Making Patychky part 1

I published our family recipe for patychky last year at this time. In English, we say meat sticks. Here it is again, this time step-by-step.

My mom used to use pork and veal most of the time, but some of the time only pork for this recipe. I prefer them made with pork. I start with an inexpensive pork roast. Avoid a loin, because it is too lean and your patychky will dry out.

Cut your meat into cubes. Each cube should be a mouthful, over an inch cubed, even up to an inch and a half. A little bigger is better than a little smaller. Marinate it overnight. I use beer and many cloves of garlic for this. Some people use wine, and that is fine too, whatever your preference. I've been making them with beer for years and years and I think it makes the best patychky.

You need to get these short strong wooden sticks. Bamboo bbq skewers are just not the right thing at all. I get mine in Toronto at Czehowski's on the Queensway. They cost under 2 bucks for 60 of them. When you find a place that sells them, buy a big supply. You mostly fill the skewer with meat. I leave just enough at the butt end of the skewer to pick up a patychky, that's all.

Dip one in egg.

Roll it around in a breadcrumb mixture. Some people use flour. This time I used mostly breadcrumbs with some cornflake crumbs thrown in. Add salt and pepper. If you like, you could add other seasonings here, but I don't think you need to.