Polish Hamburgers

This is one of those family recipes that you never stop craving. These Polish Hamburgers are a meal that my Grandma always used to make. We would have them on weekdays, and sometimes we would even have them on special occasions. They were THAT good. Polish Hamburgers are called Klotlety or Klupskies in Polish. Every family makes them their own special way, but they are all similar. Typically they are made with ground pork, onions, eggs, bread and milk, along with spices and seasonings. The recipe for my family’s Polish Hamburgers is an easy one. I would describe them as a cross between a meatball and an actual hamburger. You do not eat these polish hamburgers on a bun, but on their own with a rich mushroom gravy. This recipe makes ten large burgers. While this may seem like a lot, this is a great recipe to make a big batch of, and set a few aside to freeze for a quick dinner on a busy night. If you do not wish to do this, simply cut the recipe in half to make an appropriate amount for you. I serve mine with homemade buttery mashed potatoes and a veggie. I think this is the way they are served best. You can choose to serve them with rice, egg noodles, or even on their own. Here is what you will need to make this Tipsy Family Favorite: Ingredients 2 lbs of Ground Pork 3/4 lb of Ground Beef 1 1/2 Sleeves of Saltine Crackers, crushed up fine. 3/4 C of Milk 2 Eggs, whisked 1 Medium Yellow Onion, minced very fine. 1 Green Pepper, minced very fine. Salt & Pepper to taste, I prefer a lot of pepper. I use 2 t of salt and 2 of pepper. 1 T of Dried Dill 1/2 T of Garlic Powder 2 T of Dried Parsley 1 t of Nutmeg 2 C of Sliced Mushrooms 1 Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup 1 1/2 C of Beef Stock 4 T of Butter 2 Cloves of Garlic, Crushed with the side of your knife. 2 T of Worcestershire Sauce 1 Heaping Tablespoon of Sour Cream While this may seem like a lot of ingredients, it should mostly be pantry items you have on hand. This recipe also makes a lot of food and as I said earlier, makes a great freezer meal. The steps are fairly simple. Steps In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients except for the beef stock, butter, cream of mushroom soup, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, mushrooms and sour cream. So in your bowl you should have: meat, crackers, milk, onion, green pepper, all your seasonings and herbs. Combine the meat, crackers, eggs, onions, green peppers, milk and seasonings until they are WELL combined. Next, you want to form large patties. These patties will be more wet than your usual meatballs or hamburgers. Prepare a cookie sheet with foil and make about 10 patties that are about the size of your hand and about 2 inches thick. (there is a picture at the end of how they should look) This step is KEY. You must allow the patties to rest at room temp for about 30 minutes. This is so they have time to bind. As I said, they will be more wet than your typical meatball or ground meat recipe. At this point I froze half on a cookie sheet in the freezer and later added them to a ziploc bag to store. When your patties have rested for about 30 minutes you want to heat 2 to 3 T of butter in a deep skillet or braiser. When the butter is warm, add your garlic cloves and give it a swirl in the butter. Prepare a plate with some paper towels to keep near the stove where you will be frying your patties. Carefully remove 2 or 3 patties and place them in your skillet. Allow the patties to cook for about 5 to 7 minutes on the first side before carefull flipping. You want to get a nice sear on each side. When they are well seared on both sides, remove them from the skillet and place on the prepared paper towel dish. Fry the rest of your burgers until they all have a good sear. When you are done frying all the burgers, add the rest of the butter and then add the mushrooms to the hot skillet. Allow the mushrooms to brown and add the Worcestershire sauce. Use a spatula to scrape up the meaty bits from the bottom of the pan as the worcestirshire sauce loosens them. Give your mushrooms about five minutes to simmer in the Worcestershire sauce. Next add the beef broth and cream of mushroom soup and whisk until smooth. This is the step you add your burgers BACK to the pan of gravy you just made. They should have shrunk while cooking so you should have room for them all. Make sure they are submerged in the gravy and bring the pan to a simmer. Reduce heat, cover with a lid and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. At the thirty minute mark, make room in the center of the pan, and add your heaping spoon of sour cream and whisk until combined into all of the gravy. Serve your hamburgers on top of mashed potatoes and top with gravy and a sprinkle of dill. This recipe is not a complicated one. Once you make it the first time you will be an expert and never have to use the recipe again. The nutmeg and dill in this recipe make a unique flavor profile that will wow your tastebuds. The sour cream adds a richness to the gravy that is unexpected. This is a fairly quick recipe that will taste like it took allday. I hope you and your family enjoy this recipe as much as mine does.   For other great family recipes, CLICK HERE.