I’ve published this before, back on the old blog, but I still get requests so I’m going to publish it again. When I was growing up we just called them “meat sticks”. They are a tremendously tasty holiday treat. For all my vegetarian and vegan friends, might I suggest you visit some of the fine blogs on my side-bar while the omnivores in the crowd take this in.

This is a two day process. On day one, you cut the meat and marinate it and on day two you cook it. There are people who make this using chicken but that’s just wrong. Proper meat sticks are made with pork. And if you’re thinking, no problem, I’ll get a nice lean pork loin, forget that. It has to be a chunk of pork that’s at least a little fatty. Beyond that, you get to choose.

You’re going to need the right sticks. You can get them at many Polish delis. If you ask for sticks for patychky, they’ll give you the right ones. They’re about 6 inches long and stout, unlike those flimsy bamboo sticks people use for grilling shrimp.

I’m going to admit up front that my marinade is a little different than my mom’s. I’m all for tradition, but I’m just going to tell you flat out that mine is a little better, and it’s simple too. Here’s what you do. Cut up an insane amount of garlic. In fact, cut up as much garlic as you would consider to be an insane amount of garlic and double it. There, that’s better. Then add a beer to it. Cut up your pork into generous cubes. By generous, I mean about 1.5 inches in any direction. If you make them smaller, they’re going to dry out and you’ll be disappointed. Trust me on this. If your pork isn’t covered with marinade, add more beer until it all gets nicely covered. Stretch some plastic wrap over the bowl and put it in the fridge overnight.

The next day…..
Skewer the pork. Usually it takes 3 or 4 chunks of pork to cover the stick. I like to only leave a little bit of the stick showing at the bottom. When these are ready to go, you need two bowls. In one, beat up a few eggs. In the other, pour in some breadcrumbs and add some salt and pepper. Don’t tell anyone, but I also add a little bit of ancho chile powder and just a wee bit of cayenne.

Next, you’ll need a big heavy bottom pan. I use a large stainless steel pan and it works fine. Add a generous amount of vegetable oil. Don’t use olive oil because it will burn. Also, get a roasting pan ready. Cut up some celery into strips and line the roaster with the celery. The object here is to use the celery to keep the patychky off the bottom of the roaster. This is Tuffy P’s mom’s trick and it works great. Heat up the fry pan with the oil on medium-high. Dip a few patychky in the egg and then roll them in the breadcrumbs, then a few at a time, brown them in the oil, then when they’re really nicely browned, place them in the roaster on top of the celery. You can pile them on top of one another, no problem.

Now, roast the patychky in the oven at about 350F. After about 50 minutes, open up a beer to enjoy while you test a meat stick. I like these to be fairly well-done without drying out. You may have to test two or three to make sure they’re perfect. Enjoy.