Courgette & Spinach Soup

  • This is a lovely Spring soup – although I used vegetables from Spain for my first try.
  • This soup has a delicate flavour.
  • I do not usually use garlic in my soups but this worked well.
  • The recipe is based on one from a Polish magazine that I bought in Poland recently.

INGEDIENTS

  • 2 – 3 medium sized courgettes – cut into slices
  • A bag of baby spinach – (or 3 balls of  frozen spinach – not tried)
  • 2 cloves of garlic – sliced
  • 1 small onion – cut into small pieces
  • 2 tablespoons of butter
  • 1 litre of vegetable stock – can be from cube or powder – hot
  • *
  • 120ml of soured cream
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • ½ teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg
  • Chopped dill to garnish when serving
  • *
  • Serve with rye bread and cream cheese

METHOD

  • Gently melt the butter in a large saucepan.
  • Stir in the garlic and onion and cook gently for a few minutes.
  • Add the courgettes and spinach and stir gently.
  • Add the hot stock and stir well.
  • Simmer gently for around 20 minutes until the courgettes are soft.
  • Remove from the heat and blend with an electric stick blender.
  • Make sure all the vegetables are well blended.
  • Add the grated nutmeg and season to taste.
  • Bring the soup back to just below boiling point and take off from the heat.
  • Stir the soured cream well in.
  • Serve each portion with chopped dill on the top.
  • *
  • I served this with rye bread & cream cheese.

All my testers said this was delicious.

 

Royal Stafford Blossom Time soup plate

Marcypan Budyń Dessert – 2

  • I came across a recipe for budyń which had marcypan – marzipan melted into it.
  • I used bought golden marzipan from Marks & Spencer’s to test it out.
  • There is enough to make this three times.
  • It was delicious.
  • I used it in two different ways – see Marcypan Budyń Dessert
  • I though that this second one was going to be one which was served warm.
  • However I did not like this and made it into another chilled dessert.
  • The original recipe used apples with the budyń, but although I have lots of apples left in the garden; I think it is better with dark red fruits such as sour cherries or blackcurrants.
  • The recipes is made up of 3 layers: fruit, budyń, kruszonka (crumble) topping

Ingredients – Budyń

  • 250ml milk
  • 1½ tablespoons of potato flour
  • 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
  • 150g of made marzipan
  • 2 egg yolks

Method – Budyń

  • Mix a little of  the milk with the potato flour and the sugar.
  • Heat the rest of the milk in a saucepan.
  • Add the rest of the milk mixture to this and heat till it is thick.
  • Chop the marzipan into little pieces.
  • Add the marzipan to the milk mixture and stir till it is melted and you have a thick sauce.
  • Leave till slightly cool.
  • Add the egg yolks and mix till it is thick.
  • Leave till cool.

INGREDIENTS – dark fruits

  • Use the budyń, over thickened fruit dark fruits such as soured cherries.
  • Leave to chill.
  • *
  • I made a mixture of frozen sweet cherries, lemon juice and some soured cherry jam, heated in a small pan with a little potato flour to thicken the mix.

INGREDIENTS – Kruszonka topping

  • 125g plain flour
  • 100g butter
  • 90g granulated sugar

METHOD – kruszonka

 

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM5 – 190°C
  • The butter needs to be cold.
  • Rub the butter into the flour until you have ‘breadcrumbs’.
  • Stir in the granulated sugar.

Assembly 

  • Put the fruit mixture at the bottom of an oven proof dish – I used a Pyrex dish.
  • Cover the fruit with the budyń.
  • Cover this with the kruszonka mixture.
  • Bake for around 50 minutes until the top is golden.
  • Leave to cool before serving
  • *
  • Best served well chilled.
  • * 
  • Serve with yoghurt or soured cream.

Żurek – Sour Rye Soup Starter

  • This is not a soup my mama ever made.
  • I have always used bottled starters for making my  żurek – sour rye soup in the past.
  • One of my Polish friend came over and taught me how to make my own starter.
  • You have to leave the mix for at least 3 days before using.
  • The żurek was lovely and I will be making this starter from now on.
  • I will be using it for my earlier recipes for sour rye soup and I will be trying out new ones soon.
  • *
  • This is in time for Easter this year.
  • You add the starter at the end of making the soup after making the stock and cooking the vegetables etc

INGREDIENTS

  • 6-8 tablespoons of rye flour
  • 750ml of boiled and then cooled water
  • 5 peeled cloves of garlic
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 5 grains of allspice

METHOD

  • In a large 1 litre jar put in all the ingredients.
  • Stir well.
  • Put the lid on the jar.
  • Leave as room temperature for at least 3 days.
  • *
  • Use all the contents of the jar for the base of your soups instead of the bought bottles that I have used before.
  • *
  • You add this at the end, once you have cooked the stock and vegetables etc.
  • Stir it in well before serving.

Marcypan Budyń Dessert

  • I came across a recipe for budyń which had marcypan – marzipan melted into it.
  • I used bought golden marzipan from Marks & Spencer’s to test it out.
  • There is enough to make this three times.
  • It was delicious.
  • I used it in two different ways.
  • This is the first one in which the budyń is chilled.
  • The original recipe used apples with the budyń, but although I have lots of apples left from the garden; I think it is better with dark red fruits such as sour cherries.

Ingredients

  • 250ml milk
  • 1½ tablespoons of potato flour
  • 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
  • 150g of made marzipan
  • 2 egg yolks

Method

  • Mix a little of  the milk with the potato flour and the sugar.
  • Heat the rest of the milk in a saucepan.
  • Add the rest of the milk mixture to this and heat till it is thick.
  • Chop the marzipan into little pieces.
  • Add the marzipan to the milk mixture and stir till it is melted and you have a thick sauce.
  • Leave till slightly cool.
  • Add the egg yolks and mix till it is thick.
  • Leave till cool.
  • *
  • Use this over thickened fruit dark fruits such as sour cherries*.
  • Leave to chill.
  • *
  • NOTE
  • *As I did not have any sour cherries I used frozen sweet cherries, sour cherry jam and lemon juice.
  • I heated these together in a small pan adjusting the sweetness with more jam if needed and the thickness with a little potato flour.
  • Leave to be cold before putting the marzipan  budyń over them

 

Fish Soup – Gdański Bowke

Gdański Bowkie

  • This fish soup was inspired by one I had in Gdański Bowke restaurant on my recent trip to Gdańsk
  • It is a secret family recipe so I have had to improvise from what I could taste and see.
  • The original serving had long shreds of carrot and ginger but I found these hard to eat so I have used them coarse grated instead.
  • They should only be cooked for a short time to still be crisp

Ingredients

  • 350g of salmon tails
  • Passata or puréed tinned tomatoes
  • 1½ to 2 litres of vegetable stock (can be from powder or cubes)
  • 2 medium carrots
  • Piece of fresh ginger
  • 3 allspice grains
  • Juice of half a lemon 
  • Salt & Pepper – might not be needed
  • Chopped fresh herbs such as chives, marjoram or finely chopped rosemary.

    Method

  • Simmer the passata, the vegetable stock and the allspice grains for around 10 minutes.
  • Add the bay leaf.
  • Coarse grate the carrots and the ginger.
  • Add these to the soup and simmer for around 3 minutes – you do not want them to be too soft.
  • Cut the salmon into bite sized chunks.
  • Cover the salmon with the lemon juice for a minute.
  • Add the salmon to the soup and simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Season to taste if needed
  • Sprinkle fresh herbs to each serving.

Hard Boiled Egg Salad

  • This is a very simple hard boiled egg salad which can be used as a side dish with other salads or
  • Spread on sandwiches – kanapki or toast.
  • I have added garlic chives as an option as these are growing now in  my garden.

INGREDIENTS

  • 6 hardboiled eggs
  • 1 large red onion
  • 1 large gherkin
  • 2-3 tablespoons of mayonaise
  • Salt & Pepper to season
  • OPTIONAL – chopped chives or garlic chives.

METHOD

  • Peel the eggs and chop them up into small pieces.
  • Chop the onion into small pieces.
  • Chop the gherkin into small cubes.
  • Mix these together with the mayonnaise.
  • Season to taste.
  • *
  • OPTIONAL – add chopped chives or garlic chives and mix together.

Maggi Seasoning

  • Did you know that Maggi seasoning is named after its inventor –  Julius Maggi (1846-1912) from Switzerland?
  • He started off making proucts from legumes to improve the diet of working people.
  • Buillion cubes were made from 1908.
  • Liquid seasoning was made later and is now available nearly all over the world.
  • Did you know that Polish Maggi is slightly different than other varieties? – 
  • It contains loveage – lubczyk.
  • My cousins in Poland use it quite often in casseroles or somethimes as few drop over a cooked dish.
  • *
  • Do you use it?

 

New Recipes

  • Just back from a short trip to  Gdańsk.
  • It has been the coldest year there for 16 years.
  • The river Motlawa, which flows to the sea, has been frozen.
  • It was hard getting around as many of the pavements had not been cleared.
  • We went to 3 of our favourite restaurants: Gdański Bowkie, Gvara(sic) and Lookier, 
  • As well as going to some lovely bakeries.
  • I have a couple of new ideas for recipes to try out very soon.
  • I managed to buy 5 recipe magazines so have lots of recipes and ideas to try out so I am very excited.

Buckwheat – Not Roasted

  • I love buckwheat but have always used the roasted variety.
  • This I think has a nutty taste.
  • I have just been introduced to the non roasted variety which you can buy in the local Polish shop.
  • My friend called what she cooked a soup but I think it is more like a kasza – as most of the liquid was used up
  • The buckwheat is cooked in a beef or chicken stock with an assortment of vegetables.
  • Here we used broccoli, leeks, brussel sprouts, potatoes and carrots.
  • It is much milder than the roasted buckwheat.

Ingredients

  • 1 packet of buckwheat
  • 2 litres of beef or chicken stock (homemade is best)
  • 2 leeks – chopped fine
  • Some broccoli – chopped
  • 2 large potatoes – cubed
  • A few brussel sprouts – sliced.
  • 2 carrots – sliced or cubed
  • 2-3 allspice grains
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Sprig of Rosemary and Thyme
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Method

  • In a large pan bring the stock to a simmer.
  • Add the buckwheat and the other vegetables.
  • Add the bay leaves, herbs and allspice grains.
  • Cook until the buckwheat is soft and so are the other vegetables.
  • If you want a soup you may have to add more stock.
  • If you want kasza – heat until most of the liquid is reduced.
  • Remove the sprigs of herbs.
  • Season to taste.

Serve on its own or with roasted meats or gulasz.

Royal Stafford – Blossom Time – Soup Plate

Radish Salad – A Different Way

I usually cut radishes into small circles to use in salads.

See my recipes in Summer Salads.

One of my Polish friends came round and used them in a different way.

INGREDIENTS

1 bunch of radishes

2 – 3 tablespoonfulls of Greek yoghurt

Salt and pepper to taste.

METHOD

Use a fine grater to grate all the radishes.

Mix the grated radishes with the yoghurt.

Season to taste.

Super on their own or with other salad items such as lettuce.