Thursday, November 28, 2013

Kielbasa Loaf and Haluski




Gearing up for the holidays means a couple of dishes must be at the table for the holidays. Kielbasa Loaf and halsuki  are two of them. For folks not into cooking your own, some of the best kielbasa and kielbasa loaf anywhere can be ordered and bought from Kowalonek's http://www.kielbasy.net/  and Masser's  http://www.massersfarmmarket.com/  here in the heart of the coal region. Kowalonwek's has international fame as the best, but they duel every year, LOL. 

But for those that do like to cook, here it is. 

 Kielbasa Loaf:

2 1/2 lbs ground beef
2 1/2 lbs ground pork
3 tbs tender quick (cole's hardware has this here)
1 tbs garlic powder although i usually add more, lol
1/2 tbs black pepper
1 tbs mustard seed
2 cups ice water

Mix well, form into loaf on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for an hr.

Haluski is a great way to use up your fall garden cabbage and is always yummy. I always serve mine with a side of applesauce, but then, I eat applesauce with everything, LOL.

Haluski:

The quick version is this--

1 head cabbage
1 package wide noodles
Onions to taste
Butter
Salt and pepper

Variation 1: Cook wide noodles and drain. Cut up cabbage, onions, add butter and water. Cook until cabbage is done, making sure no water remains (5 to 7 minutes). Pour cabbage over noodles and mix well. Add salt and pepper.

Variation 2: Cut the cabbage up any way you like, do the same with the onion. Heat a large pan (I use medium-high heat on an electric range). When the pan is hot, add bacon grease (If you ever make bacon, always save the grease! It keeps a long time in the fridge.) or the 'grease' of your choice. When the grease is hot, add cabbage and onions and saute for a few minutes. Turn down the heat (medium) and cover the pan. Let this cook until the cabbage is soft. If you want the cabbage browned more, remove the lid and turn up the heat again. Add grease as you need it. Add the cooked noodles and serve.

Full version:

Dough:
2 C flour
pinch salt
1 egg, well beaten

Cabbage: 
1 large chopped onion
2 tsp oil
1 medium head cabbage
garlic powder to taste

Cabbage part-- saute onion in oil, add chopped cabbage and steam /saute until tender.

Dough part-- Add enough milk t make dough stiff when mixed. Roll out thin (1/8 inch) on floured board and cut into 2 inc squares. Drop dough into boiling water and cook 3 minutes. drain, rinse and let dry for a few minutes. Add dough to to steamed cabbage and simmer around 30 minutes. The more butter, the merrier.

17 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. This is a long shot, as I see this recipe was posted nearly three years ago, but this is the ONLY recipe for keilbasa loaf I have been able to find online. What is the purpose of the ice water? Am I really supposed to mix it in with the meat? Seems to me like it would only serve to make a sloppy mess of things.

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  3. The ice water helps to set the loaf and will help cook it and cook off when baking it. You have 5lbs of meat to set. Depending on your mix (how ground), it may take less, it may take more. Hope this helps! Either way, it will stay taste good, LOL!

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  4. Tender Quick is a salt base with cure . It gives the meat the red color and cured meat flavor. Nitrates were originally used to help prevent botulism spores from growing. My ? is what is meant buy "set the meat"?

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  5. The ice water is used with the cure and binds the meat. It will make it sticky when you mix it up.

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  6. What is the temperature should be when done

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  7. I think this will be tried on my Treager grill! Sounds good and maybe even better smoked!

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  8. Replies
    1. In every recipe variation where people stray away from the standard pork and beef combination and use lean meats like Venison, etc., they usually add in a lb. of pork fat, so it would seem better to not go with lean meat to avoid the extra step, unless you are creating your own new recipe. But keep in mind, if you are going by supermarket standards for Polska Kielbasa sausages that are marked 'lean,' they also contain many additives that keep it moist. Honestly, no supermarket Kielbasa is authentic to passed down recipes. It seems that any sausage packed into 36mm casings at a supermarket get called Kielbasa. Helga seems to cater more to authentic recipes when she features meats. As my past generation family comes from that area, I can attest there is a difference from what they make and sell locally vs. what we get in American supermarkets.

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  9. can the loaf be Smoked,or is this supposed to be a fresh taste?

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    1. It can be hot smoked. In Poland it is also made cold smoked, but that can take up to 1-2 days. That more old-school 'traditional,' where present modern methods use hot smoking.

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  10. The ice water helps make an emulsion of the meat blend. Think balogna..this is also an emulsified meat product. The grind determines the texture- coarser grind is more 'rustic', fine grind is more, uh, fine!) Baking it(I'd go lower temp/longer time) evaporates the water and melts the collagen in the meat, creating a delicious gelatin. There won't be much of it as you are using lean beef/pork. When done baking let it cool in the pan until room temp (cover loosely with foil), turn it out from the pan and slice. There is almost 5 lbs of product, so set aside what you want for immediate consumption, portion the rest and vacuum seal it and freeze. The flavor will be marvelous!

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  11. I see there is no onion or onion powder...isn't it customary to have onions in Kielbasa just like in Bratwurst?

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    1. If you go by 'Authentic' standards of either Polska Kielbasa Wedzona (aka Polish Kielbasa in U.S.) or German Bratwurst, neither have onion or onion powders. You can add it, but you are creating your own recipe, not following a Standard recipe, and yes, Kielbasa has an 'Official' Polish recipe. It usually also includes Marjoram and sugar, but while they are optional, garlic is not, and no onion.
      Whoever told you onion was customary in Bratwurst is creating their own recipe, as Bratwurst is a bit similar to Kielbasa, except it also adds nutmeg, ginger, eggs and ice cold heavy cream instead of ice water (but no onion).
      You can make your recipe as you like, but Helga's is close to original, save for not having Marjoram, and adding optional Mustard. I will also add though that I do not know if the Loaf follows the same standards as Sausage.

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  12. Shouldn't it be 1 tsp per 5lbs of meat for curing salt(#1 pink salt)

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