Author: jadwiga49hjk

I love cooking and baking. I love trying out new recipes and currently am trying out many old favourites from my Polish cookbooks and family recipes. I am trying out many variations, often to make them easier but still delicious. I collect glass cake stands and china tableware, mainly tea plates, jugs and serving dishes, many of which I use on a daily basis. They are an eclectic mixture from the 20th & 21st century.

Earl Grey Cake

  • Earl Grey Tea is black tea flavoured with oil of bergamot.
  • Legend has it that the secret recipe was given to Earl Grey by the Chinese.
  • However he never visited China, though he might have received it as a diplomatic present.
  • Who was Earl Grey?
  • Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (1764 – 1845) was a Member of Parliament for Northumberland.
  • He was British Prime Minister from 1830-1834.
  • Two important Acts of Parliament were passed during his time as Prime Minister:
  • 1832 Reform Act
  • 1833 Slavery Abolition Act.
  • The earliest mention of Earl Grey Tea appears to be in the 1850s, several years after his death.
  • *
  • This cake is called a Tea Bread in England and is a cake made using tea.
  • Using Earl Grey Tea makes most recipes even tastier.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon of loose leaf Earl Grey Tea
  • 250 ml boiling water
  • *
  • 300g sultanas
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • *
  • 80g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 280g plain flour
  • 2½ teaspoons baking powder
  • *
  • Icing sugar to dust

Method

  • Grease and line a 23 cm circular cake tin or use a cake liner.
  • Pour the boiling water over the tea leaves and leave for 3 minutes.
  • Put the honey and sultanas into a bowl
  • Strain the tea leaves and pour the tea over the sultanas and honey.
  • Stir and leave for 3 hours.
  • *
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180°C
  • Strain the fruit but also keep the liquor.
  • Whisk sugar and eggs till pale, thick and creamy.
  • Mix the flour and baking powder together.
  • Stir in the drained fruit, zest and flour.
  • Add the rest of the tea liquor and mix well.
  • Spoon the mixture into the baking tin.
  • Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.
  • Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before turning it out.
  • Leave to cool on a baking rack.
  • Dust with icing sugar to serve.

 

Stardust by Colclough Tea Plate
Royal Crown Derby Tea Strainer

Gogiel Mogiel

  • Gogiel mogiel was for me a luxury dessert that my mother used to make.
  • She would whisk raw egg yolks with sugar for around 10 minutes until the sugar is all absorbed and the liquid is thick, pale and creamy.
  • Sometimes honey was used instead of sugar.
  • Nowadays it can be made much quicker using an electric whisk.
  • Mama would flavour this with a drop or two of vanilla essence.
  • Other flavouring can be cinnamon or rum.
  • It is served at room temperature or slightly chilled.
  • Whilst looking up recipes for this I have found that the name in some places has changed to gogel mogel or even the more Russian sounding kogol mogol.
  • *
  • Zabaglione (Italian) or sabayon (French) sound similar, where sweet wine is added and it is cooked slightly over a bain-marie.

Ingredients

  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon of caster or granulated sugar.
  • 2 – 3 drops of vanilla essence.

Method

  • Whisk the yolks and sugar together until you have a pale, thick, creamy liquid.
  • Around 5 minutes with an electric whisk.
  • Add the vanilla essence and mix together.
  • Serve at room temperature or chill slightly.
  • *
  • Options 
  • Add a few drops of rum or a sprinkle of cinnamon.
  • *
  • Sprinkle grated chocolate on top when serving.

Kanapki

  • Kanapka (singular) and kanapki (plural) are the Polish for sandwich and sandwiches.
  • Kanapka comes from the French canapé (singular).
  • These are always open sandwiches.
  • In both languages the word comes from the word for sofa – with the idea of something sitting on a sofa.
  • They date from the mid 1800s.
  • They can be large sandwiches, which are the mainstay of a Polish breakfast – śniadanie or second breakfast  – drugie śniadanie (Lunch in England).
  • They can be cut into small squares or rectangles to become “finger food”  – hors d’oeuvres – starters.
  • In Polish these are called przekąski or zakąski.
  • *
  • The list of toppings is endless with: meat, fish, eggs and cheese as well as gherkins, chives, tomatoes and many other vegetables on top.
  • The bread can be buttered or not if the topping is soft such as pâté or egg mayonnaise  

Toppings Suggestions – the list is endless

  • Cream cheese
  • Yoghurt cheese
  • Cured meats 
  • Roast meats
  • Smoked sausages
  • Fish spread
  • Meat spread
  • Pâté
  • Gherkins
  • Tomatoes
  • Chives
  • Onions
  • Salad leaves
  • Yoghurt Cheese with Chives on Rye – served on Greenway plates
  • Egg Mayonnaise with slices of  kotlety –  Polish burgers and tomato – served on a vintage Pyrex plate.

Kotlety with Courgettes

  • This is a version of my kotlety – Polish meat patties, burgers or large meat balls.
  • Coarse grated courgettes are added – similar in a way to kotlety with sauerkraut.

Ingredients

  • 400g minced beef or pork or a mixture
  • Breadcrumbs made from 2 fresh slices of white bread or 2 bread rolls
  • 1 large onion – chopped fine – fried
  • 2 – 3 courgettes – coarse grated
  • 2 eggs – beaten
  • *
  • Dried breadcrumbs
  • Salt & pepper
  • *
  • Sunflower oil to fry

Method

  • Fry the chopped onion until golden.
  • Leave to cool completely.
  • Salt the courgettes and leave them in a colander for around 30 minutes.
  • Place the courgettes in a clean linen tea towel and squeeze all the liquid out.
  • Mix the mincemeat, breadcrumbs, onion, eggs and courgettes together well.
  • Season with salt  and pepper.
  • *
  • Make flattened round patties and cover with dried breadcrumbs.
  • *
  • Fry on both sides in hot sunflower oil.
  • *
  • Delicious hot but also great served sliced and cold with salads and bread.

Chocolate Milk

  • There are very few things that I do not like to eat or drink.
  • But one thing I do not like is a drink made with hot milk.
  • However I love cold chocolate milk or chocolate milkshake.
  • The basis of this drink is my recipe for chocolate sauce.
  • You can leave out the egg yolks but they do make the drink more nourishing.
  • You can keep the base in a bottle with a cap in the fridge for a few days.

    Ingredients

  • 250ml of milk (full fat is best)
  • 50g of granulated sugar
  • 20g of cocoa or 50g of dark chocolate
  • 1-1½ tablespoonfuls of potato starch (you can use cornflour – if potato flour is not available)
  • 2 egg yolks – optional.
  • *
  • Cold milk to mix up the drink.

Method – with cocoa

    • Put 150ml of the milk into a saucepan.
    • Heat gently – stirring all the time until boiling point.
    • Take it of the heat.
    • Blend together the rest of the milk (100ml) with the sugar, cocoa and potato flour.
    • Add the heated milk to this and stir well.
    • Put the mixture back in the pan and heat gently, stirring till it thickens .
    • Add the egg yolks and stir these well in.
    • Leave to go cold and pour into a lidded bottle or similar.
    • Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

  • Method – with chocolate

      • Put 150ml of the milk into a saucepan.
      • Add the chocolate.
      • Heat gently – stirring all the time until boiling point.
      • Check that all the chocolate has dissolved.
      • Take it of the heat.
      • Blend together the rest of the milk (100ml) with the sugar and potato flour .
      • Add the heated milk and chocolate to this and stir well.
      • Put the mixture back in the pan and heat gently, stirring till it thickens .
      • Add the egg yolks and stir these well in.
      • Leave to go cold and pour into a lidded bottle or similar.
      • Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Mix the chocolate base with cold milk to taste.

Iced Orange Yoghurt Cake

  • I have been looking for a good recipe, which uses yoghurt but not always with much success.
  • I came across this one for a lemon yoghurt cake the other week and tried it out. 
  • The texture was good and I thought  –  why not try an orange version.
  • I learnt a tip, which was to add the orange rind to the sugar for about 30 minutes – this adds to the flavour.

Ingredients

  • 200g plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 200g granulated sugar
  • Zest of 1 large orange
  • 185ml of Greek style yoghurt
  • 3 eggs
  • 120ml sunflower oil
  • Large pinch of salt

Method

  • Add the zest to the sugar and leave for about 30 minutes.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180ºC.
  • Use a loaf liner to line a 2 lb loaf tin.
  • Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together.
  • Add the yoghurt and eggs to the sugar mixture.
  • Gradually add the flour mixture and mix well.
  • Add the oil and mix well again.
  • Pour the batter into the loaf tin and smooth the top.
  • Bake for around 40 to 45 minutes.
  • Check a little earlier and cover with greaseproof  paper if it is starting to burn.
  • Leave to cool in the tin.

Orange Icing – Ingredients

  • 100g icing sugar – approx
  • 1½ tablespoon of  orange juice
  • Zest of half a large orange

Orange Icing – Method

  • Mix the icing sugar with the orange juice and zest.
  • Adjust sugar or juice to make a thin pouring icing.
  • Once the cake is cold, pour this over the cake.
  • Smooth down with a warm spatula.

Served on tea plates Lyndale by Royal Standard. 

Note – if you want a thicker icing or more on the sides then increase the sugar to 150g and use more orange juice.

White Onion Soup

This soup is based on the recipe for white onion sauce .

Ingredients

  • 2 medium onions
  • 30g butter
  • 1  tablespoons of plain flour
  • 250 & 250ml vegetable stock
  • 125ml full fat Greek yoghurt or soured cream
  • Salt & pepper

Method

  • Chop the onion into pieces.
  • Cover with 250ml of vegetable stock.
  • Bring to the boil and then simmer till soft.
  • Add the butter.
  • Use a blender to purée the onions.
  • Mix the rest of the 125ml of stock with the flour.
  • Add the stock mixture to the onions and bring to the boil.
  • Simmer and stir till the mixture thickens.
  • Add the yoghurt or soured cream.
  • Season to taste. 
Meakin – Midwinter China – Spanish Garden

Iced Lemon Yoghurt Cake

  • I have been looking for a good recipe, which uses yoghurt but not always with much success.
  • I came across this one the other week and tried it out.
  • Although I made a few alterations – I found that this is the best I have come across.
  • The texture is good and the taste is super.
  • I learnt a new tip, which was to add the lemon rind to the sugar for about 30 minutes – this releases more lemon oil.
  • *
  • I am going to adapt this to make an orange version very soon.

Ingredients

  • 200g plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 200g granulated sugar
  • Zest of 2 lemons
  • 185ml of Greek style Yoghurt
  • 3 eggs
  • 120ml sunflower oil
  • Large pinch of salt

Method

  • Add the zest to the sugar and leave for about 30 minutes.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180ºC.
  • Use a loaf liner to line a 2 lb loaf tin.
  • Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together.
  • Add the yoghurt and eggs to the sugar mixture.
  • Gradually add the flour mixture and mix well.
  • Add the oil and mix well again.
  • Pour the batter into the loaf tin and smooth the top.
  • Bake for around 45 to 50 minutes.
  • Check a little earlier and cover with greaseproof  paper if it is starting to burn.
  • Leave to cool in the tin.

Lemon Icing – Ingredients

  • 100g icing sugar – approx
  • 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Lemon Icing – Method

  • Mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice.
  • Adjust sugar or juice to make a thin pouring icing.
  • Once the cake is cold, pour this over the cake.
  • Smooth down with a warm spatula.

Tea plates – Greenway Hostess by John Russell from the 1`960s.

Coconut Macaroons

  • I think coconut is a relatively new ingredient in Polish cookery.
  • I am sure my mother did not use it.
  • Most Polish recipes that I that I have seen are for cakes that are similar to sweets called  Raffaello  – introduced by Ferrero in 1990.
  • This recipe is the same  as Makaroniki  –  Almond Macaroons with coconut instead of almonds.
  • They are so easy to make and a good use for spare egg whites.
  • Did you know that botanically coconuts are not a nut but a drupe (stone fruit) similar to a plum or a peach?

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 egg whites
  • 170g caster sugar
  • 170g desiccated coconut

METHOD

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM 3 – 160°C
  • Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper
  • Mix the sugar and coconut together.
  • Whisk the egg white till they form stiff peaks.
  • Fold in the coconut mixture carefully until well mixed.
  • Place tablespoons of the mixture on the baking sheets.
  • Flatten them down with the back of a spoon.
  • Bake for 20- 25 minutes.
  • Leave to cool slightly before removing them onto a wire rack.

Vintage Glass Dish

Gulasz myśliwski

  • Having made sos myśliwski – Hunter’s sauce. 
  • I thought how good this would be to make into a gulasz.
  • Cubed braising beef or shoulder pork would be super for this.

Ingredients 

  • 400g cubed braising beef or shoulder or spare rib pork
  • 4 slices of  thick cut smoked bacon – chopped
  • 150g – 220g  of fresh mushrooms – sliced or quartered
  • 3 large gherkins – chopped into cubes
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons of plain flour.
  • 2 tablespoons of tomato purée
  • 2 onions – chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic – chopped
  • 3 grains of of allspice
  • 5 peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon of of ground paprika
  • 1 teaspoon of hot ground paprika
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 teaspoons of made mustard.
  • 500ml of vegetable or chicken stock
  • Salt and pepper
  • Sunflower oil for frying

Method

  • Pre heat the oven to Gas Mark 3 – 1600C
  • Mix the tomato purée, allspice, paprikas and mustard into the stock.
  • Cut the meat into cubes and coat the pieces in a mixture of flour, salt and ground pepper.
  • In a frying pan heat the oil until it is hot and fry the meat until all the sides are sealed.
  • Place the meat into a casserole dish.
  • Fry the garlic and onions in the frying pan, adding some oil if necessary but trying not to use too much or the dish will be greasy.
  • Add the onions to the meat then add the bay leaf and some more ground pepper.
  • Melt the butter and fry the mushrooms for a few minutes.
  • Add the mushrooms to the meat.
  • Add the gherkins,
  • Pour the stock mixture into the casserole dish and put on the lid.
  • Cook in the oven until the meat is tender, this could be about 3 ½ hours  to  4 ½ hours but often I find it needs  longer.
  • *
  • I find that this is better cooked on one day and then reheated on the next.
  • *
  • Serve with boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes or rice.
  • *
  • Note – As the gherkins cook down – next time I would add them in the last hour of cooking.
  • *
  • Of course, this is reminiscent of Bigos, which is usually called Hunter’s Casserole – but here without the cabbage and sauerkraut.