Saturday, April 25, 2015

How to make KIELBASA

Or "kabasy", as we pronounce it.This recipe is the absolute very best kielbasa I have ever tasted. 

First comes the marinade over night.You will need a pork butt 5-6 lbs and a beef chuck roast, about 2 lbs. Cut into 1 - 1 /2"wide strips , do NOT grind them yet. I remove the fat from the beef but use ALL the fat from the pork.Do not use a pork loin...it is too lean. You need to have a liberal amount of fat included in the kielbasa mixture. Beef fat is hard and NO good for you. Pork fat is soft, gives GREAT flavor and is also no good for you.Beef fat is worse.

Here is the recipe for the MARINADE : 1 pint of water    6 garlic cloves (minced fine)   1 TB  garlic powder  (NO, it will not be too much)   4 TB kosher salt   1 TB ACCENT seasoning  1 TB  white sugar   2 TB ground coarse black pepper    1 TB  SWEET   paprika  (not regular paprika)  1 TB  marjoram.   Boil the seasonings in the pint of water then let it cool.  Place your pork and beef strips in a large bowl and pour the cooled mixture over it. Mix it well in the marinade, cover and refrigerate over night or even 24 hrs.
 You now grind your meat using the coarser holes attachment  and knead, knead, knead the meat as it enters the bowl beneath. It blends it well and the meat comes out soft and very tender afterwards.
 You will need hog casings. These you can buy at country mom & pop grocery stores or butcher shops.I ask for them and my local shop orders them for me. During hunting season  they are usually in stock.They come packed in salt water and you can freeze them and they last FOREVER.Cut the casings in 4 ft lengths and place them in a bowl of warm water. First I place a food strainer in the sink and run a stream of water through the casings to flush them and remove the salt.Rub a little olive or vegetable oil over the nozzle of the sausage stuffer so the casings slip easily over it.Push the casings gently over the horn. When you get to the end,don't tie it UNTIL the meat arrives at the end of the sausage stuffing horn. Otherwise air gets pushed through and the casing will fill with air.Once the air has passed and the meat reaches the end of the nozzle , place a tie on the end.As you shove meat through the sausage stuffer, keep air out of the chimney as you feed the ground meat into it.YOUTUBE has many demonstrations on sausage making. I wanted to share THIS recipe with you. It is the BEST kielbasi I have ever tasted.

Hold your hand against the nozzle as the meat enters the casings and exert light pressure so that the casing fills well. If you get skinny & irregular fillings, stop the machine and work the meat down the casing by gently squeezing and sliding the meat downward. Then work the slack in the casing back up onto the nozzle. As you keep working at this you will become better & better. If an air pocket forms that you can't work free, make a pin hole to release the air.

Place your finished masterpieces on platters in the refrigerator or a dishpan overnight to dry.Flip them over to dry the moist underside.Bag'em up and freeze them.

When it's time to cook them, I boil mine first then gently fry it to brown it. YUM !!!   It will be pale in color because it's not smoked If you smoke it , it comes out red. You can add liquid Smoke  to the marinade if you prefer a smoked flavor but don't have a smoke house.Enjoy!

Thursday, April 9, 2015

It is time to start little peat pots . Don't spend large sums on starter pots. That's baloney!  Instead, crack your eggs open at the tip when you cook them.You now have an excellent starter pot that will leach calcium into the potting soil.I cut my egg cartons into single rows. That width fits perfectly on my windowsill. These eggshell peat pots are 2 weeks old and the tomato plants are doing just fine.