There is perhaps nothing in my cooking repertoire more contrary to presentation here than the shapeless and nearly monochrome combination of cooked cabbage, onion, butter, and noodles that make up haluski. Even with a bit of black pepper and Hungarian paprika, no dressing up for the camera will really make this dish shine (or, frankly, make it appetizing if you don’t already love the tastes you’re anticipating). However, particularly if your grandma used to make it for you, there is really no protection from the winter cold more secure than this supper.
To keep the oven and stove top cranking while I steamed and sauteed my pot of cabbage and onion, I paired the cooking of this noodle dish with the creation of a loaf of soda bread and a buttermilk broccoli soup (to use up the rest of the buttermilk, though I recommend treading carefully with this recipe if nutmeg is not your thing).
It occurred to me halfway through the cooking that perhaps there were “better” ways to make haluski and that maybe I should have done a bit of Googling before I began cooking. Pretty much every post I turned up after the fact, however, was exactly the dish I had made. (Aside from the one that also included Crisco–yikes! Though if you grew up with a lard version, this may help get you there.)
So fill your kitchen with the aroma of cooking cabbage and think of grandma with love. You’ll be all the warmer for it.
Guessing Game: The hazards of family recipes
Helen’s Haluski
based on the “um, maybe?” instructions of gram, via my mom
1 medium head of white cabbage, cored and shredded with a knife
1 medium white onion, roughly chopped or thinly sliced in half moons (cook’s preference)
1/2 cup water, plus more as needed
1/2 cup butter
3/4-1 lbs. wide egg noodles
salt, pepper, and paprika to taste
Place cabbage, onion, and water in a large pot. Cover almost completely with lid and heat to steam vegetables for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more water as needed. Add butter and continue cooking to brown vegetables, about 30 minutes more. Cabbage and onion should be soft and tasty. Remove from heat.
About 15 minutes before vegetables are done, cook noodles according to package directions. Add noodles to cooked vegetables and toss well to combine, seasoning with salt, pepper, and paprika. A dollop of sour cream or some cottage cheese might not be amiss either. (Don’t give me that look.)
Serve with crusty bread, vegetable soup, and pickled beets (or sausages, if you swing that way).
I actually have a variant of haluski. A Pennsylvania version which involves adding garlic salt instead of regular salt and bacon. The way I learned takes longer, but comes out more colorful, and got my cabbage-hating husband to eat cabbage (also tricked me as a child, too)! 1 head cabbage, chopped; 1 lg. yellow onion, chopped or julienned; 1/2 stick of butter; 1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled, drippings reserved; 2 T. Garlic salt; 2 1/2c. egg noodles, cooked; 1/8 tsp. black pepper. Boil water in a pot, and throw in cabbage until crisp-tender but still green about 5 min. Drain and set aside. Fry onions in the butter and the bacon drippings along with half of garlic salt in a lg. skillet for about 10 min until soft. Stir in cabbage and cook about 10 more min until it starts caramelizing*. Add bacon, noodles, pepper, and rest of garlic salt. Cook 5 min. (The shorter blanch time helps reserves some of the cabbage’s green color.) *Note-If your pan’s too small and you get “water” steaming instead of caramelizing, you can scoop out liquids into very small pot and boil heartily to remove liquids and retain the flavorful fats… pour back over top when soupy and golden almost like a caramelized gravy to retain flavor just before serving. (That trick was picked up with my first apt. I only had a small skillet and ended up steaming things practically. Figured out how to “fake” the caramelized flavor back into it this way.) Fairly similar, but a little different than yours, since you said you hadn’t found any variants online. Do try it with the bacon and garlic salt. It’s pretty awesome! (My husband’s bachelor buddies gave it two thumbs up when I fed it to them on a camping trip.)
Thanks for the tips and the new variation, Erin!
I just made your recipe and it is the best haluski we’ve ever eaten! Thank you for posting it.
Thanks so much for letting me know how much you enjoyed it!