Fresh Polish Kielbasa Wolfson Casing Corp Food

KIELBASA, HOW TO COOK FRESH HOMEMADE KIELBASA

Steps:

• If the kielbasa is frozen, thaw it a little. Place fresh kielbasa in pot with 1 quartered onion, several peppercorns, garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon marjoram (optional) and half a bay leaf. The addition of spices helps replace the seasoning that boils out during cooking.
• Add enough boiling water to cover.
• Cover and simmer on very LOW heat for about 50-60 minutes. Too rapid boiling may cause the sausage to burst. DO NOT prick sausages; they become dry. Let cool in cooking liquid.
• Sausage comes out moist and delicious, but not brown.
• Can be frozen after cooking. Wrap very well. Vac seal if you can.

KIELBASA, HOMEMADE KIELBASA, FRESH POLISH SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Put the garlic through a garlic press or mince really fine. Put the seasonings into a small pot with a pint of water. Boil and then cool. Here's where my Mom always said taste it and I wouldn't. That could account for the variance in taste from year to year!
• Meanwhile, cut the pork off the bone. Cut into strips maybe 1" by 3". Doesn't have to be exact size, we get pretty sloppy with it. Strips go through the grinder better than chunks. Don't trim anything off, unless you just can't stand not to. Trust me, if there's not enough fat, the kielbasa will be dry and hard. DO trim off any bloody-type stuff though. We then put the meat into plastic dishpans, pour the cool liquid over, add about 4 cups ice cubes and mix together until your hands freeze. It should be kinda sloppy. If not, add more water or ice. Cover with aluminum foil or such and put in fridge over night to marinate so the meat soaks up the flavor. Stir occasionally. The ice will probably all be melted the next day before you make the sausage. The meat kind of absorbs the flavors. Yes, it will smell up the fridge. In fact, it will smell up the whole house! Open the windows. Make the neighbors crazy!
• Next day, take the casings out and soak in warm water for several hours; it makes them more flexible. Cut in 4 ft. lengths. Shove the meat in the freezer for 1/2 to 1 hour before you start. The meat stiffens up a little and it's easier to put through the grinder. (We forget to do this a lot!) Stick one end of each casing on the faucet and run warm water through the inside of the casing.
• Ready? (Keep everything as cold as you can) This is the fun part. Put a little oil on your hand and run it over the horn where the meat will come out. Run casing through fingers to drain slightly. Put a casing on the horn. One person helps push the meat through the grinder while the other holds the casing while it is filling up. It kinda curls up as you hold it. I find for me that it's better if I hold it up while it's filling, less pressure on the casing. We make each one about 12-16". Or until it splits! Tie it off with string or knot the end if you can get it close to the end of the filled casing. Some people twist it every 6" or so to make smaller sausages. If the darn thing splits, you gotta scrape out the meat, dump it back with the other stuff in the dishpan and start over. Some years you're lucky, but some years the darn things split all the time. That's one reason for soaking the casings for a longer time, they don't split as easily. Sometimes it's just a bad batch of casings. Then all you can do is swear at it.
• We put the coils of sausage back into clean dishpans (on a rack if possible) and put back into fridge to kinda dry overnight. Then we pack them in Saran, aluminum foil, ziplock bags, anything that will keep the smell in, and put the packages in the freezer. We make 2-3 lb. packages. Since I have a vacuum sealer, I use that. It works really great.
• By the way, the sausage is pale because it is not smoked. We don't care for smoked kielbasa. But you can smoke it before freezing. Can't help you with that, though!
• We've been able to keep the sausage frozen for months. Just keep everything cold and clean while you're working. Keep a lot of paper towels handy to dry hands, answer the doggone telephone, etc.
• We have found over the years, that pork has become much leaner now.That is sometimes a problem. We've considered buying more fat and mixing it in but never have. It worked out all right just not cutting off any fat. But insufficient fat makes for dry sausage.
• It takes up about 1-1/2 hours altogether to fill the casings. It's really simple and easy. Of course sometimes we have splashes on the walls when "someone" gets a little rough pushing the meat through the grinder. Hey, that's the fun of it. It's a messy job, but someone has to do it.
• Oh yeah, the house smells for 3-4 days. But it smells good. If you like garlic. All the seasonings are to your personal taste. You really need a lot of salt though. The pepper -- eh, how much do you like? We like a lot. Same with the garlic.
• We keep a little of the ground meat and cook a couple of small patties of the sausage. That's when you can taste it and find out what you did wrong in the seasoning, too late, of course.
• Use the plate in the grinder which grinds the meat coarse. It's better if the meat is a little chunky. You don't want a mealy texture.
• If you run a search on google, you can find other information under kielbasa.
• One recipe I found says to knead meat and seasonings. Supposedly the more you knead, the more tender the sausage. We've never tried that.
• In recent years, we've set aside 3-4 lbs. of the ground sausage meat and made it into small patties like breakfast sausage, and larger patties like hamburgers. The grandkids really like that. We do, too. But for Easter and Christmas, it has to be the links.

FRESH KIELBASA AND CABBAGE SOUP

Steps:

• In a 3 quart stock pot:.
• • Brown the kielbasa, remove and cut into bite size portions then return to pot. NOTE: While browning the sausage you made need to add a small amount of oil to aide in browning.
• • Slice onion into shreds and add to pot.
• • Slice mushrooms and add to pot.
• • Sauté sausage, onion and mushrooms at medium / med low heat for approximately 10 minute in the oils in the pot left by the browning of the sausage.
• • While sautéing sausage, onions and mushrooms, prep the cabbage by slicing into long thin shreds.
• • Add the cabbage to the sauté mix and continue to sauté.
• • Add the caraway seed.
• • Salt and pepper to taste.
• • Add enough chicken broth to cover the ingredients in the pot plus.
• • Stir in the tomato paste.
• • Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for approximately 20 minutes.

POLISH KIELBASA AND RICE

Steps:

• slice the kielbasa into 1/2 inch pieces.
• fry in a pan over medium heat until brown on both sides.
• add rice and olive oil and stir for 1 minute.
• add chicken broth, salt and pepper.
• turn heat to high and bring to a boil.
• boil for 1 minute then reduce heat to simmer.
• cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes (NO PEEKING FOR PERFECT RICE!).
• Enjoy!

FRESH KIELBASA WITH SAUERKRAUT

Steps:

• Brown kielbasa and pork,set aside.
• Drain all but 2 tablespoons fat.
• Add apple juice, onions, carrots, apple, parsley, bay leaves,garlic salt,caraway seeds, and chicken broth; simmer cover for 20 minutes.
• Stir in saurerkrat,wine,sugar,pork ribs and kielbasa that you cut into 1/4 slices.
• Bake, covered,1 hour at 350 degrees.
• Serve with mashed potatoes and good rye bread& butter.

POLISH KAPUSTA KIELBASA

Steps:

• In a stockpot, add sauerkraut and bring to boil; rinse and drain.
• Return sauerkraut to stockpot and add enough water to cover sauerkraut.
• In a small skillet, saute onion in butter until soft. Add butter beans and cook at least 30 minutes.
• Add kielbasa and cook 45 minutes to 1 hour, the longer the better.
• Season with salt and pepper and serve with crusty bread.

POLISH KIELBASA AND PIEROGIES

Steps:

• On a cutting board, cut sausage links into 1-inch pieces; set aside.
• In a Dutch oven, cook pierogies according to package directions.
• Drain and keep warm.
• In a large skillet, melt butter and sauté onion until tender, about 5 minutes.
• Add sausage, continue to cook and stir until sausage is heated through and brown.
• Stir in prepared pierogies.
• Sprinkle with parsley, if desired.
• Serve.