Halushki

First cabbage dish! 

A family friend, Teresa suggested this recipe on Facebook to me. Teresa and her family have been joining the Pelto's for Christmas for years. The best part about it?! Her homemade raviolis... yum! Needless to say, I'd trust Teresa with any cooking idea she throws my way!

From the Googling I did, it appears that Halushki is an Eastern European dish (possibly primarily Polish) that is popular in Pennsylvania. It seems that everyone has their own recipe and that there is a lot of leeway in ways to make Halushki. The four basic ingredients are cabbage, noodles, onion and butter. How can you go wrong with this combo?!

But wait... there's more!

I added bacon... bam! Remember how I said that cabbage is often paired with bacon? Well here is a prime example. I figured there wasn't quite enough butter in this dish so why not add some bacon grease to the mix? 

This is one of those times that I just used multiple recipes found online and made it my own. It doesn't happen often. I've put down what I did last night, but at the end I talk about the changes I would make next time.

Halushki

4 cups of dry wide egg noodles

5 strips bacon

1 head of green cabbage-chopped or shredded

1 medium yellow onion-chopped or sliced

1 tsp of minced garlic

3 tbl of butter

Garlic Powder, Onion Powder and Salt to taste

Fry up the bacon and save the grease. Add 1 tbl of butter to the pan with the grease and mix in the chopped onions on medium heat. After about 5 minutes (once the onions are getting soft) mix in the cabbage and garlic. You'll want to stir frequently. Cook the cabbage mixture for about 20  minutes on the stove. You'll notice changes, everything will get soft and more yellowish. Apparently the goal is to let it brown a little and sort of carmelize. While the cabbage is cooking, cook the noodles and drain. Mix in 2 tbl of butter in to the noodles and the garlic and onion powders and salt to taste. Once the cabbage mixture is ready, mix in with the noodles. Crumble the bacon and add to the pasta and cabbage. Serve warm.

Finished Dish! I served with
Roasted Green Beans with Parmesan from this post.

Shredded/Chopped Cabbage before cooking.

Cabbage after cooking... can you see the brown?

Mixed in with the noodles and bacon

Things I'd do differently:

-add more bacon! The bacon worked great with the cabbage and noodles and really gave it a pop. I would definitely add more bacon next time... like double it.

-maybe add in mushrooms?

-maybe try ham?

Other than those things this dish was delicious! I can't wait to go home and have some more. What a successful first cabbage post, thanks Teresa!