Displaced Texan 11,652 Posted December 8, 2017 Howdy y’all! I’m making kolaches for a friend of mine as Christmas gifts. I exposed my NJ neighbor to Kolaches a couple of years back, when I took him out to the ranch for a hunting trip. He’s been raving about them ever since. They are usually sold in mom and pop donut shops throughout Texas. I thought I’d share the process of making these little jewels. For you Yankees, a kolache is a pretty popular savory snack back home in Texas, derived from Polish immigrants who settled in east/central Texas. It’s a semi sweet dough, wrapped around some type of smoked sausage. I believe y’all call them ‘pigs in a blanket’ (according to my Yankee wife). I started out by making a batch of my great grandmothers bread dough. 2 packages of yeast. 2 cups of water 2t salt 8-9 cups of flour, depending on humidity. 1 1/3 cups of sugar. Mix yeast in a little warm water with one tsp of sugar to activate. Mix all ingredients. Coat the bread dough in a little vegetable oil, and put in a warm place. Let the bread dough rise until it doubles in size..about 2 hours. Punch it down, and allow to rise again. Do this twice. Take golf ball sizes of dough, and wrap them in small smoked sausages (ie: Little Smokies). Allow to rise again. Bake at 325 for 20-25 mins. Brush with melted butter. You can also use larger smoked sausage links. I like jalapeño cheddar links. Mmmmmm! Tasty! Here’s the bread dough after the second rise. Second pic is kolaches, on the 3rd rise. Third pic is the jalapeño cheddar kolaches. I’ll update once they are baked. My mouth is watering!!!! 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Displaced Texan 11,652 Posted December 8, 2017 Kolaches are done, and damn, are they tasty! 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
T Bill 649 Posted December 8, 2017 Looking good. Try looking up something my cousin in McLennan County taught me, "Armadillo Eggs". This kind is smoked, he rolls his in panko crumbs and deep fries his. Don't worry, after you eat 'em, they find their own way out. Smoked Armadillo Eggs Jalapeno poppers wrapped in sausage meat and then smoked or grilled on indirect heat. 1 pound sausage meat 5 jalapeno peppers 1/2 brick cream cheese 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese Instructions 1. Start up smoker and get it up to 250F. 2. Cut the top off the jalapeno pepper. Core the pepper to remove the seeds and membrane. 3. Mix together the cream cheese and grated cheddar. 4. Fill the cored peppers with the filling. 5. Take some of the sausage meat and wrap it around the pepper. Make sure none of the pepper is visible. Roll it so that it is in the shape of an egg. 6. Place on a smoker rack and place in the smoker. 7. Smoke for about 2 hours. You want the temperature of the sausage meat to be 160F. 8. Serve. Grill Method - Setup grill for indirect heat and bring up to 325F. Place armadillo eggs on the indirect side and cook for about 30-45 minutes. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gleninjersey 2,134 Posted December 8, 2017 What part of Texas you from? I lived in El Paso for a bit (88-96). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zeke 5,504 Posted December 8, 2017 Ya Tex! Armadillo eggs! You should know this by heart! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Displaced Texan 11,652 Posted December 9, 2017 1 hour ago, gleninjersey said: What part of Texas you from? I lived in El Paso for a bit (88-96). Sweetwater. About an hour west of Abilene. Still own a ranch there. We always called them atomic armadillo turds. Lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
T Bill 649 Posted December 9, 2017 Yeah, Armadillos AKA Texas speed bumps Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YankeeSC 1,204 Posted December 10, 2017 Thanks ... now I am going to need to place a sausage order. https://www.kreuzmarket.com/order-menu/sausage/original-sausage/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Displaced Texan 11,652 Posted December 11, 2017 2 hours ago, tomk62 said: Thanks ... now I am going to need to place a sausage order. https://www.kreuzmarket.com/order-menu/sausage/original-sausage/ They make some amazing smoked sausage. Damn, I may have to order some too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites