Kielbasa and cabbage

ummmm good. there are many variations of this dish here is one i threw together for my wife after she said she loved it at the iron skillet. she is a picky eater and not too keen to flavorful foods, lol. you can half the recipe and cook it in an iron skillet in the oven, covered or uncovered, your choice. uncovered browns everything nicely. i cooked this family size in a roating pan covered, since she said id better not sizzle anything in her oven.

2 lb or so polsa kielbasa(or your sausage of choice)
1/2 head of large cabbage sliced in ribbons
2 yellow squash
2 zuchinni
1 yellow sweet onion course chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped or wide julian
1 yellow bell pepper chopped or wide julian
couple cloves garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste
2tbs fresh parsley chopped
1/4 cup chicken broth
olive oil

herbs:

most med style herbs pair well with this. i used italian seasoning(dry combo of thyme, oregano, basil, etc) about 1 tbs for this amount of food. fresh basil and dried oregano pairs well. if you want to forego the veggies and just use the onion and cabbage then curry powder brightens it up.

anyhoo chop everything up and slice the sausage on a bias and throw it all in a pan and drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. if you like bacon, fry anfew strips and use the fat instead.

preheat oven to 375 and cook with lid on for about 45 minutes for veggies with a bite. take out and stir half way through.

i served this with my garlic herb potatoes, and you can add some sliced new potatoes to the recipe if you wish. i would probably precook them in the microwave for a couple of minutes before adding them.

I love sausage and cabbage. family doesn't care much for the smells it creates a couple of hours after I eat it :roll:

I don't like you right now. I guess I missed my invitation. :tu: That dish looks super delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe.

I love a simple stiryfry of kraut and Polish sausage. Brown the sausage and just toss the kraut in long enough to warm it up.

Lately ive been using my good kielbasa for bean soups. The local market has swojska. (home style sausage). White beans, kale, a little pork and swojska for seasoning. Works well for South American black bean variations too.

GMB54":2gz3di79 said:

I love a simple stiryfry of kraut and Polish sausage. Brown the sausage and just toss the kraut in long enough to warm it up.

Lately ive been using my good kielbasa for bean soups. The local market has swojska. (home style sausage). White beans, kale, a little pork and swojska for seasoning. Works well for South American black bean variations too.

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yep, can stir fry this too. when i stir fry cabbage i like curry in it. i dont care much for kraut. my stepmom ruined me on kraut, salmon patties and bologna. she was a terrible cook. my wife even brought up how she cooked when i made this lol.

I love curry but not so much with smoked products. My mother would butcher kraut. I like mine crunchy. Same with cabbage. She would overcook them. I only use homemade kraut. It blows away store bought and cost a fraction as much as the high end live probiotic krauts. Even costco wants over $6 a jar for good stuff. I can make a couple gallons of it for $6.

we used to make a lot of home made kraut and brined sweet pickles in butter churns. fairly easy to make.

lol my step mom would cook kraut so long it would turn brown. i can still eat it when i make reubens.

WTM, can you show your butter churn setup for fermenting cabbage? I kept one to do the same thing, but since there's not a watertight lid, I wasn't sure how to proceed with it.

TAFKAP":4pnzdyi5 said:

WTM, can you show your butter churn setup for fermenting cabbage? I kept one to do the same thing, but since there's not a watertight lid, I wasn't sure how to proceed with it.

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it doesnt have to be water tight. the brine liquid needs to cover the cabbage at all times. the way my grandmother showed me was after the cabbage was packed about 3 to 4 inches from the top, place a small saucer into the churn and a sterilized brick on top of the saucer as a weight, then cheese cloth over the rim secured with a rubber band. thats the old timey way of doing it and a sall saucer fits almost perfect inside the rim. you can buy donut weights that go in a kimche pot that will probably fit.

the basic recipe i used was 3 tbs of canning salt per 5lbs of cabbage, sliced about an1/16th in shreds. sprinkle the cabbage with salt and mix, let sit until wilted then pack that into the churn real good and tight. then do another batch and repeat until the cabbage and brine is 3-4 inches from the top. then do the saucer and weight on top. skim it every day and
you should see bubbles while its fermenting. takes about 4-6 weeks. if you need extra brine 1 1/2 tbs of salt per quart of boiled water and cool.

if you want to can it in jars after, simmer, not boil to about 180-190 deg and ladle in hot mason quart jars to 1/2" from top. put your lids on and process in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes. turn it off and let it cool down, take the jars out and make sure they seal.

good luck.

You dont need to can fermented kraut. I will keep in the fridge for many months after its sour.

By far the best style fermenter ive used is an Ejen. The inner lid minimizes air contact and holds the veggies down.
https://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Korean-Coo ... B00M40ANMO

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instead of stone or brick weight, a quart glass jar filled with water would probably be enough weight. just make sure evrything you use that touches the brine is sterilized good.

yeah, it will store in the fridge wihout canning and so will leftover brine. but a churn full of kraut is about 25 pounds or 20 quarts if i remember correctly, enough for a year.

Looks good.