Polish Easter Butter Lamb Recipes

Steps:

• Cut a third from the end of one stick of butter. Place larger piece on a serving dish for lamb's body. Spread some of the softened butter on cut side of smaller piece; position vertically on left side of larger piece for neck and head. Trim edges., Cut a 1/4-in. slice from the second stick of butter; cut diagonally in half. Spread softened butter on cut edge of one triangle; secure to front of head/neck piece for nose. Set remaining triangle aside., Cut a diagonal slice from each end of the second butter stick. Spread softened butter on cut long sides; secure to back of head for ears., Cut remaining butter and reserved triangle to fit into a garlic press. Squeeze butter through press in batches. Use toothpicks to curl pieces. Beginning at the top and working down, place curls on body. (If butter softens while assembling, place in refrigerator for 10 minutes or until firm.), Insert cloves for eyes; add two dots of cinnamon on nose for nostrils. Refrigerate until serving. Garnish plate with parsley and pansies if desired.

Steps:

• Try to get one solid block of butter. If you'll look closely at this one, I had 2 half pounders, and had to let them get real soft so I could put it together. I then trimmed a little off the top of where the body would be and added that piece to the end to make it a little longer. I've also started the process directly on the plate I'm going to serve on. That's because it would be impossible to slide off the finished product to a different plate.
• This shows how much butter was taken off, as well as how the base (sheared) lamb looks.
• A better picture of the lamb prior to putting any wool on him. One thing about the neck. Over the years there have been many funny disagreements about my Mother's lamb telling her that it looked like a dog instead of a lamb. I finally figured it out, by accident, that if you make the neck too tall, it looks more like a dog than a lamb. Be sure to make a very short neck, so it'll look like a lamb.
• To make the fur, work with the butter you've shaved off the block. Be careful of the temperature. It should be quite cold and a little hard. While you're working with it, you will probably have to put it in the freezer for a couple of minutes every once in a while. If this butter gets too warm, it will come through the mesh and not be separated. For 2005, I probably placed it back in the freezer 5 - 6 times, for the length of time it took me to take the fur off the strainer.
• Pushing the butter through the strainer.
• A picture of when the butter was too soft. If you look closely, you can see where the butter is a little shiny and smooth where it was too soft (warm).
• The first of the fur around the neck. This illustrates how thick the fur should be.
• Taking the fur off the strainer with a thin, pointed knife.
• On the larger areas you can slide the fur off with your finger. However, if you're working around the neck of the base, you might want to slide it off with another knife.
• Last, but not least, place the cloves for the eyes, nose, and one rear hoof.

Steps:

• The day before brunch: Simmer kielbasa until cooked through; cool. Peel casings if desired and slice diagonally into 1/4" pieces. Bake ham if needed; cool and slice to 1/4" thickness, removing hard rind. Refrigerate prepared meats in covered container until Easter morning.
• Easter morning: Peel and slice boiled eggs. Peel horseradish root with a vegetable peeler and thinly slice, using peeler.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add kielbasa and horseradish to skillet when hot; allow to lightly brown, turning with a spatula as needed.
• Add ham and eggs to skillet when kielbasa is lightly browned. Cook until ham and eggs are heated through or until as brown as desired. Less browned will yield a more moist result, more browned will be dryer.