Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Kielbasa

Wow it’s been awhile! Unfortunately I let my life get in the way a little but I am back to blogging because I love cooking and writing about it and we all need to do what makes us happy.
 
Tofurky Kielbasa

Being half Polish I grew up eating Kielbasa. My grandfather actually used to make it and everyone knew it was the best in town, maybe even the world. I really miss being able to eat Kielbasa so I figured I would try Tofurky Kielbasa, even though I was less than impressed with their Italian sausage http://marriedtoameat-eater.blogspot.com/2010/10/tofurkys-sweet-italian-with-tomato.html .

Unfortunately their Kielbasa was even worse. It had a disgusting mealy texture and kind of tasted like playdoh. Heck I may have rather eaten playdoh at that point. I can’t even describe the bad taste and texture in its entirety so I’m not even going to try. I ended up eating just a big bowl of sauerkraut that night, but I could not choke down the Kielbasa no matter how hungry I was.

I’m so utterly disappointed in Tofurky at this point it has almost turned me off to fake meat entirely. Fortunately, I’ve had great fake meat at places like Blackbird Pizza and A Full Plate. Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something….I should not cook fake meat for myself, it should be left to the professionals…or…maybe it’s that tofurky’s a really bad choice since you never really liked turkey to begin with, try something else like field roast.

I think it will be a while until I try field roast because I have to muster up the gut to do so, but I will make sure report back when I do. For now please view a sauerkraut recipe and a meat Kielbasa recipe (you’d cook the tofurky the same way but I suggest you take my word for it that it was bad, disgustingly bad).

Sauerkraut

1 bag or large jar of sauerkraut drained and rinsed
2 cloves of minced garlic
½ a diced apple
¼ an onion
¼ cup of water

Put all ingredients together in a large pot and cook until everything is tender. The apple takes out the tartness of the sauerkraut and the garlic and onion add a ton of flavor.

Kielbasa

Add Kielbasa to a pan and add enough water to come 1/4 -1/2 way up the Kielbasa, boil the Kielbasa until hot and water evaporates. You can add some olive oil at the point it you wish and then  just brown the Kielbasa. I used to like regular Kielbasa with some red beet horseradish but that is not for everyone, but if you want a little spice try it!