Halushki

 

Gene and I were watching Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives a few days ago on Food Network and we were both struck by this dish served at a diner owned by a Polish family.  We both kept trying to get the name of it so I could Google it but the best we could come up with was that it rhymed with "push-key".  So instead I Googled "egg noodle and cabbage recipe" and Halushki popped up. Damn, I love the internet!

I ran to the store to get the ingredients, popped out an email to Auntie Miranda inviting her over for an "experiment" supper on her way from work, and it's now become a regular addition to our dinner repertoire.

I researched several versions of the recipe and found that the four common ingredients in all of the recipes are:  butter, onion, cabbage, and egg noodles.  You can make it from that simple vegetarian one pot meal (vegan if you sub out the butter), or you can add a few simple things to jazz it up a bit, like potatoes and/or bacon, thin-sliced cooked pork loin, chop, or ham.  I happened to have some proscuitto that needed to be used so that's what I picked and it was lovely.  Gene's comment was "Wow! I can't even taste the cabbage! I was a little worried about that!"  Okay, that made me laugh but he was right. It doesn't have an overwhelmingly cabbage-y taste.  The cabbage mixed nicely with the onions to create a simple sweetness to the noodles. Very comforting and homey.

It's also the perfect dish for my new quest for simplicity:  it's easy, quick, yummy, healthy, and cheap.  It doesn't get much cheaper than a $ .59 in cabbage, $ .25 egg noodles, $ .10 onion, and a few strips of bacon or in my case, some leftover proscuitto and the entire cooking time was maybe a half hour and most of that was cooking down the onion and cabbage.  The finished one pot meal fed the three of us and Gene and I had leftovers for lunch the next day.

Halushki

(recipe is a compilation of several internet recipes)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, cut into strips

1 large  head cabbage, shredded

1/3 cup Vegetable or chicken broth

1/2 tsp fresh garlic, minced

Optional:  1 tsp Cavender's seasong or all purpose seasoning salt

Salt and Pepper to taste

4 oz proscuitto or a few strips of cooked bacon or ham or leftover pork loin or chop, in bite-sized chunks

3/4 lb wide egg noodles, cooked and drained

In a dutch oven, heat olive oil and cook onion over medium low heat until translucent to starting to caramelize.  Meanwhile, cook egg noodles to pkg directions in another pot.  To dutch oven, add cabbage, garlic,  and broth.  Continue to cook until cabbage wilts. As soon as the noodles are al dente and drained, add them and the rest of ingredients to the dutch oven, stir, and cook for an additional 5 minutes on low to allow flavors to combine.

Serves a generous four portions.

(Delicious by itself, I served mine that night with an additional vegetable of seasoned steamed green beans.)

Comments

[Peg]

New to your blog(s), I don't have a handle on what region you are from. I've come by way of Melly's Cooking Schmooking, btw.

I moved to Pittsburgh about 30 yrs ago and became exposed to a whole new world of ethnic food. I still remember the first time I tried Halushki! Pierogies are another of my all times regional favorites. Churches have big fund raisers in the spring time and all the ladies get together and make them fresh!

I like your blog.
best regards!

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Your egg noodles and cabbage with those green beans: gorgeous on all fronts!! Vivid color, great taste, texture variety and super easy on the pocket book = great meal. Winner

[Rachel]

You need to submit that to the Taste of Home cookbooks where they feature the cheapest (and best) ways to feed 4 people.

Sounds delish!

[Melly]

We saw that on DD&D too. Love it. Reminds me of what my Romanian g'ma used to cook. I have some corned beef and cabbage leftover from last night..I could put that in with the egg noodles??

I'll try it. Thanks!!

[Lisa]

This is just like a "Pennsylvania Dutch" dish my Father loved made with leftover ham from Sunday dinner. Mother always added caraway seeds when cooking the onions & cabbage.
He was the only one that really liked it, tough ;)

I haven't thought about this dish in years, but I'll have to try again; it sure is budget friendly!

[lesley]

Glenna, you & I have similar tastes in food. I love the sound of this, it's what I call "an-all-in-help-yourself-dinner" lol
Excellant! :0)
Will be trying out on the next "girls night" round mine.

[Glenna]

Hi Peg! I'm from Springfield, Missouri. Thanks for reading!

Tanna--it reminds me of "poor man's meals", those great you tube meals that the grandmother cooks for her grandkids who beg for the simple things.

Rachel--You know, that's a great idea. Thanks!

Melly--yes! Did you? Gene and I said the same thing!!

Lisa--I admit I'll probably skip the caraway seeds and I probably wouldn't have liked this as much as a kid but it give it another try and let me know what you think now, as an adult, okay?

Lesley--yes!!!! I like complicated cooking but there are days, like "sleep day" after I work nights, when I like something simple and homey but don't want to order out. You know what I mean?

[Treehouse Chef]

I agree Google is great for researching recipes. I love cabbage and noodles, but have never made a dish using them together. I will be making this for sure!

[Jamie]

This does sound so good! Cabbage cooked this way is really good and the whole combo sounds easy and delicious.

[cjsperl]

Being from Pittsburgh, Halusski is a GREAT ethnic dish. The ingredients are so basic and the taste is so good. I have tried to make it but can not come close to the Polish Church Ladies rendition. Every Lent a lot of Churches have fish fries and it includes Haluski and Pierogis. Do people in the rest of the USA have Fridday Fish Fries in Lent??

[Fruittart]

Oh, your green beans look sooo good. I can't wait for summer to get here.

I used to make this with bacon and fry the cabbage in some bacon grease. A friend called it a German poor man's meal, due to the pork. I might have to make this soon!

[kate]

I was raised on halushski made with potato dumpling, a traditional Slovak. version of the sauteed cabbage dish, (although we have made it with wide egg noodle to save time). Grandma always said, to make it perfect you must brown the butter. It's also wonderful with some diced apple or pineapple,

[susan]

Checking in on your site cause I am trying to cook more so I can be healthy and all that good stuff. i have lost 10 lbs so far so WW does work. I don't want to get in the same rut of having the same ole thing. Any suggestions let me know.

[susan]

oh yes not a big veggie fan myself.

[Whineaus]

I made this last night but I added a kielbasa that I was dying to have. It was fantastic and I could not believe how filling it was. I love your blog, but I love your sense of humor. Keep posting.

[Mikey]

I too saw that episode of DD&D and it made me get on the Internet in search of a similar recipe. Must have struck a deep chord in those folks who yearn for simple, homey cooking! Thanks for the recipe. I'll be making it tomorrow (with bacon I think). Kids will probably decline, but looks good to me.

My wife is from Springfield too. She goes on and on about Springfield Cashew Chicken, which is a Chinese dish unique to that city.

[Deborah Dowd]

One of my friends from work makes this as her specialty, but I never heard this name. She is from a Polish family and I always look forward to our office pot luck since she usually brings this dish! Now I can try it myself!

[Denise]

I looove halushki but it really does a number on my blood sugar so I haven't made it in several years. I've been experimenting with making homemade low carb noodles and if I create just the right recipe for them I'll make halushki. Thanks for the visual memories! :)

[Karen Knox]

My husband saw the same D3 episode that you did. He was immediately hooked! I'm making the dish this weekend. Halushki is very middle European, and I suppose that all the different versions--some with caraway seeds, some with garlic, some with bacon, sausage, or ham, some not, etc.--are variations from different countries: Austria, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, etc. I'm using onion, a bit of garlic, noodles, of course, shredded cabbage cooked in chicken broth, and chopped bacon mostly for flavor, and salt and pepper in mine. The steamed green beans are a good idea, though we may just have a big fat salad and a light dessert--something fruity, I think--for our weekend dinner. Nice blog! It's my first time to look at it, and I think I'll be back.

KWK

[mike]

Anybody remember the name of the restaurant in Pittsburgh the show was from? Had no luck on Fodd Network .com I know it was the girls name (four letters) and ended in ____ O's.

[Tammy]

The name of the diner is Kelly O's. I too made the recipe after seeing the show and my husband made me make it again the next day to take to work!

[Glenna]

Kelly O's--Thanks Tammy!

I love that I blogged this. It seems like a lot of people saw that eppy and thought that dish looked good too. It wasn't just me and Gene who went "oooh...sounds yummy!"

[Kelly]

I saw the episode on DD&D and COULD NOT BELIEVE Guy (of all people) had never heard of Halushki! My Grandparents are 100% Polish and Halushki and Pierogies have been a staple in my diet since birth. Polish food is awesome! Keep spreading the word! It is so great to keep 'cultural foods' alive when everything these days is deep fried and served in a card board box!

[Glenna]

I agree completely! Cultural foods need to be kept alive and going and known as such. Halushki rocks! Thanks for commenting.

[Heather]

Fun to find this online! This was a staple dinner while I was growing up. Same basic recipe, though we added cottage cheese to the mix, and occasionally my grandfather would use sauerkraut instead of fried cabbage.

[Glenna]

Ooooh, thanks for the tip, Heather. So you just add the cottage cheese in with the rest of the ingredients as you cook it?????

[Debbie]

My husband and I saw the same DD&D show and thought this was a great thing to make. I could not remember the name of the dish and was googling all sorts of cabbage and... recipes. Came across this-perfect-thanks so much, I will be making this week.

We also do a lot of pot luck dinners at church-think I will make it the next time we have one

[AlexT]

I liked the pork additions!

(FYI to your readers, halushki and pierogies are also claimed by the Ukrainians and Russians too!)

[Martha Cockshutt]

I just saw the D3 episode yesterday. Thanks for the rough ideas, recipe-wise. Am on my way to Price Chop for a head of cabbage. Interesting that great minds think alike. Loving the blog!

[Glenna]

Debbie--That's what I did too! I didn't quite hear what they called it and had no idea how to spell it...I think it would be great for a potluck too.

Alex--LOL! Thanks Alex! All I know is--it's damn good stuff!

Martha--Have fun. It seems to be one of those dishes that you can put your own signature on or use what you have available at the time.

[MaryAnn]

I don't get that channel that you mentioned, but it was a great delight to hear that a childhood favorite is being revitalized. Thanks for sharing! I thought that I would drop MY hint for making Halushki (besides using gnocchi) I also add apple cider vinegar, to taste. It gives it a nice sweetness.

[Glenna]

Mary Ann--Thanks for the tips. I bet the apple cider vinegar is good!

[David]

My Grandmother was a Slovak had 9 children, and not a lot of money. She made Halushki with bacon, and always added some of the grease as that works good to make you feel full. She always made her own egg noodles by hand.

Grandma also made "Lasqwoosha" (I have no idea of the spelling) it was a potato dumpling dish, then you put grated sharp cheddar on top..and did the same with the bacon and grease.

Filnally Grandma's Perogies - Oh My Goodness! Prune, Dried Cheese, Potato, Sour Kraut filled, hand made, in um, yes you guessed it, bacon and bacon grease.

She could feed a family of 11 with 3 strips of bacon and a bunch of scratch. Miss you Grandma!

[Rob B.]

Kellys Haluski

Kelly O cooks her famous haluski as seen on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-eL8u7SrlM

[jk]

a true polish woman would DIE knowing that people were passing off halushki as being made with egg noodles! Dough balls aka dumplings are AUTHENTIC in halushki. I saw the same episode and was kind of disturbed.

[Glenna]

Tell me more about the flour balls. Are we talking a small dumpling or something along the lines of spaetzle?