Recipes

Mushroom Soup (Zupa Grzybowa)

Dried Mushroom soup

1/2 oz dried mushrooms
2 1/2 cups water
1 onion very finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour
1 1/4 cups vegetable stock
salt and pepper
1 1/4 cups sour cream or half and half

Place mushrooms and water in saucepan and soak overnight. The next day heat gently until simmering. Cover and simmer for 5 mins. Lift out the mushrooms, press excess
liquid from them and chop finely. Strain the cooking broth and save.
Cook the onion in the butter over low heat for 10 mins until soft but
not browned. Stir in the flour, then slowly add the stock, stirring
all the time. Pour in the reserved mushroom broth, add the
mushrooms and stir well. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 30
minutes.

Taste and season the soup, then stir in the sour cream or half and half and heat
gently for a few mins. without boiling.

Herring with Sour Cream (Sledzie w Smietanie)
Herring is a traditional Polish hors d'oeuvre. There is no lack of herring in Poland, as it is fished in large quantities in the Baltic Sea. There are many different herring dishes, and although they can be eaten fresh, this is the most favourite way of preparing them.

6 pickled herring fillets
1 large onion , chopped
4 hard-boiled eggs
1 cup sour cream, salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the herrings and set aside. Peel and dice onion. Mix the onions with the sour cream in a bowl. Add herrings, salt and pepper to taste and chill. When ready to serve, decorate with sliced hard boiled eggs.

Cauliflower Polonaise (Kalafior po Polsku)
1 large cauliflower
salt
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp dried breadcrumbs

Wash the cauliflower and divide into florets. Cook in a little salted boiling water until just tender. Drain. Meanwhile, melt butter and fry the breadcrumbs until golden; pour over cauliflower just before serving

Sauerkraut with Dried Peas (Kapusta z Grochem)

1 cup dried split green or yellow peas, rinsed

2-2/3 cups boiling water

1 quart sauerkraut, rinsed and drained

3 cups water

salt and pepper to taste

Combine peas and 2-2/3 cups boiling water in a saucepan. Bring to boiling and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let soak for 30 minutes. Bring back to boil and simmer 20 minutes. Cover sauerkraut with 3 cups of water and cook for 1 hour. Add cooked peas, salt and pepper to taste. Combine 2 tablespoons flour with 1 cup of the cooking liquid, add back to pot and stir until smooth.

Fruit Compote

3 cups water

1 pound mixed dried fruit

1 cup pitted prunes

1/2 cup raisins or currants

1 cup pitted sweet cherries

2 apples peeled and sliced

1/2 cup cranberries

1 cup sugar

1 lemon sliced

6 whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

1 orange

1/2 cup grapes or pitted plums

1/2 cup fruit flavored brandy

Combine water, dried fruits, prunes and raisins in a 6 quart kettle. Bring to boiling, cover and simmer 20 minutes or until the fruit is plump and tender. Add cherries, apples, cranberries, lemon, sugar and spices. Cover, simmer 5 minutes. Grate the zest of the orange, peel and section orange and add to the fruit mixture. Stir in grapes and brandy, bring just to a boil, remove from heat and stir in orange zest. May be served warm or cool.

Pierogi

The Dough

2½ cups of flour (could be as much as 3 cups)

1tsp salt

1 egg

2 tablespoons sour cream

1/2 cup lukewarm water (approximately)

Mix all ingredients together, and knead just a bit. The dough should not be very smooth, and it should be quite sticky. Let stand covered with an inverted bowl for 1/2 hour before using. Take either all, or a portion of the dough, and roll it out until it is 1/16" thick. You will have to use plenty of flour to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin and rolling surface. You can also flip the dough several times as well. (Your work surface dictates how much you can roll out at one time.) The thickness is very important. I have also used a pasta maker to mix and roll the dough.

The Fillings

Sauerkraut (Kapusta) Filling (makes 50-60 pierogi)

4 lbs sauerkraut

2 lb yellow onions

2 Tbs.sugar

salt

Drain and wash the sauerkraut to reduce the sharp acid flavor You will have to wash and taste in stages to determine how sour you want it. Be careful not to overwash. You do want a bit of tartness. Finely chop the onions. Fry them in butter until they just become translucent, then add the sauerkraut and sugar. Either add more butter for frying, or add a combination of butter and olive oil. Fry to a golden brown color. Finally, add salt and pepper to taste. Plenty of pepper is needed to give the kraut a little zing. You may also add mashed potatoes to this mixture to make a Potato Kraut Pierogi

Making the Peirogi

First, start a large pot of water boiling, add at least a couple of tablespoons of salt. This is for cooking the pierogi.

You have to decide how big you want the pierogi to be. There are some general limits. With the thinness of the dough, too large a pierogi will not survive cooking and handling. Too small and they are difficult to fill, and the ratio of dough to filling is too high.

You want circles that are between 3 and 4 " in diameter. Cut out the circles. Add a dab of filling to each circle. A heaping teaspoon is plenty, but use your own judgement here. Now take your finger, dip it into warm water and coat ~3/8 " edge of half the pierogi circle with water. Make sure the half edge is completely wet. Then take the opposite dough edge and fold and stretch it over to the wet edge. Pick up the pierogi and with your fingers seal the edges tightly together. Make sure no filling has gotten on the sealing edge. Be very conscientious about this sealing operation. It's heartbreaking to see all the filling in the cooking water after all this work

The remaining dough pieces are combined and rolled out again. We often use the pasta maker for this second rolling operation, ending up with a long strip of dough. A single dough batch will make approximately 22-28 pierogi.

Once a batch is finished place carefully in the boiling water. Total boiling time is 10-12 minutes. Turn or at least stir the pierogi after about 5 minutes. When finished, remove to a colander and rinse with cold water, then place on a cookie sheet to cool.

Melt butter in a frying pan, add chopped onion and light sauté the pierogi. A LOT of work, but Oh SO Good!!!

Nalesniki (Apple filled Crepes)

1/2 cup flour

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

dash of salt

Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. Heat a small heavy skillet or crepe pan, Brush bottom with oil. Pour about 3 tablespoons of batter into pan tipping pan from side to side to distribute the batter. When edges are dry turn and cook other side. Fill with cooked apples (I cheat and use Stouffer's Escalloped Apples) roll and place in baking dish, drizzle with a little butter, cover with foil and bake at 350° just until heated through.