Thanks for the kind words dudes.
Brisket Bob, here is the basic kielbasa recipe I used to stuff the kielbasa. My family has eaten fresh garlic kielbasa at Easter for as long as I can remember. Usually it comes from one of the butchers at the West Side Market in Cleveland, but this year I decided to make it myself. It was great and I froze quite a bit extra. I don’t remember where I got the base recipe from, it’s not mine originally, although when I made mine I tested and tweaked quite a bit.
4 teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt
2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon dried marjoram, crumbled
1 teaspoon dried savory, crumbled
6 cloves finely minced garlic
1/3 c ice water
3 lbs well marbled pork shoulder coarsely ground
I make the cabbage a lot simpler than a lot of people do. I slice it and put it in a covered pan with a cup of water and let it steam for 20 min. Then I add about ¾ a cup of cider vinegar, some butter and a little more than a tablespoon of sugar. Mix it up and let it simmer till the liquid is absorbed or evaporated. A lot of people use a lot more seasoning, but I think it can get heavy and overpowering quick….eastern European and German meals can be heavy to begin with, so I make my cabbage with the dish it will accompany in mind.