P is Polish and like any good Polish common law wife, I ordered myself a Polish cookbook. I had fantasies of making him some good ol' Polish home cooking. I even bought my really good friend Dude (obviously not her real name), who is real life married to a Polish gentleman, the same cookbook and we giggled like school girls that we were going to make recipes out of it. I've yet to try making anything in it. There has been discussion about a pierogi making day with P's Babcia (Grandma), but P threatened that I better not add anything "fancy" like herbs. Even I know better than that. Babcia's pierogi's are simply flavoured (they don't need "fancy" things) fluffy, tender, and all around tasty. She's ruined store bought frozen orange filling pierogi's for me.
But, I digress. While stuck in a traffic jam one day after a stressful day at work and on my way to the gym, I noticed a Polish deli to my left. I diverged and parked. Most of the products on the shelf were familiar. But my focus was on sausages. I love me some Polish sausage (that's what she said!).
While waiting for the Polish customers and the owner to finish gossiping, I took a little peek of the back room. I saw big salami's and coils of sausages hanging. I saw what looked like to be a big smoker. But, what surprised me is there was a handsome elderly gentleman sitting on the stool trimming and cutting up pork pieces and throwing them into a bucket. Being used to the sterile look of the deli at the big chain grocery store where their deli meats are shipped in, I was not expecting the Polish deli to butcher and make their own products on site.
This did it for me and I stared at this old man like a total creeper for a good five minutes. I quickly put in my order when it came to my turn (two traditional sausages and one double smoked sausage...I am probably messing up my description of them) and phoned P upon exiting. I had a new goal in life: to open a Polish deli. Call it crazy, but I find it romantic to run a family owned business based on your heritage and to artfully craft your product from start to finish.
After telling P of my dream, he didn't scoff, but actually took me seriously and and threw in his two cents. My sister in law J finds it amusing that my Filipino self wants to open a Polish deli. It is strange, but I am legitimately serious. So serious that I have signed up for a bacon/sausage making class at Save-on Meats in Vancouver. That's for another post.
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| Taken from the Wikipedia article on Kielbasa. Didn't even think about taking a picture of my Kielbasa finds. Tried the skinny and brown sausages. |
My first attempt at a recipe (adapted from another recipe my sister gave me):
2 14 oz cans of cream of corn
6 cups chicken stock (cheat and use the one in the tetrapack...let's not kid ourselves. I don't make my own chicken stock. Who has time?)
3-4 potatoes chopped into cubes (I left the skin on because I was pressed for time)
2 or 3 bay leaves (being pressed for time, I didn't think of herb combinations I could put in, but I bet you thyme would be good as well. Maybe some chipotle powder to make it spicy)
2 kielbasa sausage cubed (not to be snob, but go to a Polish deli in your community and buy legit kielbasa, not the crappy big brand kind unless that's what you like)
1 can of evaporated milk
salt and pepper (I didn't put salt b/c the Kielbasa is salty as is)
green onion for sprinkling (optional)
Seriously dump everything but the evaporated milk of it into a crockpot. Being rushed, I didn't even stir it. Put it on high for four hours. Check if the potatoes are done. If they are, put in the can of evaporated milk. Let it simmer on high for another 1/2 hour to an hour.
This served me and P dinner plus lunch leftovers. Not very Polish, but I'll get to the cookbook someday.
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