I am describing this recipe as it was told to me. In its current form, the choice of meats may or may not conflict with chosen diets. My wife for instance, does not care for pork but, she tolerates this dish because the taste of the pork has been blended into a wonderful new taste and she just can't get enough. The choices of meat for this dish are fully customizable. Turkey breakfast sausage, Turkey Italian sausage or ground Turkey seasoned-as-you-please are just a few of the choices. I am even considering a Veal / Lamb combo seasoned as Gyro, if that doesn't water your mouth, check your pulse!
I mix the two meats together in a bowl until the blend is unifrom. I add in 1/3 cup of rice, 1/3 cup of diced onion and 1/3 cup of diced bell pepper, the onion and bell pepper are of course optional. I then blend all of the ingredients into an even loaf and prepare to fill the cabbage leaves.
I take my time rolling the meat so that I don't rip the leaves. The finished product, to me,
is like a gift wrapped present and part of the pleasure is unwrapping the gift to see the wonderful
stuff inside, ok, call me a romantic!
I spoon in the decided amount, wrap the leaf carefully
around the ball of meat and tuck the ends in until I can poke the tucks right into the meat, simple
enough, right?
I repeat the process over and over until all of the meat has been wrapped and the second layer is done.
I use french style green beans for the third layer but cut green beans are equally as delicious. The fourth layer is a large carrot cut pencil sharpening fashion to make thin strips of carrot, the carrot also adds a bit of color to the recipe.
The final layer and the taste/foundation of this recipe is Sauerkraut. Once again, we have
one of those ingredients that may not be agreeable as a stand alone however, when the taste of the
sauerkraut blends with the flavors of the other ingredients, it is transformed into a taste you
won't have to acquire, I promise.
I used a 32 oz. jar of sauerkraut that finished this recipe
perfectly. I then filled the empty jar with approx. 30 ozs. of hot water and added 3 tsps of
powdered chicken bullion to make the broth (broth should be slightly salty).
This is all the seasonings this dish requires.
Pour the broth over the sauerkraut until about 3/4 inch below the rim. Remember, you may not be able to
pour all of the broth in now but, when the rice inside the meatballs get thirsty, have enough
chicken broth on hand to quench it. That means to keep checking the level of the broth in the pot
or your masterpiece will scortch and burn.
