All About Sausages

by Diana Rosen

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This week Eleanor Shepherd wants Kitchen Sleuth to investigate the best way to cook sausage and asks:
Dear Kitchen Sleuth,
Is it better to cook sausage, for example Bratwurst or Kielbasa, in water or to brown it?

Dear Eleanor:
Oh, sausages! They're not just for winter stews anymore, they're great all year long, especially on the grill or in soups with chard or spinach. As for the conundrum of water or browning, the answer is the compound "Either or Both." Some sausage devotees believe that parboiling, poaching or simmering the links in water until the outsides are white/grey enables the links to brown more evenly and ensures that fresh sausages will be thoroughly cooked. Simmering also reduces the grilling time. Simmering can, however, make sausages slightly milder as some of the salt and spices are leeched out in the process. It may also reduce the fat somewhat, however, since the fat is the flavor carrier in sausages one has to weigh taste versus calories. If you eat sausages regularly, continue to simmer; if it's a rare treat, you can omit simmering and move right onto the fry pan or grill. What can heighten the pleasure of any sausage are the condiments served with the cooked ones or the wide variety of ingredients used to cook them in casseroles, stews, soups, or browning them. Fresh sausages take to grilling better than smoked whose "smokey" taste may be compromised by the smoke of the grill. Smoked sausages generally do not need simmering or poaching.

Keilbasa is the Polish word for sausage (also keilbasy.) Polish butchers make a very wide range of sausages and the typical smoking source is juniper wood which grows in abundance there. Keilbasa is also the name of a traditional ring or links of sausage sold in American butcher shops and the supermarkets, and is made with a heavy dose of garlic, and pork and although home sausage makers sometimes add a little beef or veal. It is usually sold smoked, although fresh kielbasa is often available from specialty butchers.

One way to cook kielbasa is to preheat the oven at 450°F. Then you poach the kielbasa in a pot of simmering water for about 20 minutes. Transfer the sausages to a roasting pan with about 1 cup of the poaching water, piercing the casing with a fork at this point to insure a crispy texture versus a cracked casing. Roast for 20 minutes. When done, slice into small diagonal pieces and serve with egg noodles, rice or make a sandwich with corn rye bread and dark brown mustard. Horseradish is a nice touch, too! Keilbasa sausage also adds great flavor to baked beans and sautéd with onions, carrots, and fresh cabbage, makes a hearty entrée. Drained sauerkraut can be substituted for the fresh cabbage. Grilling on the barbecue is another great way to enjoy this sausage; remember to pierce the casing. Serve with horseradish or strong mustard. (Some sausage lovers say don't pierce the casing, however, piercing applies more to fresh sausages than pre-cooked ones.)

Bratwurst is a spicy German sausage made from 60% pork and 40% veal plus salt and a combination of marjoram, parsley, nutmeg, mace, ginger, celery seed, cardamom, and often, a little wine then stuffed into either sheep or hog casings. Other spices used could be caraway, coriander, cumin, ginger, paprika, or pepper. It is available fresh which makes for great grilling, and smoked, which is perfect for casseroles and bean, soup or stew dishes.

Bratwurst is usually grilled or fried in a heavy skillet or cooked on an outdoor grill, turning often until done, about 20 minutes. If using the skillet method, put a little water in the pan and cook until the sausages are a pale gray color on all sides. Add some chopped onions and continue to cook the sausages until brown on all sides. Serve them not on a hot dog bun but on a special hard roll called a Sheboygan or Bavarian semmel roll along with German potato salad, sauerkraut, and pickles. Purists eschew both mustard and ketchup but we won't tell anyone if you add either or both! In general, bratwurst enthusiasts do not pierce the casings.
Pronounced brot-wurst, the compound word comes from the high German word brato, which means all meat no fillers, and wurst, which means sausage. (A more common definition is fried (brat) sausage, but language purists stick with brato.)