Cooking class this week was a lesson in dealing with adversity. As I told the kids, things happen in the kitchen — and in life — and you have adapt and make the best of it. In today’s class, we had to deal with a finicky burner turning on and off, a cut finger, ingredients added out of order, and too much of one ingredient (cabbage!) added to the mix. But, we endured, and ended up with a good meal for this, our third class, a meal the kids loved to pronounce: Golapki. (Ga – LOP- key)
This was a specialty of my Polish Nana, the grandmother who cooked everything from scratch and who made her own pierogi, kielbasa, sauerkraut and potato pancakes, warm memories from my childhood. My mom didn’t continue to make all of these dishes, but she did make the Golapki, which is the Polish version of stuffed cabbage.
This simple, inexpensive meal includes lots of vegetables, and stretches a pound of meat to feed a family. It is traditionally made with rice and ground beef or pork, but this lighter version uses quinoa and ground turkey.
The kids easily identified all the ingredients as we reviewed the recipe: peppers, onion, cabbage, celery, and even the quinoa from our first week when we used it in the granola, and the dill, familiar from last week in the pasta salad.
“I love the smell of it,” said Taylor Rodriguez, holding the sprig of dill up to her nose and breathing it in.
Not so much the garlic: “It smells like spoiled milk with cheese,” said Angy Reyes.
None of them remembered tasting cabbage after it was cooked, they had only eaten it raw in coleslaw.
“I’ve never cooked cabbage before,” said Brianna Veletenga. “I really want to see how it tastes.”
As the students started chopping the vegetables, I could see great improvement and confidence. They were using the bear claw to hold the vegetables as they chopped, and using the dull side of the knife to scrape the chopped veggies into a bowl. Unfortunately, Milany took her eyes off her work when she was chopping (a big no-no!) and nipped her finger. But she got bandaged up and soldiered on.
I asked if anyone had cooked at home this past week with their enhanced cooking skills, and the response was huge: Taylor assisted her mom in making lasagna, Angy helped with rice and chicken, and Laura Ramos helped to prepare soup, chopping all the veggies. Quite impressive!
As for the mishaps? The garlic was added first, instead of with the turkey. No big deal. Then the kids were so enthusiastic about chopping the cabbage that we had far more than the half cup that was needed (maybe two cups!) and it was all added to the saute pan before I knew it. The great part is that the kids were following the instructions on their own, with Milany Rubert, cookbook in hand, reading off the steps. It wouldn’t have been a real problem, except that our burner kept turning off, taking much longer for the extra cabbage, together with the onions and peppers, to soften up. And the clock was ticking! The hinky burner also meant that the turkey took forever to turn from pink to brown. “Still some pink,” Taylor kept saying.
Finally, the turkey was cooked through and we added the tomato sauce, quinoa and dill, and we were ready to roll the mixture into the cabbage leaves. That was the highlight of the class for the kids. They took great pride in spooning the mixture into the leaves, rolling them, and sticking in the toothpicks. “It’s like a burrito,” said Taylor. “Or a croissant,” said Angy. Back into the pan the galopki went with a little more tomato sauce for a final simmer.
When it was time to eat, the reviews were strong. Ezian Delgado, who doesn’t like vegetables, was convinced to try just the filling and even he acknowledged it was pretty good. There was a lot of extra filling leftover (because of all that cabbage) and the kids loved sharing it with staff and bringing some home to their families.
The best journal entry this week came from Milany, patched up from her minor injury: “The most important lesson I learned in cooking class is to be careful with a knife.”
