White Sausage {Biała Kiełbasa}
Biała kiełbasa gets it’s name from nothing else but it looking white after being cooked. Its a pork sausage spiced with garlic and marjoram always served at Easter. It’s like the American turkey on Thanksgiving. Everyone knows this is what you’re eating during Easter in Poland. I have not seen it for sale in America (other than at a Polish deli), and was forced to start making my own. When I was a kid, we would make it at home too. I was in charge of cranking the handle on the old iron meat grinder. That was the best part.
As scary as it sounds, sausage making is not that difficult. It only takes a bit of planning, but only if you can’t find natural sausage casings at a local sporting goods store. I order mine on amazon, and this is the brand I use these. I’ve used them several times, and I like the consistent size and quality. I normally make a large batch and freeze it. When an opportunity presents itself, during a summer cook-out for example, just throw those suckers on the grill and you’ll have your guests asking for more.
During Easter biała kiełbasa is served in sour rye soup, or topped with horseradish and beets. To make it you will need a sausage stuffing kit, or a sausage making attachment to the Kitchen Aid (this is what I have). This is a two person job.
This is what you’ll need:
8 lbs of ground pork (shoulder or pork butt)
1 lbs of good quality smoked bacon
6 garlic cloves
1 tbs of sea salt
1 cup of ice cold water
2 tbs marjoram
1 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
1. You can purchase pork shoulder whole or have the butcher grind it at the store. Bacon will have to be ground up also. Soak the natural casings and rinse as directed on the package.
2. Put garlic and water in a blender and blend well. Add to meat, along with the remaining ingredients.
3. Slide one casing on the sausage attachment fully, and feed the meat through the top of the hopper, filling each casing to the desired size sausages. If you’re using the Kitchen Aid mixer, turn the mixer to high, it will make it easier for the meat to go through. Leave a few inches of unfilled casing at the beginning and at the end, to prevent spilling, and to tie the end off if you so choose. Once you see meat coming out, slowly pull the casing off the sausage attachment and allow the casing to fill with meat. The meat should be packed pretty well, but careful with overfilling, the casings may break. Twist to divide into shorter sausages. I made mine about 4-6 inches, but that’s completely up to you.
4. To serve, place sausages in a pot and cover with water. Add a couple bay leaves and a few allspice (if you have them) and boil on low for 15-20 minutes.
