Kiełbasa with Jam Sauce

georgehirsch November 3, 2023

The most popular kiełbasa is also called Kiełbasa Polska aka Polish Sausage.

In Poland, kiełbasa is often served garnished with fried onions, and smoked kiełbasa can be served cold, hot, boiled, baked, or grilled. The condiments in this recipe work wonderfully with the smokiness of the sausage.

This recipe was shared by my dear polish friends and graced my first cookbook over 25 years ago and is popular as ever today. You and your family will be amazed at how easy to prepare, and great it tastes. Enjoy!

Kiełbasa with Jam Sauce

Makes four-six servings

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2 1/2 pounds Kielbasa or smoked sausage

1 cup good quality Jam, such as marionberry, blackberry, or mixed berry

1 cup catsup

1 Tablespoon horseradish

1 teaspoon hot sauce

Slice the kielbasa 1/4 inch thick and place in a preheated nonstick skillet. In a medium bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Pour the sauce over the kielbasa and cook for 30 to 45 minutes at a low temperature. Serve warm.

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Making A Caramel Apple

George Hirsch October 17, 2023

Many of us are thinking of caramel apples, dunking for apples, or even better, U-Pick apples—what a fun weekend activity for the whole family. Continue the fun with candy apples.

Instructions for how to make caramel apples:

Prepare a baking sheet covered with parchment or waxed paper.

Wash and dry about 6-8 medium-sized apples, and skewer them at the stem end with a popsicle stick.

Place one bag of unwrapped caramel pieces into a large, microwave-safe bowl. Add 2 Tablespoons of water and microwave on high for 2 minutes, stirring after each minute. If needed, cook on high for an additional 20-30 seconds, stirring until smooth and of dipping consistency.

Immediately dip the apples into melted caramel and twist to coat evenly.

Place the coated apples on the waxed paper and refrigerate for 1 hour.

For an extra special treat, sprinkle or roll apples with chopped nuts or granola before refrigerating.

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Vine Ripen Pizza

George Hirsch September 1, 2023

FLATBREAD PIZZA When it comes to making any type of pizza, let imagination and the season rule your toppings. I love this Caprese-style pizza in the summer with an abundance of vine-ripe tomatoes. And if you are up to expanding your hand-tossed style, take the dough to the grill for an added fire-roasted flavor.

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Caprese Flatbread Pizza

Makes four servings |

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the art of making pizza dough, easy as 1, 2, 3

Mix Dough and place in a bowl lightly oiled with olive oil. Cover loosely with a towel or plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator overnight.

The next day, preheat *oven to 475 degrees F.

Stretch out the dough to a rectangular shape and cut it into two pieces. Sprinkle a teaspoon of fine-grind cornmeal on the surface of a heavy gauge pizza pan or sheet pan. Place the two pieces of dough on the top of the cornmeal. Brush top lightly with olive oil.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until pizza flatbread crusts is fully baked. You can check for doneness by tapping on the edge of the dough with your finger. It should be hollow.

Remove from oven, place two pizza flatbreads on a rack, and allow to cool.

When cool, top with sliced vine oak leaf lettuce, ripened tomatoes, fresh basil, and pesto; sprinkle a small amount of sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and olive oil.

*NOTE: If grilling, pre-heat the grill to high heat. After stretching and right before placing dough on the grill surface, brush heavy with olive oil.

George's Pizza Dough

Makes enough for 2-3 pizzas

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1 teaspoon active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water (between 105 and 115 degrees F)

1 teaspoon sugar

3 1/2 cups bread flour

1/4teaspoon salt

3/4 cup warm water

1 Tablespoon olive oil

In a small bowl, combine the yeast and water. Add the sugar and stir well. Set aside for 10 minutes or until tiny bubbles appear on the surface.

Place 3 cups of the flour in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and pour the yeast mixture and the water. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, using the additional 1/2 cup flour if the dough is sticky.

The dough is sufficiently kneaded when you can stick two fingers into it, and it springs back without leaving an indentation.

Cut the dough into four pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Let the dough rest in an oiled bowl for 45-60 minutes. Lightly oil the top of each ball with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for 3 hours.

- Mixing with a mixer & dough hook: Mix for eight minutes at medium speed

- Mixing with a food processor: process for 40 seconds until smooth; add one additional Tablespoon of flour until all of the flour is combined into the dough.

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Got Shrub?

George Hirsch August 30, 2023

What is a Shrub? The word Shrub comes from the Arabic word sharab, which means to drink. In the dictionary, Shrub is defined as an acid fruit drink.

Good Stuff Pick: Fruit shrubs are based on Colonial era recipes and are drink concentrates made with fresh fruit vinegar, organic unbleached cane sugar, and spices. They can be mixed with sparkling water (1 part Shrub to 8 parts water) to make festive non-alcoholic drinks and also to flavor wine and champagne. It's just as refreshing to serve for a brunch or a festive backyard BBQ, like my Fresh Squeezed Mimosa. (WATCH VIDEO)

George Hirsch Lifestyle Fresh Squeezed Mimosa

Today's refreshing beverage is perfect for a steamy hot day, like today. Cheers!

George's Berry Shrub Fiz

Makes 4 servings

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1/3 cup fresh lime juice + 1 lime sliced thin

1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled

4 cups de-seeded watermelon + 1 cup of melon balls for garnish

2 Tablespoons turbinado sugar, variable depending on how sweet the berries are & how tart/ sweet you like it.

1/2 cup ice, shaved or cubes

1/4 cup seltzer per glass + sprig of fresh mint

Blend the lime juice, watermelon, and berries with juice, sugar, and ice cubes until slushy in a blender. Serve in a tall glass filled with ice; pour 3/4 of a glass with fruit juice and top off with seltzer.

*To Spike: You can add 1/2 ounce of vodka, rum, Or tequila to each glass over the ice.

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Perfect Summertime Condiment

George Hirsch August 15, 2023

***A lite and refreshing summertime dish, ideal served with seafood and topped with Aioli***

When temperatures reach north of 90 degrees, I find it's time to chill down supper food selections and prepare cold plates, just like I ate as a child. My Mom, a delicious cook, consummate organizer, and doer, would cook first thing in the morning before temperatures became too hot in the kitchen. It makes sense and is still how food is prepared in many European cultures today. Besides having to cool things off in the kitchen, it was also the custom at home with non-meat Fridays, enjoying cold fish suppers. On those Fridays, my mom would cook up grilled or poached fish such as tuna or cod, boiled potatoes, garden green beans, vine-ripe tomatoes, boiled eggs, and sliced onion. The highlight for me on chilled supper night was the cold sauce made with garlic and mayonnaise. Later I learned, in my early culinary days, that sauce was called an aïoli, a simple yet traditional emulsified sauce with garlic, olive oil, and egg yolk.

A perfect summertime condiment and goes well with roasted chicken if fish is not on the menu.

With so many ways to prepare aïoli, the consistent ingredient that holds across all ethnic regions is garlic. The Occitan valleys of Italy serve aioli with boiled potatoes. In Cataluña and most of the Spanish Mediterranean coast, allioli is purely a garlic mayonnaise. France's Le Grand Aïoli dedicates a complete dish consisting of various boiled vegetables such as carrots, beets, cauliflower, green beans, yellow flesh potatoes, and boiled fish, such as salted cod with boiled eggs and the aioli sauce. The version from Provence adds Dijon mustard to the sauce, as I prefer, which in addition to flavor, also helps in the emulsification of the oil to be suspended by the liquid of the sauce.

Aïoli is ideal to serve as a sauce for foods like the above, but it's also excellent as a spread on toasted French bread or pommes frites. Some may find that the raw garlic can leave too strong a taste. That is true, especially with summer garlic which has more of a bitter bite and has just recently been harvested. No need to avoid this tasty sauce or feel you'll need a shot of mouthwash; there is a tastier solution. I use my long-time recipe for caramelized garlic to soften and sweeten the punch on my aïoli in place of raw garlic.

To Yolk or Not to Yolk?

There is, of course, the food safety issue to point out regarding making aïoli from scratch because of using uncooked raw egg yolks. Always ensure the eggs are fresh and best obtained from someone you know! One of my recipes uses prepared mayonnaise and covers any concerns about food safety. Today, there is even mayonnaise made with olive oil, which I prefer. The choice is yours, go traditional with making a classic Provence style aïoli or make it semi-authentic with a prepared mayo; the choice is yours. Either way, you'll be shouting bring on the Le Grand Aïoli!

The technique of making an aïoli is to create an emulsion with the egg yolks, supporting the liquid from the olive oil. Do not over-pulse or mix the yolks and oil. Do not add the oil too slowly or too fast. This technique may require some trial and error. If done correctly, you will have a thick mayonnaise-like sauce; if the sauce is broken, the oil will have separated from the yolks and look more like a vinaigrette.

Classic Aïoli

Makes 1 1/2 cups

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*8 large garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

Coarse sea salt

1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

3 large egg yolks at room temperature

1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil

Juice of 1/2 fresh lemon

A couple of drops of water

Fresh ground black pepper

Always use caution with raw eggs. And this sauce must be kept chilled after it is prepared.

In a food processor or preferably a mortar, pound the garlic cloves with a pinch of sea salt and Dijon mustard until thick paste forms. Add in the egg yolks and olive oil, a few drops at a time, with a fork or whisk. Add the olive oil in a steady stream as the aïoli thickens. Stop and add a few drops of lemon juice, and gradually add the remaining olive oil and a few drops of water if the sauce becomes too thick. When all of the oil has been incorporated, season the aïoli with additional lemon juice, sea salt, and pepper to taste.

Serve chilled. The aïolii can be tightly covered and refrigerated overnight.

* A classic aïoli is made with raw garlic, but again I prefer caramelized garlic to raw garlic, which offers a much sweeter and nuttier taste.

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Garlic Aïoli with Crostini

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

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An intensely flavored garlic mayonnaise from the Provence region of southern France. Traditionally the mayonnaise is made from scratch with egg yolks. I prefer this version, as it is safer and faster to make.

Crostini, meaning “little toasts” in Italian, are small, thin slices of toasted bread, which are usually brushed with olive oil-excellent spread with Aioli.

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 head caramelized garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 cup basil

To Make Crostini:

1 loaf baguette or French bread

Olive oil for brushing toast.

Puree the garlic in the bottom of a small bowl. Add mustard and mayonnaise and stir in olive oil. Add lemon juice and basil. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Slice Italian bread into small pieces, toast, and brush toast with olive oil. Spread a generous amount of aïoli on toasts.

Serve aïoli and crostini with your favorite vegetables and seafood.

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