Elite life
Poland (Polish Recipes)
Poland is a heavily forested country and these forests are full of delicious wild mushrooms - golden chanterelles and brown-capped Borowiki (Boletus). Because of the large number of mushrooms to be found in Polish forests such as the Notecka Forest they have long held a central place in the Polish diet.
Pastries made with poppy seeds finish the meal or make sweet snacks anytime of day. In the summer, strawberries, cherries and blueberries are harvested in huge amounts, served plain or made into "paczek," as preserves or fillings for doughnuts.
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
2 Cups Flour
1 Egg
2 T. Water
1 Cup Dry Cottage Cheese
2 Egg Yolks
3 T. Cream
1 T. Sugar
Cooking Instructions:
Make dough of flour, egg, and water. Knead until firm and roll out on floured board. Cut into one inch strips. Cutstrips slant-wise into half inch pieces. Cook like noodles in salted boiling water. Drain, bathe in cold water and strain. Force cheese through strainer. Add yolks, cream and sugar and beat hard. In a buttered baking dish arrange a layer of lazanki and a layer of the cheese mixture until used up. Sprinkle with buttered bread crumbs and bake in 350 degree oven for half hour.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped green peppers
1 large apple, peeled,cored,and chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
3 red potatoes, cleaned and diced
1 1/2 cups sauerkraut, drained,rinsed,& packed
1-2 lb smoked sausage (kielbasa), cut in 3 inch pieces
Cooking Instructions:
Melt butter in saucepan. Add onion and green pepper. Cook until tender. Add apple, brown sugar, caraway seeds, potatoes, and sauerkraut. Mix well. Place sausage on top of sauerkraut mixture. Cover. Cook over medium-low heat for 40 minutes.
Ingredients:
Potato and Cheese Filling:
1 tablespoon grated onion
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups cold mashed potatoes
1 cup cottage cheese (or more)
Salt and pepper
Pierogi:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 teaspoons oil
3/4 cup warm Water
Cooking Instructions:
Potato and Cheese Filling: Cook the onion in butter until tender. Combine it with potatoes and cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Vary the proportions and ingredients in this recipe to suit your taste. Mix the flour with the salt in a deep bowl. Add the egg, oil and water to make a medium soft dough. Knead on a floured board until the dough is smooth. Caution: Too much kneading will toughen the dough. Divide the dough into 2 parts. Cover and let stand for at least 10 minutes. Prepare the filling. The filling should be thick enough to hold its shape. Roll the dough quite thin on a floured board. Cut rounds with a large biscuit cutter, or the open end of a glass. Put the round in the palm of your hand. Place a spoonful of filling in it, fold over to form a half circle and press the edges together with the fingers. The edges should be free of filling. Be sure the edges are sealed well to prevent the filling from running out. Place the pierogi on a floured board or tea towel and then cover with another tea towel to prevent them from drying out.
Cooking: Drop a few pierogies into a large quantity of rapidly boiling salted water. Do not attempt to cook too many at a time. Stir very gently with a wooden spoon to separate them and to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Continue boiling for 3-4 minutes. The cooling period will depend upon the size you made it, the thickness of the dough and the filling. Pierogies will be ready when they are puffed. Remove them with a perforated spoon or skimmer to a colander and drain thoroughly. Place in a deep dish, sprinkle generously with melted butter to prevent them from sticking. Cover and keep them hot until all are cooked. Serve in a large dish without piling or crowding them. Top with melted butter- chopped crisp bacon and/or chopped onions lightly browned in butter.
Reheating: One of the great things about pierogies, is that they can be made in large quantities, refrigerated, frozen and reheated without lost of quality. Many prefer reheated pierogies as compared to freshly boiled ones.
Ingredients:
1/4 lb dried wild mushrooms
9 cups vegetable or meat stock
1 cup butter
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
Salt
White pepper
Sour cream
Chopped fresh parsley
Cooking Instructions:
Cover mushrooms with cold water and soak overnight. Drain the mushrooms reserving the soaking liquid, strain the liquid through a fine cloth. Rinse the mushrooms in cold water to remove any remaining sand then slice into strips. Add the mushrooms, 8 cups of of the beef stock and the soaking liquid to a 3 quart saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer over low heat 4 hours. Melt the butter in a heavy skillet, add the onion, saute until golden brown then add to the soup. Whisk the cornstarch with the remaining cup of beef stock, add to the soup, stir and simmer until slightly thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper, ladle into individual bowls, top each with 1 tbls sour cream and sprinkle with parsley.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 cups diced cooked potatoes
Salt and pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped chives or spring onions
Cooking Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour butter into the bottom of an oven proof casserole. Add potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Mix together, eggs and sour cream and pour over potatoes. Top with chives, cover and bake for 1 hour.
Ingredients:
1cabbage, center core removed
3 lb minced meat (turkey or pork)
2 cups cooked white rice
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup tomato paste
2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup butter
4 carrots, sliced
16 ounces mushrooms, quarted
2 bay leaves
Cooking Instructions:
Parboil cabbage in a large pot, removing leafs as they fall off into the water and are tender. Cook till all leaves are tender, but not ripping apart; usually 15. Run under cold water and drain. Cut the thick membrane off back of each leaf. While cabbage is cooking saute onion in butter until lightly browned. Put all the uncooked meat into a large mixing bowl add eggs. Add the sauted onions. Next add salt pepper, celery salt, parsley, nutmeg, and worcestershire sauce along with the cooked rice. Mix thoroughly. Lay out leaves and depending upon their size, place 2-3 tablespoons of meat mixture on the wider side. Roll leaf up and over meat, tuck in sides of leaf, and continue to roll to use all leaves and stuffing. Place rolls, seam down into a greased roasting pan. Then layer carrots and mushrooms over cabbage. Mix together the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, water and brown sugar and pour evenly over all the rolls. Season with salt and pepper to taste and bay leaves. Cover roaster and bake 325 degrees for 2- 2&1/2 hours. Half way through baking check to make sure there's enough liquid; additional water can be added. To serve, spoon sauce over rolls.
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
1 medium green cabbage, coarsely chopped
6 slices fatty bacon, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large leek, chopped
¼ cup water
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb. Polish sausage cut into 1 inch pieces
½ teaspoons salt and pepper
Cooking Instructions:
Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp; remove bacon, reserving drippings in skillet. Crumble bacon, and set aside. Add all other ingredients except sausage to dripping; cover and cook 10 minutes over medium heat, turning cabbage once. Add sausage; cover and cook 5 minutes or until sausage is heated. Transfer to serving dish with a slotted spoon; sprinkle with bacon.
Ingredients:
One 33 ounce jar of Sauerkraut
One Savoy Cabbage
Two pounds beef
Two pounds pork
One pound of “breakfast” sausage links
½ pound smoked bacon
One pound Kielbasa
One onion
One SMALL can of Tomato paste or sauce
3 to 5 Bay Leaves
Salt
Pepper
Oil
Sugar
Allspice
Cooking Instructions:
First, get a jar of Polonaise Sauerkraut and a pound of kielbasa. Don’t use watered down sauerkraut that comes in a plastic sack with lots of water and vinegar. The final product is only as good as the best ingredients you can get. Then, get the best beef and pork with a minimum of fat. Cut off all that you can before cooking. Get a half pound of thick sliced bacon. If you cannot find a Savoy cabbage a regular cabbage works just fine. Start by getting a large pot of water boiling. Add the sauerkraut. Let it bubble away. Cut up the beef and pork into little fork size squares and brown. Generally this takes two frying pans (one each for beef and one each for pork). Season with secret herbs and spices. Grate the cabbage. Throw it into the boiling pot. Chop up the onion and in it goes too. When the beef and pork is browned. Pour both in the pot. Drippings and all. Cut the kielbasa into short pieces and sear in one of the frying pans. The searing keeps kielbasa from mushing up when it spends a lot of time in hot water. When seared, into the pot it goes. Cut all the bacon, except one slice, into half inch long pieces and fry. Drain off the extra fat as necessary. When the bacon is done eat the single strip and throw the pieces in the pot. It’s ok to cook the sausage in the same frying pan with the bacon. Little chunks, any size. Add a little (teaspoon full) of salt, a half teaspoon of pepper (go light on this), one eighth cup sugar, and the bay leaves to the pot. And here’s the final touch. Dump in a small can of tomato paste or tomato sauce. Stir. Add water as necessary. Cook at low heat. They call this simmer. The longer it simmers, the better it gets. Leftovers can be frozen and thawed. Or you can just store in the refrigerator and reheat through the week.
Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
2-3 egg yolks
2 TBS soft butter
2 TBS of confectioners sugar
1/3 cup of sour cream
1 TBS of 6% white vinegar or alcohol
2 TBS of rum
Lard or oil for frying
Cooking Instructions:
Mix butter, egg yolks, sugar and alcohol or vinegar together. While mixing, slowly add flour. Knead the dough. Keep beating and kneading the dough for 15 minutes. When ready, put it in a bowl, cover, and let stand in a cool place for an hour.
Roll dough on the board till it is very thin. Cut 2x7 inch strips, make a slit in the middle and pull one end through it.
In a deep frying pan heat the lard (oil). To test readiness of oil, put a small piece of dough in it, if it immediately comes to the surface the temperature is right. Put 4-5 strips at a time and deep fry on both sides. Take out and place on a paper towel. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.
Ingredients:
1 head cabbage
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground pork
16 oz. can tomato sauce
8 oz. can tomatoes
2 cups cooked rice
2 eggs
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tb. margarine
Salt, pepper to taste
Cooking Instructions:
Remove core from cabbage. Scald cabbage in boiling water and remove leaves as they soften. Saute onions in margarine very lightly-do not brown. Combine with the meats, rice, eggs and seasonings. Mix well. Place 2 tb. of mixture in center of cabbage leaf and roll. Wrap in bacon strips and insert wooden toothpicks to hold together. Pour tomato sauce on rolls, then squeeze tomatoes from can and arrange on top of rolls. Simmer over low heat for 2 hours in heavy dutch oven.
Ingredients:
5 cups flour
1/4 lb. butter
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup water
6 egg yolks
3 eggs
Pinch salt
Cooking Instructions:
Make a mound out of the flour, then make a well in the center. Place egg yolks and eggs in the center, cutting in the flour with a knife and adding water and salt. Knead until firm. Cut in three parts. Roll dough out thinly, then cut circles with a cup. Place small amount of filling off center on each circle of dough. Fold over and seal by moistening edge with water and putting pressure on edges for a firm seal. Boil a pot of water. Add salt. Drop pierogi into boiling water. Cook lightly for 5 minutes uskng a low flame. Remove gently with strainer spoon and brown in butter in frying pan. Serve with sour cream.
Ingredients:
12 lasagna noodles
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 to 5 medium-sized onions, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) dry cottage cheese
6 cups warm seasoned mashed potatoes
Cooking Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cook the noodles according to the package directions and drain; set aside. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Saute the onions for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Reserve 1/2 cup onions for topping. Add the remaining onions, pepper, and cheese to the potatoesand mix well. Place 3 noodles on the bottom of a 9x13-inch glass baking dish that has been coated with nonstick vegetable spray.Spread the noodles with one-third of the potato mixture. Layer with 3 more noodles and continue until there is a total of 4 layers of noodles and 3 layers of potatoes (with a noodle layer on the top). Spread the reserved onions on top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes or until heated through.
Ingredients:
1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter
1/2 lb cream cheese
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
Cooking Instructions:
In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese together until completely blended and smooth. Beat in the salt and on low speed, gradually add the flour. While beating in the flour, toward the end, the dough might start to run up the beaters. If so, the last of it may be stirred by hand. When the dough is smooth, flour your hands lightly and with your hands, form it into a short, fat roll. Cut the roll into 3 equal pieces. Form each piece into a round ball, flatten slightly, and wrap each individually in plastic wrap or wax paper. Refrigerate the balls of dough overnight. When you are ready to bake, prepare the following filling and then adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut aluminum foil to fit cookie sheets.
Ingredients:
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 1/3 c Milk
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon Prepared mustard
32 oz sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
8 oz medium egg noodles
1 1/2 pounds kielbasa, cut 1/2 inch thick
2 cups swiss cheese, grated
3/4 cup Whole wheat bread crumbs
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
Cooking Instructions:
Combine soup, milk, onion and mustard in medium bowl; blend well. Spread sauerkraut in greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Top with uncooked noodles. Spoon soup mixture evenly over top. Top with sausage, then cheese. Combine crumbs and butter in small bowl; sprinkle over top. Cover pan tightly with foil. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven 1 hour or until noodles are tender.
Ingredients:
1 pound polish sausage or
1 pound polska kielbasa
1 box scalloped potatoes or
1 recipe scalloped potatoes
Cooking Instructions:
Make potatoes according to directions, bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and add chopped up sausage poking the pieces down into the potatoes. Return to oven and bake until done and bubbly.
Ingredients:
1 lb Polish sausage, 1/2" pieces
3 tb Oil
1 1/2 lb Beef, cubed
2 Onions, sliced
2 c Mushrooms, sliced
1 lb Sauerkraut, canned
1 c White wine
8 oz Tomato sauce
2 ts Soy sauce
1 t Caraway seeds
1/4 ts Vegetable seasoning
Cooking Instructions:
Saute sausage 15 minutes; remove to casserole. Add oil to sausage drippings; brown beef in oil, 15 minutes; remove to casserole. Saute onion; add to casserole. Saute mushrooms with sauerkraut and wine. Add tomato sauce, soy sauce, caraway seeds and vegetable seasoning. Add this to casserole also, mixing well. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Stir casserole every 30 minutes.
