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.

Marcypan Budyń – chilled

  • 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 diferent 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 in 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 mazipan into little pieces.
  • Add the mazipan 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 soured cherries.
  • Leave to chill.