It doesn't get much more homemade than this. I made a perfectly smoked kielbasa from Jason's New Mexico Elk, prepared my own egg noodles, and tossed them in butter with fresh sliced cabbage from the garden. I would say 'just like mom used to make,' but I think between the backyard smoked sausage and the handmade noodles - I have her beat.
Serves a whole family gathering
- Ingredients -
Kielbasa
3 lbs elk, cubed
.5 lbs fatback, cubed
1/4 teaspoon pink cure
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon coriander
hog casings, rinsed
Egg Noodles
2 large egg yolks
1 cup flour
1/2 head cabbage
2 tablespoons butter
- Tools -
Weston Meat Grinder
Weston Meat Mixer
Weston Jerky Gun or Weston Sausage Stuffer
Weston Smoker
hickory woodchips
Roma Pasta Machine
Weston Mandoline Slicer |
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Hand mix the elk and fat with the remaining kielbasa ingredients. Use a Weston Meat Grinder with a coarse plate to grind the mixture. Grind it again with a medium plate. Finally, grind half of that mixture through the fine plate.
If you have a Weston Meat Mixer, toss the sausage in the mixer to bind it. If not, you can just hand mix it again.The two different grinds will help it bind a bit on its own.
Load the sausage into your Weston Jerky Gun and thread a casing over the sausage funnel. Pull the trigger repeatedly to create one long ring of kielbasa.If you're using a Sausage Stuffer, the technique is about the same, just turn the handle.
Let the sausage marinate overnight if possible.
Preheat your Weston Smoker to 200 degrees F and fill the waterbowl. Soak your woodchips.
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After the smoker has preheated and the woodchips have soaked for a half hour, hang the kielbasa on the smoker's sausage hooks. Smoke for an hour at 200 degrees F, then smoke for three more hours at 150, or until the internal temperature of the sausage is 150 degrees.
While the kielbasa smokes, prepare your pasta. Make a mound of flour, dig a well into its center, and drop the egg yolks into the well. Use a fork or your hands to smash the yolks into the flour, without breaking the well, until you have a uniform dough. Add a little water if the dough is too dry or a little flour if it's too wet. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest 30 minutes.
Use a
Roma Pasta Machine to roll out your dough and cut the noodles. We used the Roma Traditional Style Pasta Machine with the lasagnette noodle attachment. Hang your noodles on a Roma Pasta Drying Rack while your kielbasa finishes smoking.
When your kielbasa is fully smoked, place it in an ice water bath for about a half hour. Hang the sausage to dry for at least an hour.
Place a pot of water on to boil. Use a
Weston Mandoline Slicer or Cabbage Shredder to cut your cabbage. Place the cabbage in a saute pan with butter over low heat and cook until the cabbage is translucent. While the cabbage cooks, place the noodles into the boiling water and cook for 3-5 minutes, until soft. Slice your dried kielbasa diagonally. Toss it into the saute pan with the cabbage and noodles.
Serve your elk kielbasa, cabbage, and noodles immediately.
