Karmelized Kielbasa on Stuffing with Fresh Apple

Kielbasa is a Polish smoked sausage, found pre-cooked and vacuum wrapped at the supermarket. Most folks have it grilled in the summertime, or with sauerkraut in the winter, but can't really think of much else to do with it. I've gotten a little more creative with it, since it is an easy meat to keep on hand, It keeps well in the freezer and even refrigerated has a long shelf-life. So it's a really good back-up to keep on hand for those nights when the groceries in the house have gotten low, or a winter storm is keeping you in. It's on sale just about every other week, usually as a buy one get one, or last week as a buy one get two free. Yay! So it's great for a cheap, easy meal.

Another item I keep on hand is stuffing, or “dressing” as some folks call it. It keeps forever in the pantry cabinet and makes a quick, tasty, filling side dish for just about any meal. Today though, it will play a more central role. I used pork stuffing for this recipe, but if you only have on hand a box or two of herb stuffing, maybe cornbread stuffing, I would still give it a whirl. Heck, even chicken stuffing might work. I'm a stuffing junkie, as most people are, so I made two boxes. Prepare according to package instructions, which are simple as can be. Stick of butter, measure of water, bring to a boil, fold in the stuffing mix, remove from heat, and cover.

Let's do a little box redux here though. When you add in the stuffing mix, we are also going to add in a big handful or two of raisins, and crushed nuts. The only nuts I had on hand were almonds, but I would really like to try this again with pecans, or walnuts. I busted up the almonds myself, but not too small, you don't really want them crushed too fine at all. You want nice big broken pieces. Sliced almonds would work too. Standard raisins were great, but if you have some golden raisins or dried cranberries to throw in, that could be tasty too.

Now we come to the kielbasa. It is pre-cooked, but we're still going to go ahead and toss it in a pan, with just a little bit of butter to keep it from sticking as we brown the skin. You should have it cut into segments, maybe about three inches or so. Once it is browned, deglaze the pan with some water, then add a nice big squirt of barbecue sauce. A hickory or mesquite perhaps, I used some Jack Daniels barbecue sauce. Cover and allow to simmer for a minute or two, so that the steam can finish heating the sausage all the way through and really get all the juices going. It will be smelling nice and smokey, perfect for a chilly Autumn evening. Continue cooking, reducing the sauce until finally it has turned into a sticky, caramelized glaze, smothering the skin of the kielbasa.

Serve on a bed of stuffing, alongside fresh sliced apple. Dig in with a spoon in one hand to shovel in the stuffing, and a fork in the other to stab a hunk of meat or apple, and alternate the bites. Quick and easy with a real medieval feasting appeal. As with most meals, I usually serve a green-leafy salad beforehand, and did the same here.

At the store you should pick up: Kielbasa, boxed stuffing (pork flavor), raisins, nuts, barbecue sauce, butter

REVISION:

I made this again the other night and had only enough butter for the stuffing. So, rather than browning the sausage at the start, I put some water in the pan, covered, brought the meat up to temp, then let the water steam off uncovered. I let the meat keep cooking in the pan and browned without any butter to keep it from sticking, but some fats from the sausage had already come out into the pan. Again though, I deglazed with a little water, and added the BBQ sauce. Cooked until the sauce became a glaze over the meat.