Favorite Recipes
Polish farmland near Lublin
Today, food from Poland is in demand throughout the European Union for good reason ... the land remains mostly untouched by chemicals used in farming for decades in "developed" countries. Drive through Poland and you can still see farmers working their land with horse-drawn plows. Visit a produce vendor on the street and you won't be able to resist the luscious fruits and vegetables.
So from the traditional
favorites to some creative contemporary touches to Polish-American cuisine,
I hope you enjoy bringing the flavors of Poland to your table.
Na zdrowie!
Donna
Poles serve this traditional soup for Christmas and use the mushrooms picked by hand from the forest. This recipe uses a mixture of pungent porcini mushrooms with fresh mushrooms you can easily find at the grocery store fresh or canned.
Mushroom Soup
2 C blanched fresh mushrooms or 2 (8 oz) cans wild mushrooms
1/3 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1/2 C onion, chopped
1 t salt
1 t sugar
1 T soy sauce
1/2 t sweet sherry or Madeira
1-1/2 C cream
4 egg yolks
To blanch, cover mushrooms with 2 C water, bring to a boil, then rinse. Set aside.
Place the porcini mushrooms and onion in a medium saucepan and cover with 2 C water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 30 minutes. Remove onion and porcini mushrooms from the liquid and reduce the liquid to 1/3 C. To this mushroom liquid, add the salt, sugar, soy sauce, sherry, and all but 1/3 C of the cream. Keep warm over a low heat.
Beat the eggs with the remaining cream until well blended. Add the drained mushrooms and the porcini mushrooms to the saucepan and increase to medium heat. While stirring continuously, slowly add the cream-egg mixture and continue stirring until it thickens.
Remove from the heat and serve in warmed bowls with fresh bread or home-made noodles (recipe follows).
Square Noodles
3/4 C flour
1 egg
1 t cooking oil or olive oil
1/4 t salt
Sift flour with salt into bowl. Crack egg in center. Mix and knead, adding lukewarm water as needed. Roll dough thinly and let dry. Sprinkle with flour and cut into squares. Drop into salted boiling water with oil, cook until noodles rise to the surface. Drain and serve with hot soup.
(meat or mushroom)
Beet Soup:
2.5 lb. beets
1 garlic clove, minced
2 t butter
6 C beef or vegetable broth, homemade or purchased
1 t lemon juice
salt & parsley, chopped
Clean, wash and slice beets. In a soup pot, saute beets and minced garlic in butter then add broth and lemon juice. Cook until tender. Strain so broth is clear. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped parsley.
Meat Dumplings
Filling:
1/4 lb. ground beef
1 onion, small
salt & pepper, to taste
Saute until meet is cooked and onion is translucent.
Mushroom Dumplings
Filling:
1 1/2 C dried mushrooms
1 T bread crumbs
1 small onion, chopped
1 T parsley, chopped
1 T olive oil
salt & pepper, to taste
Rinse and soak mushrooms overnight. Simmer with enough water to cover mushrooms and have 1/4 C left over. In saute pan, cook chopped onions in oil then add bread crumbs, parsley and salt and pepper. Grind mushrooms and add to onion mixture.
Dough:
3 C flour
1 C egg
1/2 C water
Mix and knead dough until soft. Roll out thinly and cut into one inch squares. Drop filling in center and fold dough in half diagonally to make a triangle. Fold the two corners together, wrapping one around the other and seal the edges with a drop of water applied by your finger. Drop into a pot of boiling water and cook for 4-5 minutes.
While most carrot salads are sweet, this one is rich with the flavors of horseradish, dill and kosher salt. It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare.
2 1/2 C carrots, shredded
Horseradish Garlic Dressing
4 T olive oil
3 t vinegar, white wine or apple cider
4 t horseradish, prepared
1 clove garlic, minced
kosher salt, to taste
Fresh dill, chopped
Whisk ingredients for dressing in a separate bowl then mix and refrigerate or serve at room temperature. Garnish with a full sprig of dill.
We love this salad and often use whatever crumbly cheese we have on hand like goat cheese, feta or gorgonzola.
Mixed baby greens
Beets, cooked (or canned) and julienned
Goat cheese
Walnuts, candied (see below)
Dressing, olive oil and balsamic vinegar
Candied Walnuts
If I don't have a package of purchased candied nuts on hand, I use this
simple process:
Cook in small saucepan until melted:
1 C brown sugar
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C sour cream
Add:
1 t vanilla extract
dash salt
Pour liquid over 2 1/2 C walnuts to coat
Pour onto waxed paper and separate. Store extras in an airtight container.
Simple yet delicious when tomatoes are in season.
Ripe tomatoes, chunked
Olive oil
Vinegar, balsamic or cider
Green onions, sliced (green & white portions)
Kosher salt & pepper, to taste
Toss tomatoes with olive oil and vinegar. Top with salt, pepper and green onions and serve.
Root vegetables are so common in Polish cuisine that we've decided to combine many of them for a colorful platter of fresh vegetables.
Carrots, with tops, cut lengthwise
Beets, quartered
Baby Red Potatoes, whole
Full head of garlic, broken into bare cloves
Olive oil
Kosher salt & freshly cracked pepper
Rosemary sprigs, to garnish
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toss vegetables in olive oil and arrange on large baking pan (or cookie sheet). Cook until desired tenderness (30 to 60 minutes). Add salt and pepper, garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary and arrange on large platter.
The ultimate in Polish comfort food! The potato version is called Russian-style in Poland. Choose your filling ... many people enjoy pierogi with sauerkraut, mushrooms, or fruit.
Filling:
2 lb. potatoes
1/2 lb. shredded cheese, cheddar
1 onion, chopped & sauted
cooking oil
salt & pepper, to taste
Cook potatoes whole and unpeeled. Peel and mash with cheese. Add sauted onion.
Dough:
2-2 1/2 C flour
1 egg
1 C water, lukewarm
salt
Sift flour and salt into bowl. Break one egg in the center and add water. Knead until mixed then divide into parts. Work one part while keeping remaining dough covered with a damp cloth. Roll dough out thinly and cut into rounds. Fill center and fold to create half circles. Use water, if necessary, to seal edges. Place onto cookie sheet and keep covered with cheesecloth or light towel.
Bring large pot of water to a gentle boil. Drop pierogies into water, keeping remaining pierogies covered. Remove with a slotted spoon when they rise to the surface. Cooking pierogies too long will cause them to fall apart.
Serve with butter and top with chopped scallions or chives.
Simple and fabulous. Make extra so you can fry some in the morning and serve as a skillet breakfast with scrambled eggs, ham and cheese.
5 lbs. Idaho or russet potatoes
1 egg
flour
Kosher salt, to taste
Cream of Wheat (or farina)
Butter
Boil potatoes with skins until tender. Allow to cool.
Mix with one egg, a handful of farina, salt, and enough flour so the dough is no longer sticky. Roll handfuls of dough into the shape of a breakfast sausage link.
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Drop dumplings into water and let cook until they rise to the top. Remove with slotted spoon and place on cookie sheet covered with waxed paper. Allow to cool. Place on second dry surface to allow additional drying.
Cut into 1/2 inch slices and saute with butter. Add salt and pepper.
1 head cabbage
1/2 C rice
1 onion, finely chopped
2 T butter
1-1/2 lb. ground round (hamburger or combination of beef and pork)
1 egg
Sauce
1 can tomato soup
Core cabbage and scald in boiling water. Remove cabbage and let cool, separating leaves as they become cool enough to handle.
Cook rice. Saute onion until transparent. Mix all ingredients together. Spray roasting pan with cooking oil. Spoon mixture inside each cabbage roll, wrap and place in a roasting pan. Top with extra leaves.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cook uncovered for 2 hours. Baste occasionally with juices. Warm soup and use as a sauce before serving.
A national dish that is generally served with warm bread is a staple in every Polish home. It gets even better after sitting in the refrigerator for a couple of days!
2-2 1/2 lb. sauerkraut
1/2 lb. boneless pork
1/2 lb. kielbasa
6 slices bacon
1/2 oz. dried mushrooms
1 lg. onion, chopped
1/2 C red wine (optional)
olive oil
1 T flour
salt, pepper and sugar to taste
Cook sauerkraut and mushrooms for one hour. Chop pork and bacon, slice kielbasa and cook in fry pan. Add meet and wine to sauerkraut and cook another 40 minutes. In olive oil, saute onions until gently browned. Add to sauerkraut. Mix flour with water and add to the stew. Bring to a boil. Season with salt, pepper and sugar.
Roast Pork Loin
2 lb. boneless pork loin
2-3 T olive oil
1 T butter
garlic clove
salt
Rinse meat, pat it dry, and rub with garlic crushed with salt. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and brown the meat on all sides. Place it in a roasting pan with water and butter and roast for one hour at 400 degrees (or to directions on label). Add more water if sauce evaporates. Let roast sit for 5 minutes before slicing on the cross grain.
Horseradish Sauce
2 C sour cream
3 T horseradish (or to taste)
1 t sugar
1/2 t salt
Mix ingredients together in a stainless steel bowl. Cover and chill for one hour. Serve at room temperature with pork or beef or vegetables.