I am nearing the end of my masters thesis these days. It is a collection of essays about women in my family and their relationships to food. One of the essays is about my Auntie Tunkel, the woman who raised my grandmother and her siblings. She immigrated from the Ukraine when she was 14 years in order to marry a man who she had never met. It wasn't a happy marriage, but according to family lore, she still managed to enjoy life and make everyone around her feel loved and appreciated.

Auntie Tunkel was an excellent cook and was particularly known for her stuffed cabbage. For the last few weeks, I've been bugging my mom for her stuffed cabbage recipe because I needed to include it in the thesis draft, and on Tuesday she finally came through. As she talked me through it on the phone, I could tell that she was recalling the taste memory of the dish as well. Writing down the recipe, I started to get hungry and by the time we got off the phone I was ready to bolt out of the house and head to the store for the necessary ingredients.

It's a time-intensive dish, but perfect for the weekend when you want to put a little more energy into cooking. When this dish is done, you'll be rewarded with a fragrant kitchen, an excellent meal and tasty leftovers (unless you are cooking for a crowd). The recipe is after the jump.MEAT
1 1/2 pounds very lean ground beef (or substitute ½ pound ground turkey)
1 egg -- beaten
1 garlic clove -- minced
salt -- to taste
black pepper, freshly ground -- to taste
1 cup cooked rice

CABBAGE
1 large cabbage
1 jar or bag sauerkraut
16 ounces tomatoes, canned -- cut up
8 ounces tomato sauce, canned
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 onion, chopped
salt -- to taste
pepper -- to taste


MEAT: Mix all ingredients for the meat filling together. Refrigerate until needed.

CABBAGE: Cut the bottom off. Place into boiling, salted water to cover; cook 10 minutes or until leaves can be separated easily. If cabbage is quite large, you may have to remove some leaves, and cook cabbage a little longer. You only need to cook cabbage until the leaves become flexible. When you take the cabbage leaves off, cut a vee into the leaf where the stem is to remove the hard part.

When leaves are limp and cool, place about 1/2 cup of meat mixture on bottom of leaf (on the heavy vein); roll up the leaf a bit, turn sides in, then finish rolling so all sides are tucked in. Continue making as many rolls as you wish, or have enough meat. For me, the 1/2 cup meat is usually just what is grabbed with my fingers before making a fist. As the leaves get smaller, you put less meat in. If you have cabbage left over, shred for use in recipe.

When the rolls are finished, sprinkle the sliced onions into the bottom of a large soup pot. Then make a layer of the cabbage rolls, then some sauerkraut, then shredded cabbage,

Pour tomatoes, tomato sauce, brown sugar, sour salt, salt and pepper on top. Shake the pot to equalize the tomatoes and seasonings throughout the pot. Bring to a boil; lower heat and simmer 2-3 hours. Taste often to get the taste you wish because the slow cooking will meld the flavors and sometimes mellow it. Shake the pot when you taste to equalize the liquid.