I am not convinced it is a smoked meat, for some weird linguistic reason, there are no adjectivial, nor adverbial descriptors for the rather plain Kielbasie (sausager). I think I have the classical recipe, you have the Chicago version.
Fresh Kielbaß vs. Smoked Kielbasie
Kiełbasa is just the Polish word for “sausage.” It does not specify whether the sausage is smoked or cured or not. The form of Polish sausage that has come to be known commonly as “kielbasa” in English (like Hillshire Farms kielbasa) is usually a lightly smoked sausage spiced with a bit of pepper and garlic (and maybe some marjoram.) I actually can’t think of a sausage that an American calls “kielbasa” that is not at least lightly smoked.
And what is “kielbasie”? Is that a Germanic plural of “kielbasa” or something?
No, that is polish in dialect.
What Polish dialect? I speak Polish, I’m curious. “Kielbasie” would normally be the locative case ending for “kielbasa,” if I’m remember correctly.
Southern Danzig (Gdansk)
Don’t know anything about that particular dialect, but it sounds like it’s influenced by German, given the form of the word. Is it pronounced as in Polish (with a “sheh” ending for “sie”) or as in German (with “zee” for “sie”)?
Anyhow, the smoked version of kielbasa is not at all a “Chicago version.” The recipe you gave is for a standard biała kiełbasa, or “white sausage.” It is the fresh form of Polish sausage. If you know anything about Poland, you know how much they love to smoke their sausages. There are a gazillion different varieties of smoked sausage in Poland. The one that has come to be known as “kielbasa” in the US is based on wiejska sausage.
Kielbasa used to be one of the staple foods in my house – cheap and good in a variety of dishes.
In no particular order:
Cut into discs. Quarter the discs. Brown them; while browning them, whisk two eggs and then pour them over the kielbasa after it’s nice and brown. Cook until eggs are scrambled. Eat. Cry with joy.
Cut up as above and add as ham to jambalaya.
Cut up as above or just into discs and add to red beans and rice or black beans and rice.
Cut up into discs, brown in a pan, add barbecue sauce. Heat for a bit, scrape into plate.
You should also take the Ninja family secret: boil up whatever noodles you have (rotini or elbows work extra well but egg noodles will work in a pinch. Penne are… okay), rinse them in cold water, then heat up butter and maybe a little oil in a pan. Fry the noodles until they’re starting to get brown and crisp. I like to fry them almost hard, but most of the family prefers them softer. This combined with kielbasa and barbecue sauce takes me back to being eleven years old and making myself some dinner before Mom came home after a late shift.
In my neighborhood, the kielbasa is so good that we eat it…PLAIN. Just simmer in water until it’s cooked through, then brown it a bit. My son will eat an entire ring of it if I don’t stop him. In fact, the kielbasa I buy is so flavorful that I wouldn’t dream of mucking it up with onions (which I love) or peppers (which I loathe). I buy from a family-owned shop about 30 minutes from my home. Right now, it’s probably too late to get any for Christmas, as the line to get in the shop is typically a block long for a month preceding any holiday.
I like to serve it with hash-brown casserole and green beans.
IF there is any kielbasa left over, it goes into the next morning’s scramble, with some of the hash brown casserole.
I’m spoiled. You’ll never catch me buying “commercial” kielbasa.
Kielbassa Cassoulet! I have to try this.
We have 2 standard preps;
Cut into 6" lengths, fry (or boil if you want to rend out a bit of the fat and like it less greasy) and serve with mounds of home made sauerkraut and German potato salad and good dark bread with cold butter. Wash down with a bucket of pilsner.
OR - dice and put into gumbo. It actually gives a nice smokey flavor and my kids are not fans of andoullie. It’s really a good substitute.
I make a version of Mac and Cheese.
First you make speazel–4 eggs, 3 cups of flour and enough water to make a stiff batter. Put it on a cutting board and cut off noodle size pieces into boiling water (Speazel is usually just pushed through a strainer, but you want these fairly large and hearty). Drain.
Next, make Alton Brown’s fondue (wine, corn starch, garlic, swiss cheese, etc–hold the cherry brandy).
Cut up the Kielbassa into small pieces, mix everything together put in a baking dish and bake until bubbly and slightly brown on top.
REALLY GOOD!
Only on the Dope would a discussion about how to cook sausage devolve into a linguistics lesson. 
Next time I get a kielbasa, this is what I’m making. Yum.
http://rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/roast-kielbasa-supper/
In my family it is sliced into circles and fried with cabbage and onions, then mixed with bowtie pasta.
A little mood music for your event: Who Stole the Keeshka
And that is exactly what I was saying, Kielbasa simply means “sausage” and there is often a curious lack of adjectival descriptors in a marketing sense. Locally, in my area, “Kielbasa” is synonymous with and almost exclusively means the fresh white (biala) sausage. The smoked type which is almost exclusively mass produced and commercially available vacuum packed is what I would call “Smoked Polish Sausage”.
I have personally heard Polish Americans call it Kielbasz (keel boz) and Kielbaszi (keel boz ee), so to be entirely honest that is probably second and third generation Polish American dialect. I will leave the linguistics up to you.
Well, If I know anything about Pollacks, it is that I know that they love their “Kielbasa” around here and it is never smoked. If my Polish family or friends invites me over for dinner and they say they are having Kielbasa (especially around the holidays), I can expect that 100% of the time it will be Biala Kielbasz.
“Kielbasa” does not equal “Smoked Polish Sausage” regionally or dialectically here in NW Ohio.
Yes, and I agreed with you.
I’m talking about the general dialect, not your specific one. “Kielbasa” to the average American who has bought it at the grocery store is the smoked kind.
You’re mixing up a bit of Polish and Hungarian orthography there. “Sz” is a “sh” sound in Polish, and “s” in Hungarian. “Kielbasy” is the plural of “kielbasa.” So I"m sure you’ve heard that word a lot from the local Poles. “Kielbas” sounds like a local Americanization of the Polish word “kielbasa” or possibly a corruption with the Hungarian word “kolbasz” which means the same thing. “Kielbasz” in Polish would be pronounced “kielbosh.”
You completely miss my point. I’m not arguing the regional dialect of NW Ohio. I’m talking about the common American usage of the word. The Polish around here, too, will use “kielbasa” for both fresh and smoked varieties. If I’m invited to dinner and mom says there will be kielbasa, it might be fresh, it might be smoked–it is context dependent. Is it fried sausage and onions? Then it’s smoked. Is it baked sausage? Then it’s white sausage. At birthday parties growing up, it usually was the fresh kind, as it was served baked. But when I am having a conversation with average Joe, I’m pretty confident that “kielbasa” to him is what Hillshire Farms and similar companies market as “Polska kielbasa” which is a variation on the wiejska type Polish sausage.
Anyhow, the point is, when somebody is asking about how to use “kielbasa” in the thread, dollars to donuts he’s talking about the smoked kind.
That isn’t obvious to me… Like I said, I think it is regional. Smoked Polish Sausage might be what Chicago Pollacks think of as Kielbasa, but around here it ain’t
Slice it into 1/2 inch or so slices. Put them into a crock pot along with tomato juice and cranberry sauce (roughly 1 bottle/can of tomato juice and two cans of jellied cranberry sauce). Cook on low until thickened, about 8 hours.
The finished product is delicious, but doesn’t taste like kielbasa, cranberry sauce, or tomato juice. Serve with toothpicks for an appetizer or serve over mashed potatoes as a main/side dish.
I’m not talking about the Chicago Poles (And, as I’ve already stated, “kielbasa” wouldn’t necessarily mean “smoked Polish sausage” to us. It’s a completely generic term.) I’m talking about what Americans in general would think.
Anyhow, enough of the linguistic sidetrack.
Some good stuff in here, thanks everybody!
Next time I’m cooking for just myself, I’m doing this.