Brother Rice Baseball and Knockwurst from Pat & Jack's Old Fashioned Butchers

Brother Rice 8, Marmion 1: Ryan Palmblad pitched a one-hitter for Rice (21-6, 15-1 Catholic Blue).

I watched Ryan P ( one of my juniors at Brother Rice) pitch a 1 hit-game.  It was very nearly a no hitter until the second to the last batter in the Seventh inning with two outs and a man on for Marmion Academy.  The Marmion hitter skinned a sweet one down the right field line for a single and drove in a walked batter.  The next batter hit a grounder to short and that was the game. Brother Rice 8- Marmion 1.  I was cold. I wore only a La Lumiere School hooded sweatshirt to game and my normally robustly larded frame withstands winds up to twenty miles per hour with temperatures in the mid -40's.  However my perch right behind home plate at Sedlacek Field is shady and the winds were exceptional.  

I immediately thought knockwurst.

Knockwurst, or Knackwurst,  gets it's name from the 'pop' the casing makes when it is cut and seasonings flood the senses. Knockwurst is made of veal, pork, hog casing and plenty of garlic - individual butchers add their own secret spices. Knockwurst packs on the lard. That is why it is so tough to find, in our Euro-globalist dweeb-thin culture. Everyone wants to look like an idiot lane weaving cyclist.

I was chilled.

My thoughts turned to lard fuel and no place on earth is more conducive to fighting the elements than Pat & Jacks  Old Fashioned Meats in Chicago Ridge, a couple of miles from Brother Rice.  This gem of a butcher store is of the old saw-dust and straw Kelly'd butchers type. Love them on Face Book!

The meat is exceptional and the service like no place else.  More importantly, Pat & Jacks is one of the only places left on the south side where one can buy genuine KNOCKWURST.  Can't get it at County Fair, Jewels, Whole Foods, Pete's Produce, or Saveway.  Can't even get it at the usually helpful Mariano's.

Pat & Jack's Old Fashioned Butchers was my next port of call.

Got me four knockwursts, four thuringers, five Russett potatoes cut into thin ( 1/4" pieces) one large yellow onion, a head of  green cabbage ( cut in wedges and cored, a 12 ounce box of pinot grigio apple cider vinegar, caraways seeds, Kosher salt and black peppercorns . . .Oh, and some serious cloves of garlic and half a stick of Kerry Gold butter.

I parboiled the cabbage and then tossed it in apple cider vinegar, Kosher salt and caraway seeds in a big oil oil treated skillet and stir fried the cabbage for two minutes.

Then I place a layer of potatoes in the bottom of the slow cooker, added the cabbage in a layer then more potatoes, then more cabbage. covered all in wine and apple cider vinegar salt,pepper and caraway seeds and set on high for three hours.

After three hours I drained out the liquid and put in the half a stick of Kerry Gold cut into four pieces, added the minced garlic, pepper corns and cooked on low for one hour.

Then I added the whole Knockwurst and Thuringer sausages and cooked on low for three hours.

I turned off the pot and waited for it to cool and placed it in the ice box over night.

After 8:30 Mass, I set it on warm and will devour one portion ( 1 Knockwusrt/1 Thuringer ladle of cabbage and spuds) and dip with Dusseldorf mustard.


This will be a weeks work of great eating with a cold salad.

I love baseball.