Who Stole the Kiszka?

Kiszka (pronounced KISH-ka) is a Polish "delicacy." Technically, what we had is also called kaszanka and often referred to as "blood sausage." It's a pork sausage with grain, often buckwheat or barley but can be rice or other grains, stuffed into a pigs intestine (the casing) and often eaten for breakfast. As a child, remember eating this at my Uncle Frank's parent's house. I'm sure I had it other times as well.

Last night, my dear friend Ewa cooked kiszka for us at my house. It was delicious. My what a meal that girl can make! How'd she do it? Well, I'm gonna give out her secret, right now! She layered a bit of bacon on the bottom of a roasting pan, then put on the kiszka with some potatoes (in chunks) and onions, then topped with a layer of bacon (you know that it'll be great if pork fat is involved! We baked it at 385-400 degrees for about 45 minutes, until the potatoes were done. Then we broiled it for about 5 minutes to crisp up the bacon on top, then added sauerkraut to the top and baked another 10 minutes, until the kapusta (sauerkraut) was cooked through.

For a "go with" Ewa made a delicious carrot and sauerkraut salad, basically grated carrot with sauerkraut, a bit of sugar, some lemon juice, and grated apple. It, too was delicious.

But the star of the meal was the kiszka. It was delicious. A hearty meal but a good meal. Ewa is the queen of the kuchnia (kitchen) when it comes to Polish cooking, and last night was no exception! Super Yummo! Bardzo dobrze, Ewa! And of course, after the meal we did enjoy a bit of Luksusowa--Polish potato vodka, served frozen of course, and in frozen shot glasses.

A good time was had by all!