Monday, July 18, 2011

Hot Pepper Jelly Kielbasa Appetizer


    This recipe from Stonewall Kitchen should be nominated for the Keep It Simple Stupid award of the year.  I cannot begin to tell you how amazingly good this little appetizer is.  The flavors are hot, sweet, and spicy all rolled into one.  The sugary glaze coats the Kielbasa and the tiny pieces of pepper surprise you with a jolt of heat.  I made this in my 8 inch dutch oven with only 12 oz. of sliced Kielbasa so I cut the hot pepper jelly down to 1/2 cup.  If you are cooking for a crowd it could easily be doubled in a larger oven.  In 20 minutes with 8 coals in a circle around the bottom and 14 on top the glaze was bubbling and the sausage had caramelized.  I also ran across a similar recipe online where they added 2-3 tablespoons of butter to the melted jelly and served it over rice.  I usually have Hot Pepper Jelly at Christmas when I pour it over a brick of cream cheese and serve it with crackers, this Kielbasa dish has now rocketed to the top of my list of favorite appetizers.  It couldn't be simpler and it's made for outdoor cooking.  Serve it hot with toothpicks or mini-skewers right out of your oven, when people ask you for the recipe they won't believe this delicious snack is made with only two ingredients.

Hot Pepper Jelly Kielbasa Appetizer
1 lb. Kielbasa
3/4 cup Hot Pepper Jelly

     Lightly oil or spray an 8 or 10 inch dutch oven.
     Cut the Kielbasa into 24 slices.
     Place the Kielbasa and the Hot Pepper Jelly in the oven and stir until kielbasa is well coated.
     Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees until heated and slightly caramelized, stirring several times during the cooking process.
     Serve hot with toothpicks.


Mix jelly with sliced Kielbasa

In 25 minutes, bubbly and brown


Serve with toothpicks or skewers by the campfire

11 comments:

  1. OH MY, that sounds wonderful. That would have been good with my Kielbasa & Bacon I did on open fire Saturday.

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  2. I am pretty sure my husband would just die eating this. Two of his favorite things!

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  3. This is one of my favorites, everyone gobbles it up and only two ingredients to boot. Thanks for stopping by, Liddy

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  4. Had a little trouble here. There was a lot of liquid, I assume coming from the kielbas. It was col outside (20*) and took almost sn hour to tohicken to a caramelized state at which point the meat seemed just a tad over cooked. I tried to compensate for the cold by adding more coals, but....?
    Here's my question. When it says to cook at 350* for twenty minutes is that in a preheated oven?
    That said the kielbasa was very tasty and I'll sure try it again!



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    1. Hi Bob, not sure what went wrong, I did not make it in a pre-heated oven, just heated it until the jelly had melted, was bubbling and the sausage had heated through. Maybe the outside temp had something to do with it, sorry to hear you had trouble with the recipe, shouldn't have taken more than 20 minutes to heat things up, glad it tasted good in spite of the long cooking time. Take care, Liddy

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    2. It was good, esoecislky the next day! My wife said it may have been the particular jelly. I'll bet that is it..

      I am always confused by dutch oven recipes that say cook in an oven at x*
      for Y minutes. Does one add time for reaching the temp? I am just learning... sometimes the hard way! Thanks for all you do! I'd be list w/o you!

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    3. Bob, there are some recipes, mostly when baking bread, that require pre-heating your oven. I sometimes add more coals right away, especially when baking, to heat up the oven quickly, if what I am making is browning too quickly, I might reduce the temp. by removing a few coals. I always post the temperature that was recommended in the original recipe but it's not always easy to be accurate when dutch oven cooking. I use Kingsford charcoal and share what worked for me but depending on the weather, you might need to add or remove more coals when you try the recipe. If you can smell what you're making, it's often a good indication that it's done. You will get a feel for temperature control the more you use your oven. Thanks for stopping by and happy cooking! Liddy

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    4. Thanks Liddy, if I just follow your advice I'll quickly be a darn good dutch oven cook! You have given me so much really, truly terrific help and recipes!

      Thanks so much!

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    5. Dutch oven cooking over charcoal or over an open fire is not the same as dutch oven cooking on a kitchen range. It takes a lot of practice and observation to properly prepare most foods on an open campfire using most any method but, once you get the hang of cast iron dutch oven cooking, you will savor some of the finest tastes of real outdoor cooking imaginable! It isn't for the casual backpacker who usually has a weight limit in their treks to consider, but it will be an experience which will enlighten your overall camping once you learn to make an entire breakfast in a dutch oven complete with biscuits made on top of the oven and a super omelet or baked egg casserole or even what I call a "hobo baked breakfast" which includes everything and anything you want to add like ham, bacon, cheese peppers onion olivespotatoesmushrooms ....... should I go on???? Experimentation is the real spice of life!!

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    6. So true Tom, thanks for stopping by! Liddy

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