Blind Pigeons- Lithuanian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls- Balandeliai

I chose to do Lithuanian cooking in February because my dad is Lithuanian.  His grandparents immigrated in the 1900s.  My Grandmother was quite a good cook & this is one of the recipes my dad remembers eating.  I am a novice in the Lithuanian kitchen, so I'm making mistakes... like grating my potatoes wrong & using an embarrassingly small amount of eggs in my Kugelis & using a recipe variation which is less traditional- using crackers in the blind pigeons instead of rice (Grandma's had rice in them).  Oh well... I can adjust & do things more correctly next time.

Here is the recipe for Blind Pigeons:

1 large head of cabbage

5lb Ground Pork

2 tsp Seasoned salt

1 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

1 tsp Ground Mustard

1 tsp Marjoram

3 Eggs

3 Cloves garlic

2 medium onions

1 Sleeve of crackers (or 1 cup of cooked rice)

3 Stalks of celery

7 cups of tomato puree (I used diced tomatoes and I pureed them with the immersion blender)

9 cups tomato soup

(Reserved 4 cups cabbage water)

Optional- Sourdough bread

Optional- Sour cream

1. Take your cabbage, place it upside down on your cutting board and hollow out the core with a knife.  Fill a stockpot with water and put your cabbage in- it should be enough water to cover the cabbage- but the cabbage will float at first.  You may add salt to this pot.  Bring the water to boiling and let it boil, covered for 10 minutes- then take it off the heat and let it rest while you prepare the meat.

2. Mix the seasonings into the pork (seasoned salt, salt, pepper, mustard, marjoram) using your hands.  In a blender, process the onion, garlic, eggs, celery, and crackers {if using rice- do not put it in the blender, just mix it into the meat}).  Pour this over the pork and mix it in thoroughly.

3. Place 2 big pots (stock pots if you have them) on the stove.  Put in each pot 3 1/2 cups puree, 4 1/2 cups tomato soup, and 2 cups of the cabbage water.  Turn heat to medium.

4. Assemble the pigeons! Pull the cabbage out of the water and place it on a big plate.  Carefully peal the leaves off of the cabbage (so you don't tear them).  Place the leaves in a pile on another plate.  Take 3/4 cups of the pork mixture and place it in the center of each cabbage leaf.  Fold the thick part over the pork, then the top of the leaf, then the sides.  Carefully lower it seam side down into a pot of tomato.  repeat with remaining leaves and meat until you can make no more.  Make meatballs out of the remaining meat & put the remaining little cabbage leaves in the tomato pots as well.  (You will likely run out of room and need to do these when the pigeons are all done).  

5. Cook the pigeons for (well, My recipe called for 3-5 hours- I did 3 & they were perfectly wonderful.  Other people's recipes call for cooking them for only an hour- I didn't try that. So, check them after 1 hour- they may be good).  Carefully remove the cabbage rolls from the pot.  I had to refold them as I took them out- no big deal.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream if you want and sourdough bread.

~You can make a smaller batch if you want; the recipe easily divides in thirds.  Just put the pigeons in the pot first & pour the tomato stuff over them.  Simmer for 1 hour.  It can also be done in a crock pot.~

My Review: This makes a ton of blind pigeons (ok- like 20-25).  We definitely had leftovers, but I'm not complaining- they are so good.  They remind me some of Eggplant parmesan- I think that the tomato sauce made the cabbage leaves magical. The meat smelled amazing as I was making it and it definitely delivered on flavor.  This is recipe turned out something that I would happily order in a restaurant and expect to pay like $12 or more.

The Cabbage Rolls & Sourdough

My husband put wings on his Pigeon.