white onion, 3 cloves of minced garlic, 2 eggs and salt and pepper to taste.  I also add Pensey's Krakow Nights seasoning.

 I bought sour heads when I was in Cleveland and used them for this recipe.  They actually weren't sour, they were brined which surprised me.

 They were wonderful to work with though.  The leaves just fell off the heads.

 To make up for the lack of sourness, I placed a layer of sauerkraut on the bottom of each pot and then covered it with a layer of sauce.

 I used 4 heads of cabbage to make these. ( I made a larger meat mixture).

 The rolls are placed on top of the sauerkraut.

 Place a scoop of the meat mixture on a cabbage leaf.

 Cup the bottom and turn in the sides.

 Roll it into a neat little envelope.

 My sauce is a mix of tomato sauce, cider vinegar, brown sugar and sauteed onions.  I add ingredients until I get the flavor I want.

 They bake at 325 degrees for about 2 hours.

 These freeze very well too.

 They never get frozen here though, they just get eaten.  Always on mashed potatoes!