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.

Beef Gulasz with Caraway

I came across this recipe recently which uses Gouda cheese with soured cream to thicken the sauce – it works really well and I will be trying this in other recipes.

Ingredients

400g – 500g braising steak – cubed

200g – 250g of mushrooms (chestnut type are good) – sliced

2 large onions – chopped

300ml of chicken stock (can be from a cube or concentrate)

3 tablespoons of caraway seeds

1 -2 tablespoons of plain flour

50g of Gouda cheese – chopped into small cubes.

3 tablespoons of soured cream

Sunflower oil for frying

Salt & pepper to taste.

Flat-leafed parsley to garnish – chopped

Method

Pre heat the oven to Gas Mark 3 – 1600C

On a large plate mix together the flour, salt and pepper.

Coat the meat cubes lightly in the flour mixture and brown these in the oil in a hot frying pan.

Place the beef into a casserole dish.

Lightly fry the onions and mushrooms in the frying pan and then add them to the beef.

 

Caraway Seeds

 

Add the stock and caraway seeds to the pan.

Put on the lid and cook in the oven for around 3 hours until the beef is tender.

Before serving stir in the cubes of cheese and the soured cream and mix well into the sauce.

Garnish with flat-leafed parsley.

Served here with mashed potatoes on Royal Doulton – Carnation – 1982 – 1998.

Pea Salad

In earlier times this would have been made with bottled or tinned garden peas – nowadays I make this with cooked frozen peas.

The peas and Gouda cheese make this salad sweet and creamy.

Ingredients

Around 400ml of frozen peas -cooked and cooled

4 hardboiled eggs – chopped

3 large gherkins – chopped into little cubes

200g of Gouda(or similar) cheese – chopped into cubes

1 small onion – chopped fine

2 tablespoons of Mayonaise (full fat is best)

1 tablespoon of Greek style yoghurt

Salt & Pepper to taste.

Method

In a bowl mix all the vegetables and the cheese together.

Add the mayonnaise and yoghurt and mix well.

Add salt & pepper to taste.

Serve with hot or cold roast meats or smoked Polish sausage.

 

Variation

I think the addition of 2 or 3 strips of chopped herrings as in my herring salads would be good.

Will try this later and let you know!

Scalded Rye Bread

I came across this recipe recently which I was told originates in Sweden*.

  • The recipe makes two loaves and the bread is very soft and tasty.
  • Boiling water is poured over the rye flour and it is left overnight. This must start the breakdown of some of the starch in the flour to sugars.
  • I used dried yeast when I made this.
  • The bread is baked at a lower temperature than many other breads.

Ingredients

For scalding

  • 100g dark rye flour
  • 300ml of boiling water

For  the rest

  • 650g strong white flour
  • 1 tablespoon of dried yeast
  • 250ml of water
  • 1.5 tablespoons of salt

Method

  • Put the rye flour into a bowl and pour the boiling water over it.
  • Mix this to a stiff paste.
  • Cover with a cloth and leave overnight.
  • The following morning, place the plain flour into a bowl and make a well and add the dried yeast followed by 100ml of water.
  • Cover and leave for around 15 minutes until all the yeast has dissolved.
  • Add the rest of the water (150ml), the salt and the scalded rye mixture.
  • Mix everything together well.

 

 

 

  • Now you need to knead this for around 5 minutes – this can be hard as the dough is sticky  – I do this in the bowl for some of the time and then with wet hands I hold the dough up and sort of kneaded it in the air!
  • Put the dough back into the bowl and covered with clingfilm or a cloth and leave it for around 2 hours.
  • Divide the dough into two.
  • Flour your hands and stretch each piece into a rectangle around 2cm in thickness.
  • You now need to fold the dough into a long loaf.
  • With the short side facing you, fold this up a third gently onto the dough and then taking the top third pull this down to cover the two layers of dough.
  • Get a clean tea towel,  flour this and using a cake lifter place the loaf on this and cover it with the rest of the tea towel.
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  • Repeat this for the other loaf.
  • Leave the loaves to rest for around 1 hour.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM8 – 230°C.
  • Use rye flour to flour two small baking sheets.
  • Place each  loaf onto a prepared sheet and place them side by side in the oven.
  • Turn the temperature down immediately to GM4 -180°C.
  • Bake for 40 minutes.
  • Remove and leave to cool on a wire rack.

 

 

Variations

  • Add 1.5 tablespoons of caraway seeds to the dough mixture.
  • Divide the dough into 4 pieces and shape them into cobs.
  • Change the proportions to use more rye – I used 200g of dark rye & 550g of strong plain flour & an extra 100ml of boiling water for the overnight scalding & baked the loaves in long loaf tins after shaping the dough.

 

 

Tea plate is by Taylor and Kent of Longton

*Polish – Swedish Connections

The Polish King Zygmunt III Waza (1587 – 1632) was the son of King John III of Sweden and Katarzyna Jagiellonka (daughter of King Zygmunt I Stary (the old) of Poland).  He was also the King of Sweden from 1592 – 1599.

Potop – The Deluge – was a period of invasion and war with Sweden in the mid 17th Century.

Szwed – The Swede is a very common surname in Poland . One of my father’s best friends had this surname.

There are 72 ferry sailings a week from Polish Baltic ports to Sweden.

Note – this post was updated in March 2020.

 

 

Mushroom Soup

Grzyby is the Polish word for mushrooms.

Mushroom gathering in Poland is a National pastime and has been in the past, a source of food and income for many.

Mushrooms can be dried, pickled, salted and marinated.

On those damp misty days in autumn when in England people would think – what a dull day,  a Pole would wake up and think – Great, a good day for gathering mushrooms!

Most Poles think the best dried mushrooms are Boletus edulis, in Poland they are called borowik, prawdzik or prawdziwek(translates as  – the real thing!), in Italy porcini and I try and use these whenever I can.

Packets of dried mushroom in England tend to be 25g or 30g and can be of mixed types.

My father knew all about mushrooms but never really passed the knowledge on to me – mainly because of the limited availbility of transport to suitable woods around where we lived in Lancashire.

On my first visit to Poland I did go to Białowieża forest and went with a guide and collected lots of mushrooms including chanterelles which in Poland are called kurki.

Dried mushrooms feature in many Polish dishes including ones made for Wigilia – Christmas Eve.

Nowadays, the common field mushroom – Agaricus bisporus – is produced on a huge scale and makes up a large part of commercial mushroom production with Poland being the 3rd biggest producer in Europe, following Italy and The Netherlands.

Mushroom soup in olden days was nearly always made with just dried mushrooms.

I make my soup with both dried and fresh mushrooms.

As with all soups the quantities do not have to be exact.

You can make your own vegetable stock or use cubes or powder.

 

 

Ingredients

25-30g of dried mushrooms – Boletus edulis are good.

250g of fresh mushrooms  – chestnut type are good.

Around 125ml of soured cream

1 onion – diced

Butter to fry the onion

1 – 1.5 litres of vegetable stock – can be from power or a cube (I use Marigold bouillon)

2 tablespoon of cornflour – optional

Salt & Pepper to taste

Chopped Flat-leaf parsley or chives to garnish

 

 

 

 

Method

Start the night before by preparing the dried mushrooms.

Put the dried mushrooms in a jug or bowl and add around 250ml of boiling water.

Leave the mushrooms overnight.

Strain the mushrooms from most of the liquor – saving this for later.

Chop the mushrooms into smaller pieces.

Gently simmer the mushrooms in a little of the liquor for about 5 minutes.

Gently fry the diced onion in some butter till they are golden.

Seperate the caps from the stalks of the fresh mushrooms.

Thinly slice the fresh mushroom caps  – if the caps are large cut the slices into 2 or 3.

Optional

If the stalks are not too “woody”  – chop them into very small pieces  – otherwise discard them.

Add the mushrooms to the onions, mix and fry gently.

Into a large pan or stockpot, add the onions and mushroom, the re-constituted mushrooms and the liquor from the soaked mushrooms and mix well.

Add the  vegetable stock and bring the mixture to the boil, then cover with a lid and leave to simmer.

You could put the pot into a low oven around GM2 – 150°C.

Allow to simmer for a couple of hours.

Add the soured cream and stir gently – check for seasoning.

or

Mix the cornflour with some of the soured cream, add and stir to thicken, then add the rest of the soured cream.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley or chives to serve.

 

 

 

 

Served on Royal Doulton  – Carnation – 1982 – 1998  &  Queen Anne side plates – pattern name unkown.

Pea Soup with Dutch Connections

I have written about Polish pea soup which is usually made with yellow split peas.

My mother could not always get yellow split peas and sometimes used Marrow fat peas.

My Dutch friend in The Netherlands often talks about Dutch pea soup which is made using Marrow fat peas or green split peas.

The Dutch soup tends to be made as a much thicker soup and pork, such as a chop or pigs’ trotters, is often used and also as smoked bacon or ham; potatoes are often added as well.

I have made my soup more on the Polish thinner side and used a chunk of smoked  Polish bacon. – You can use smoked gammon or smoked bacon – use it in large pieces – cut it up after it has been cooked in the soup.

Version 1 – Using Marrow Fat Peas

 

 

 

Ingredients

250g Marrow fat peas

2 large onions chopped

400g piece of smoked Polish bacon (boczek in Polish, which means side)

8 peppercorns

2-3 allspice grains

1 Bay leaf

2 litres of vegetable stock (can be from a cube or powder – I often use Marigold powder).

 

 

 

Method

Put the marrow fat peas into a large bowl with around 800ml of boiling water poured over them  and leave overnight.

Some instructions say to add bicarbonate of soda to the peas – I prefer not to.

The following morning, drain and rinse the rehydrated peas.

I have started using my large slow cooker to make soups – you can also use a large stock pot and once brought to the boil, leave it to simmer on the stove or in a low oven.

Place all the ingredients into the pot and switch on and leave to cook for 4 – 5 hours until the peas have cooked to a soft pulp.

You might want to add some boiling water and stir the soup if it has become too thick.

Remove the piece of bacon and chop or shred the meat, then put it all back into the soup, stir and heat for a few minutes before serving.

You can use the cooked meat on for example in sandwiches and only put part of it back into the soup.

 

 

 

 

Served here with scalded rye bread on tea plates by Taylor and Kent of Longton.

 

Version 2 – Using Green Split Peas

As version 1, but use 300-350g of green split peas.

The split peas do not have to be soaked overnight, just use then as they are.

So this is much quicker to make as there is no overnight soaking.

 

 

You can add some chopped chives or the green part of spring onions before serving.

 

 

Variations

  • Add one or more  root vegetables such as:
  • 1 or 2 carrots – chopped,
  • around a quarter of a celeriac,
  • 1 or 2 parsnips – chopped
  • 1 large potato – peeled and chopped
  • Use smoked gammon, ham or smoked bacon
  • Add a pork chop
  • Use pigs’ trotters

Note

I have found that these soups freeze very well – portionned up into tubs for future use.

 

 

Chocolate Orange Babka

This is a new recipe for a babka – it is very moist and tastes delicious.

I serve it just dusted with icing sugar but you could add a thin chocolate glaze.

Ingredients

  • 225g Butter or Block Margarine
  • 225g Caster Sugar
  • Finely grated zest and the juice of 1 orange
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
  • 2 tablespoons of apricot jam
  • 4 eggs
  • 175g self raising flour
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 50g of cocoa

Method

Pre-heat the oven to GM3 – 160°C

Grease & flour well a large babka tin, tapping away any excess.

  • Beat well together the butter and sugar till pale and fluffy.
  • Beat the eggs well and gradually add them, beating the mixture after each addition.
  • Mix  in the vanilla essence, apricot jam, orange zest and juice.
  • In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder and cocoa together.
  • Fold the flour mixture into the beaten mixture.
  • Spoon the cake mixture into the babka tin and level the top.
  • Bake for 50 – 55 minutes until the babka has risen and a cake tester comes out clean.
  • Cool for at least 5 minutes in the tin, then turn this out onto a wire cake rack to cool.
  • Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Served on Crown – fine bone china – England (no pattern name given).

Potatoes – po nelsońsku

  • Po nelsońsku  –  in Lord Nelson’s style –  is when mushrooms and soured cream are added to the sauce. (I have not been able to discover why this name is used.)
  • In the traditional version of this dish, dried mushrooms are used and are soaked overnight.
  • I have also made a version with dried and fresh mushrooms.
  • Floury potatoes such as King Edward or Maris Piper are the best for this dish.
  • Packets of dried mushroom in England tend to be 25g or 30g and I have used a full packet for the recipe (you can use more).
  • The best dried mushrooms are Boletus edulis, in Poland they are called borowik or prawdzik, in Italy porcini.
Dried Mushroom in Hot Water

Ingredients

  • 1 kg of floury potatoes
  • 10 -15g of dried mushrooms
  • 2 onions
  • 60ml of soured cream
  • 250 ml of milk for soaking the mushrooms & 125ml (or more) for the sauce
  • 100g of butter for frying the onions & the sauce
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons of plain flour
  • Salt & pepper

 

Method

  • Start the night before by preparing the mushrooms. Put the mushrooms in a jug or bowl and add around 250ml of boiling water. When this has cooled add around 250ml of milk.
  • Leave the mushrooms overnight.
  • Alternately you could start this very early in the morning and make the dish in the evening.
  • Boil the potatoes till nearly cooked and leave them to cool.
  • Slice the potatoes into around 2cm thick slices.
  • Strain the mushrooms from most of the liquor – saving this for the sauce.
  • You can chop the mushrooms into smaller pieces if you want.
  • Gently simmer the mushrooms in a little of the liquor for about 5 minutes.
  • Make a sauce by first melting 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, add the flour, stir together with a wooden spoon and gently cook until you have a thick roux.
  • Slowly add the liquor from the soaked mushrooms and mix and heat till you have a thick sauce.
  • Add more milk if needed – you want a very thin pouring sauce.
  • Then add the soured cream and mix together.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM 4 – 180°C

 

 

  • Halve the onions and thinly slice and then fry them till golden in some butter.
  • Butter a deepish ovenproof glass or ceramic dish.
  • Place a layer of potatoes on the bottom followed by the onions, then the mushrooms, some of the sauce and finish with a top layer of potatoes.

 

  • Season with salt and pepper as you go along.
  • Pour the rest of the sauce over the top.
  • Depending on the size and depth of the dish you could have more layers but always start and finsh with potatoes.
  • Bake in the oven for at least an hour (You can lower the temperature and leave to cook for much longer).
  • This goes well served with roast chicken or pork.

 

Served on Royal Doulton – Tapestry  1966 – 1988

Ingredients – Version 2

This has fewer dried mushrooms & fresh mushrooms are added.

  • 1 kg of floury potatoes
  • 10g of dried mushrooms
  • 100 – 150g of  fresh mushrooms (chestnut type are good)
  • 250 ml of milk for soaking the mushrooms & 125ml (or more) for the sauce
  • 100g of butter for frying the onions, mushrooms & the sauce
  • 2 onions
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons of plain flour
  • 60ml of soured cream
  • Salt & pepper

Method – Version 2

  • Start the night before by preparing the mushrooms. Put the mushrooms in a jug or bowl and add around 250ml of boiling water. When this has cooled add around 250ml of milk.
  • Leave the mushrooms overnight.
  • Alternately you could start this very early in the morning and make the dish in the evening.
  • Boil the potatoes till nearly cooked and leave them to cool.
  • Slice the potatoes into around 2cm thick slices.
  • Strain the mushrooms from most of the liquor – saving this for the sauce.
  • You can chop the mushrooms into smaller pieces if you want.
  • Gently simmer the re-constituted mushrooms in a little of the liquor for about 5 minutes.
  • Thinly slice the fresh mushroom caps and fry them gently in butter.
  • Mix the two types of mushrooms together.
  • Make a sauce by first melting 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, add the flour, stir together with a wooden spoon and gently cook until you have a thick roux.
  • Slowly add the liquor from the soaked mushrooms and mix and heat till you have a thick sauce.
  • Add more milk if needed – you want a very thin pouring sauce.
  • Then add the soured cream and mix together.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM 4 – 180°C
  • Halve the onions and thinly slice and then fry them till golden in some butter.
  • Butter a deepish ovenproof glass or ceramic dish.
  • Place a layer of potatoes on the bottom followed by the onions, then the mushrooms, some of the sauce and finish with a top layer of potatoes.
  • Season with salt and pepper as you go along.
  • Pour the rest of the sauce over the top.
  • Depending on the size and depth of the dish you could have more layers but always start and finsh with potatoes.
  • Bake in the oven for at least an hour (You can lower the temperature and leave to cook for much longer).
  • This goes well served with roast chicken or pork.

Version 3 – Less Expensive & Quicker

  • In Poland there are mushroom stock cubes which are very useful especially for making sauces.
  • Years ago I brought loads back to England, now you can find these in the many Polish food shops.
  • The ones I use are made by Knorr.  These stock cubes contain a small amount of dried mushroom extract.

 

  • Dissolve the stock cube im 250ml of  hot water, when this has cooled add around 250ml of milk.
  • Increase the amount of fresh mushrooms to 150 – 200g.
  • Follow the instructions as  for Version 2.

Placek – Derbyshire Inspired

A few months ago I went on a craft week in Derbyshire (home of the Bakewell Tart) and as always I was looking out for new recipes and ideas.

I came across a recipe for a cake using yoghurt.  Now in the past, every cake I have made with yoghurt in the ingredients was not a success with it either being straight to bird table or straight to bin!

Anyway, I tried this one out and was really pleased with the results.

I used Greek style full fat yoghurt and I am sure low or no fat yoghurt would not do! – If using my own yoghurt I would strain it a little so it becomes thicker.

I have made a few alterations to the original recipe.

It is similar to a Polish placek (flat cake) and baked in a rectangular tray.

Ingredients

250g butter or block margarine

225g caster sugar

150ml of Greek style yoghurt (full fat)

4 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence or the fine grated rind of 1 lemon

280g self raising flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

Blackcurrant jam or sour cherry jam or other slightly tart jam

50g of dessicated coconut

Method

Grease and line 22 x 32 baking tin – use 1 piece of greaseproof to do the 2 long sides and base.

Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180 C

Mix together the yoghurt, eggs and vanilla essence or lemon rind.

Mix together the flour and the baking powder.

Beat together the butter and sugar .

Add the yoghurt and egg mixture and beat well.

Add the flour mixture and beat till you have a unified smooth mixture.

Using a big spoon and spatula put the mixture into the prepared tin.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

Carefully take the cake out of the oven and place large teaspoon ‘blobs’ of jam on the top – I did 12 teaspoons at even intervals.

Drench the top with the coconut and quickly put it back in the oven.

Bake for around another 25 minutes.

 

 

 

Place on a cooking rack and leave until it is cold to take out of the tin.

Cut into squares or rectangles to serve.

 

 

As a nod to Derbyshire, I used my Royal Crown Derby – Derby Posies – teaplates to serve.

They are marked  XXV which indicates 1972.

Variations

I think that the basic batter of this cake lends itself to quite a few variations – I intend to try some of these out in the coming months.

Zupa – Soup

Zupa is soup in Polish – it is a huge topic and I could easily write a book on soups alone.

The words zupa and soup originate from either the French soupe which is a broth or the German sop which is bread used to soak up soup or the Italian zuppa which is a country vegetable soup.

I intend to cook and write about soups in 2019.

Soup is traditionally the first course of the main meal of the day – served usually sometime between 12.30pm to 5pm.

For a larger occasion, the first course can be a cold starter,  followed by the soup and then the main course.

My cousins in Poland found it hard to imagine a meal without a soup to start with!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Makłowicz, a Polish TV chef and cookery writer, writes  in one of his books

“Polak bez zupy robi się smutny“ –  A Pole without soup becomes sad.

Nina Froud is a cookery book writer & editor of the 1961 & 1977,  English translations of the 1938 Larousse Gastronomique.

 

In an introduction to Polish food in Country Cooking, published in 1978, she wrote:

“Poles are hearty but discriminating eaters … they like food unashamedly and are clever at producing delicious dishes from simple and inexpensive ingredients.”

This I think is very true and especially so in the making of soup.

 

There are so many, many soups – where do I begin?

  • hot soups
  • chilled (cooling) soups
  • fruit soups
  • milk soups

12 Well-Known Polish Soups in Alphabetical Order

  • Barszcz ………….. Beetroot
  • Fasolowa ……….. Bean
  • Grochówka …… Pea
  • Grzybowa ……… Mushroom
  • Kapuśniak …….. Cabbage
  • Kartoflanka …… Potato
  • Krupnik …………. Barley
  • Ogórkowa ……… Gherkin
  • Pomidorowa ….. Tomato
  • Rosół ………………..Chicken
  • Szczawiowa …… Sorrell
  • Żurek ……………… Sour Rye

    These are just a start!

 

Soups are served with  Garnishes & Accompaniments

 

 

Polish Fairy Tale about Soup

My mother used to tell this story to me when I was young – I loved it then and since I have cooked myself I love it even more.

My mother would vary the ingredients so that each time she told it, it could be a different recipe!

Here is a shortened version of the story –

Once upon a time a stranger, with a knapsack on his back,  comes to a village and sits down on a path.

He gets out a little cooking pot and pours in some water from a container and lights a little fire underneath and sits waiting for the water to boil.

Whilst waiting he unwraps a shiny stone which was covered in a linen cloth and pops this into the water.

Slowly the villagers come out, curious to see what he is doing.

They ask him what he is doing – “making Magic Stone Soup – the best soup in the world” he replies.

As the water starts boiling the stranger takes out a ladle and takes a sip.

The villagers ask him how it tastes.

“Good”says the stranger “but would taste even better with some potatoes”

“I can get some potatoes” said an old man, who then went off to get them.

The stranger peeled and chopped the potatoes and added them to the pot.

After a few minutes the stranger again takes a sip of the soup, saying it tastes good but that it would taste even better with some onions.

“I can get some onions” said an old woman, who then went off to get them.

The stranger peeled and chopped the onions and added them to the pot.

….here my mother would go on adding ingredient after ingredient, varying them every time she told the story ….

The stranger again takes a sip of the soup, saying it tastes good but that it would taste even better with some salt & pepper.

“I can get that” says a young boy who then went off to get some.

When he comes back the stranger seasons the soup and declares it nearly ready.

“It just needs some flat leaved parsley to garnish it”.

“I can get some” says a young girl.

When she returns the stranger chops the leaves and sprinkles them on the soup.  

The stranger then ladles generous servings of it into bowls and handed them around to all the villagers and also has a bowl himself.

He then takes out the stone, wipes it dry and puts it away into his knapsack.

 

Celeriac with Prune Sauce

I have just tried another recipe  from my new Polish cookbook. It is for cooked celeriac – I adapted it slightly to make it – it is truly delicious.

Ingredients

1 large (or 2 small ) celeriac

150g pitted prunes

75g raisins or sultanas

125ml soured cream

2 -3 tablespoons of prepared horseradish sauce

Juice of 1 or 2 lemons

Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Cook the celeriac – I find steaming the best option – leave it to cool and then peel away the outer layer and cut the flesh into cubes. ( You can do this some time beforehand.)

Pre-heat the oven to GM 4 – 180°C.

Cover the raisins with boiling water and leave to soak.

Cover the prunes with boiling water and simmer them gently for around 10 minutes.

 

 

 

 

Add the soured cream, horseradish sauce, raisins and lemon juice to the prunes and mix together.

 

Add salt & pepper to taste.

 

 

Mix the cubed celeriac with the prune sauce place the mixture in an oven proof dish and cook for at least 30 minutes.

 

This goes well with hot roast meats such as chicken and especially pork.  (I have used the prune & pork combination in other recipes.)

Variations

I think this sauce would go well with other vegetables such as kohlrabi or white turnip.