Looks like a great time! I love sauekraut balls, but I usually add a bit of minced ham or minced corned beef. I sure wouldn't turn down one of yours though!

Alexa

Nothing sexier than the guys in the kitchen.

I was expecting to see sauerkraut balls made with fish.

Lars

There is a large Polish neighborhood in Brookyln, NY. I have been to many restaurants there. I have not seen sauerkraut balls on the manu.

Is that a typical Polish dish?

dcarch

Dcarch, I have no idea. I only married into the family. I do know the DMIL made them a lot, and we use her recipe. Her parents both came from Poland. But sauerkraut is a dish enjoyed by many of the slavic nations, so I really couldn't tell you.

Alexa, these have bacon in them.

Jessy, I have to agree!

Lars, I've never heard of fish in sauerkraut balls.

Tami

I dunno DC - my Hungarian Mom & Grandmother made them a lot. Maybe just a central European thing? Here is the recipe that has been handed down through a few generations from my Hungarian relatives. I also have a copy of Sauerkraut Balls from a restaurant my DM & DGM used to love near Cleveland, called McGarvey's, but I cant vouch for the Irish version of Sauerkraut Balls LOL!

Alexa
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Sauerkraut Balls

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped cooked ham
1 cup finely chopped corned beef
1/2 clove garlic, crushed
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups sauerkraut, drained
and minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup beef broth

1 egg
2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 cups fine dry bread crumbs
1 quart oil for frying

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat.
Add onion and cook until softened. Stir in ham, corned
beef and garlic. Cook mixture, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Stir in 6 tablespoons flour and cook mixture over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.

Stir in sauerkraut, parsley, and broth; cook for 3 minutes or until thickened and paste-like. Spread mixture on a platter or cookie sheet and chill for at least 3 hours.

Heat oil in deep-fryer or electric frying pan to 375 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together the egg, milk and 2 1/2 cups flour. Shape the sauerkraut mixture by level teaspoons in to balls, dip them into the egg mixture and roll them in the bread crumbs.

Fry balls in batches for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden
brown. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve warm.

Tami, Pollock is a type of fish - that was the closest thing to a Polock that I was aware of!

Lars

I've never had them but they sound good. Looks like the guys have it under control and are having a good time.

Thanks for recipe and the pic!

David

Alexa, was that McGarvey's in Vermilion? They are gone now. Have been for a number of years. It became Red Clay, but that's gone now, too. It's now Quaker Steak & Lube. Some one else had a recipe from McGarvey's they shared with me one time, but I can't remember what it was, or who shared it!

Lars, my spelling may not be right. I only married one, didn't take lessons!

David, DH only cooks if he has no other choice, meaning all fast food is closed and I am incapacitated! DS, on the other hand, took Baking and Pastry in high school, and enjoys working in the kitchen, but when HE want's to, not when mom wants him to!

My MIL was a great cook, and pastry?!!!!!!!!OMG!!!!! It was better than the bakery! The biggest problem was, she wouldn't let anyone watch her. She would give you the recipe and tell you how to do it, but you weren't allowed to watch. Which means that no one knows how she made her pork & sauerkraut for New Years. Or her Bone Soup. DH says it was just bones and broth, but we've never been able to make it taste right.

Tami...who hides when those two get started in the kitchen!

I believe it was in Vermilion :-) I was only there once and that was many decades ago when my DGM was still alive. She lived in several towns near Cleveland, her last address was in Fairview Park, but she had also lived in Shaker Heights and Chagrin area. I still have distant cousins and a great uncle in Westlake....

BTW - was the other recipe McGarvey's Peas N Peanuts? I have that one from DGM too! LOL!

Alexa

Tami, it does look like your DS is having WAY more fun than the hubs is, LOL.

Mmmm, makes me want to make some sauerkraut balls, I haven't had any in years. Grandma always rolled hers in cornflake crumbs too, but hers also had corned beef in them. She sure wasn't Polish, so maybe that recipe has been "converted" to please the Irish! (grin)

Annie

Alexa, no it wasn't peas n peanuts. I'll have to hunt thru everything and see if I saved it. Westlake is only about 25 min from me. If you get this way to see them, give me a hollar!

Annie, since it was about 10:30 Fri night, and DS is the night owl, he probably was having more fun. DH has to concentrate when he cooks!

Tami

Tami, you slave driver, making your poor husband work into the night like that making sauerkraut balls. ROFL.

They sure sound good...

Annie

LOL Annie! DS came home from work at 7 thinking we would be home. He hadn't made them by himself before, and was hesitant to tackle it alone, being it was grandma's recipe. So he finally called us about 8:30 wanting to know where we were. We were almost home. So then the bacon and onions had to be cooked...... It was late by the time they had them ready to chill. Then he had to roll his back side out of bed early to fry them LOL! Unless he has to work early, he doesn't know what early is!

Alexa, I found the McGarvey's recipe. It WAS the sauerkraut balls!

Tami

Tami! LOL! Is this the one you have? I think my DGM got this from the owners a zillion years ago (she's been gone since '93, so it had to be decades before that).

Sauerkraut Balls from McGarveys Restaurant

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. bulk sausage
2 Tbsp. chopped sweet onion
1 cup (4 oz.) sauerkraut, drained
4 oz. cream cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. dry mustard
Salt
Ground Pepper
2 cups milk
3 egg, slightly beaten
2 cups dry, unseasoned bread crumbs
Vegetable oil for frying

PREPARATION:
Make the Balls
Cook the sausage and onions in a medium skillet over a medium-high heat until the sausage is just done, breaking the sausage up with a fork as it cooks. Remove from heat. Add the sauerkraut, cream cheese, egg, flour, and mustard. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.
Roll into 1" balls. Place in the freezer on a plate or cookie sheet topped with wax paper until partially frozen.
Bread the Balls
In a medium bowl, comine the milk and the eggs. Dip each ball into the mixture and roll in the bread crumbs.
Fry the Balls
Fry the ball in hot vegetable oil about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Makes 8-10 appetizer servings.

How funny is this from Wikipedia!

" A once-famous but now closed restaurant in Vermilion, Ohio was McGarvey's, which was famous for its Sauerkraut Balls as well as for its charismatic owner, Captain Eddie, and its location near the scenic Vermilion River."

The Peas and Peanuts thing was a Dip or Spread that used to be served with crackers at the bar. It has Spanish Peanuts, Canned Peas, Mayo, and other stuff and not sure what else, I need to find the copy of the recipe. DGM, who was quite the party girl in her day swore she ate buckets of this sstuff sitting a the bar with friends.

Anyway, if you are interested, I will dig that one out for you too..

Alexa

This is what I have:

Posted by blizlady (My Page) on
Sat, Dec 8, 07 at 12:29
I found this recipes at quite a few sites. The balls are made with sausage, cream cheese and saurkraut. Whenever it was posted, it received rave reviews:
Sauerkraut balls are a traditional Northeast Ohio favorite. They combine the cabbage so abundant in the fall with the region's German heritage. The combination is delicious.
This recipe is my variation on the one made famous by the now-closed McGarvey's Restaurant in Vermilion. I make no claim to its being authentic.
INGREDIENTS:
* 1 lb. bulk sausage
* 2 Tbsp. chopped sweet onion
* 1 cup (4 oz.) sauerkraut, drained
* 4 oz. cream cheese
* 1 egg, slightly beaten
* 1 Tbsp. flour
* 1 tsp. dry mustard
* Sea salt
* Freshly ground pepper
* 2 cups milk
* 3 egg, slightly beaten
* 2 cups dry, unseasoned bread crumbs
* Vegetable oil for frying
PREPARATION:
Make the Balls
Cook the sausage and onions in a medium skillet over a medium-high heat until the sausage is just done, breaking the sausage up with a fork as it cooks. Remove from heat. Add the sauerkraut, cream cheese, egg, flour, and mustard. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.
Roll into 1" balls. Place in the freezer on a plate or cookie sheet topped with wax paper until partially frozen.
Bread the Balls
In a medium bowl, comine the milk and the eggs. Dip each ball into the mixture and roll in the bread crumbs.
Fry the Balls
Fry the ball in hot vegetable oil about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Makes 8-10 appetizer servings.

I don't know of anyone who would eat the Peas and peanuts recipe, but thanks!

McGarvey's was right on the Vermilion River. They had/have (now Quaker Steak & Lube) a dock for the boaters to tie up to so they can come in to eat!

Tami

Yum! More diet food!

Okay - it looks like the recipes we posted are identical, I think I must have copied that one when it was posted and forgot that it wasn't the one I got from DGM. I will have to dig out my family recipe binder and check the one she wrote up and sent to me.... It is right next to the Peans and Peanuts LOL!

A

And, of course, one cannot discuss Eastern European culinary traditions without mentioning the Schmenge Brothers (Eugene Levy and John Candy) sharing with us the Christmas traditions of Leutonian Americans.

(Sigh) How sad John isn't with us.

Here is a link that might be useful: Christmas in Leutonia