Category: Cabbage

Lazy Goląbki – 1

  • I love goląbki – but must admit they are time consuming to make.
  • I came across this idea of using all the ingredients and making them into large kotlety( meatballs) cooking them in stock and then adding a tomato sauce.
  • They are called goląbki leniwe – lazy goląbki.
  • Now I have  made kotlety with shredded fresh cabbage and with cooked cabbage before.
  • Here cooked rice is used as well.
  • No bread is added but semolina is used to help bind the ingredients.
  • I decided to make these with steamed cabbage,
  • I will try fresh cabbage next time.

Ingredients

  • 500g minced beef
  • 100 – 150g boiled rice
  • /½  head of a medium cabbage or a whole sweetheart cabbage
  • 1 egg – beaten
  • 1 teaspoons of salt
  • Ground black pepper
  • *
  • Semolina
  • Sunflower oil for lightly frying.
  • *
  • 750ml – 1 litre vegetable stock
  • Several tablespoons of tomato purée 
  • *
  • Soured cream – optional

Method

  • Shred the cabbage and then steam it.
  • Dry the cooked cabbage and chop into small pieces.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM3 – 160°C
  • Mix the cabbage, meat and rice together until well mixed.
  • Add the beaten egg.
  • Add the salt and pepper.
  • Mix everything together.
  • Add a little semolina if needed.
  • Using your hands make large oval shaped balls.
  • Roll then gently in the semolina.
  • *
  • Fry lightly on both sides.
  • Place tightly packed in a large roasting tin.
  • *
  • Mix the vegetable stock and tomato purée and pour over the goląbki.
  • Cover the dish with a sheet of baking foil.
  • Cook for around 2 hours.
  • *
  • Either stir some soured cream into the sauce and serve
  • Or
  • Serve with a dollop of soured cream at the side.

Kapusta “Parzybroda”

  • The name for this cabbage dish translates as ‘scalds your chin’ or ‘burns your beard’ .
  • I am not sure why  – but if you serve it straight from the pan it is very hot.
  • In some parts of Poland this is more like kapuśniak – cabbage soup – one that is made with fresh cabbage.
  • Here it is dish that can be eaten on its own or as a side dish.

Ingredients

  • 1 sweetheart or white cabbage
  • 500g starchy potatoes
  • 200g smoked streaky bacon
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method

  • Cut the cabbage into largish squares.
  • Peel and chop the potatoes into medium sized chunks.
  • Mix the two together in a large saucepan with the stock.
  • Bring to the boil and then simmer gently until the stock is all absorbed and the cabbage and potatoes are cooked.
  • In the meantime – chop the bacon into small squares and fry till all fat is cooked out and the bacon crisp.
  • These are called skwarki.
  • Add the caraway seeds to the cooked cabbage and potatoes – mix gently.
  • Gently mix in the fried bacon and the fat.
  • Season if necessary to taste.
  • Serve straight away.
  • Here served in a Royal Doulton – Burgundy dish

Fresh Cabbage & Apples

  • I came across a Polish idea to cook white cabbage with apples.
  • The writer did not give a method nor did they say whether they made it sweet or tart.
  • I went for a slightly sweet version and I thought the result was delicious.

Ingredients

  • 1 sweetheart cabbage or a small white cabbage
  • 2 large Bramley apples
  • 500ml water
  • 2-3 tablespoons of granulated sugar

Method

  • Preheat the oven to GM 3 – 160°C.
  • Use a large oven proof dish with a lid.
  • Chop the cabbage into rough squares.
  • Peel and core the apples and chop these into chunks.
  • Mix the cabbage, apples and sugar together and put in the dish.
  • Add the water.
  • Cook for around 1 hour.
  • Keep an eye on this about half way through as the apples can fluff up and escape from the dish.
  • *
  • Serve with roast chicken, duck or pork.
  • *
  • You can add part of the sugar and add the rest to taste at the end.

  • Served in Bavarian china with a forget me knots pattern

Cabbage Carrot & Pear Salad

  • This is a variation on my usual cabbage salad.
  • Mayonnaise is not used just lemon juice as a dressing. 
  • Rather than apples I used pears for this salad.
  • Conference pears or other hard pears are good for this.
  • The pears need to be ripe but not too “mushy”.
  • I would peel the pears as the skins are often very tough.

Ingredients

  • ½ head of white cabbage
  • 3-4 hard pears
  • 2 carrots
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • *
  • Chopped flat leafed parsley or chives to serve

Method

  • Shred the cabbage into fine shreds.
  • Peel the pears and then coarse grate them.
  • Coarse grate the carrots.
  • Mix them all together.
  • Pour the lemon juice over them and mix.
  • Sprinkle with flat leaved parsley or chives.

Red Cabbage Salad

This recipe was inspired by the ones I wrote up in Red on Red! after looking at the ingredients that were in my fridge and cupboards.

Ingredients

  • ½ red cabbage
  • 4-5 carrots
  • 1 onion
  • 1-2 apples
  • *
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • 1-2 tablespoons of runny honey

Method

  • Grate or finely shred and chop the red cabbage.
  • Peel and coarse grate the carrots.
  • Finely chop the onion.
  • Finely chop the apple.
  • Mix all the ingredients together.
  • *
  • Mix the lime juice and honey together.
  • Mix the dressing over the salad.

Tastes good straight away and even better after a few hours.

Ukrainian Salad

  • I bought this jar of salad from my Polish shop.
  • It is Sałatka ukraińska – Ukrainian salad.
  • It was very good.
  • Good to have in as a standby.
  • I wanted to make a similar salad.
  • I looked this up and could not find a recipe similar with beetroots.
  • I noted down the ingredients written on the label.
  • Vinegar and sugar were used in the jar – I used lemon juice and honey.
  • The salad will come out differently each time if you change the proportions of the vegetables.

Ingredients

  • 3 medium boiled beetroots
  • 1 onion
  • ½ a small white cabbage or sweetheart cabbage
  • 1 large or 2 medium carrots
  • 1 red pepper
  • Juice from 2 lemons
  • 2 tablespoons of runny – honey 
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Method

  • Grate the beetroots using a coarse grater.
  • Chop the onion into fine pieces.
  • Shred the cabbage into fine strands.
  • Grate the carrot using a coarse grater
  • Chop the pepper into small pieces.
  • Mix all the vegetables together.
  • Mix the lemon juice and honey.
  • Mix the dressing with the vegetables
  • Season to taste.

Note

  • Tastes good straight away but can be kept in the fridge for several days as well.

    Cabbage & Mushrooms

    • Cabbage and mushrooms are a classic combination in Polish cookery.
    • Recipes abound for combinations  using fresh cabbage through to sauerkraut, cultivated or wild mushrooms – fresh or dried – the list is endless.
    • Recently I wrote about kulebiak a large Polish pastry, which had a filling of fresh cabbage and fresh mushrooms.
    • This filling  can be served hot as a side dish – it goes well with hot roast meats.

    Ingredients

    • Small head of white cabbage or sweetheart cabbage.
    • 250 -300g of mushrooms
    • 1 large onion
    • 100g of butter
    • Salt & pepper to taste
    • Optional – 2-3 hard boiled eggs

     

    Method

    • Shred and then chop the cabbage into small pieces.
    • Chop the onion into small pieces.
    • Chop the mushrooms into small pieces.
    • Melt half the butter in a large deep frying pan.
    • Slowly cook the onions and the cabbage but do not brown.
    • Cover with a lid and let them simmer till they are both soft.
    • Stir occasionally – you might need to add a little hot water.
    • In another pan melt the rest of the butter and fry the mushrooms.
    • Add the mushrooms to the cabbage and onion mixture and mix well.
    • Heat gently together to remove most of the excess liquid.
    • Season to taste.
    • Sprinkle the chopped hard boiled eggs on top – optional.
    • Serve hot.

    Note

    You might want to look at an earlier post for Sauerkraut & Mushrooms

     

     

    Kulebiak with Cabbage & Mushrooms

    • Kulebiak is the nearest there is in Polish Cookery to a pie or a pasty.
    • It can be made with a yeast dough, a short crust type of pastry or puff pastry.
    • It is very much a large version of   paszteciki – the small savoury pastries,  which I posted in November 2019.
    • Popular fillings include cabbage & mushrooms of various sorts, hard boiled eggs and fish.
    • Many people serve this for Wigilia –  the Christmas Eve meal.
    • Sometimes the several fillings are put in as layers.
    • Here I have made it with a yeast dough with a fresh cabbage and fresh mushroom filling.
    • It is best served hot.
    • *
    • In the early part of the 20th century Auguste Escoffier, the French chef, wrote about this dish and called it Coulibiac.
    • Was this the start of dishes such as Salmon en croute?

    Ingredients – Yeast Dough

    • 250g plain flour or a mixture of spelt & plain flour
    • 1 tablespoon of dried yeast
    • 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar
    • 125-150ml of milk
    • 1 egg & 1 yolk
    • 40g butter – melted
    • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
    • 1 egg white & water for a glaze

    Method – Yeast Dough

    • Put 50g of the flour into a bowl.
    • Add the yeast and sugar.
    • Add enough of the milk to make the mixture as thick as double cream.
    • Leave in a warm place to bubble and froth up.
    • *
    • Place the rest of the flour into a bowl.
    • Add the salt and mix.
    • Lightly beat the whole egg  and the yolk together.
    • Add the egg mixture to the flour.
    • Add the yeast mixture to the flour.
    • Start to mix together using a wooden spoon.
    • Slowly add as much milk as needed.
    • Bring the dough together using your hands until it leaves the side of the bowl.
    • Knead the dough lightly until it is smooth.
    • *
    • Flatten the dough into a rectangle.
    • Slowly pour on the butter and fold over the dough.
    • Keep kneading the buttery dough until it is all incorporated.
    • Knead a little longer until you have a nice glossy ball.
    • Put the dough back into a bowl.
    • Cover with a cloth or a shower cap and leave to rise in a warm place.
    • *
    • Grease a baking tray.
    • Take the pastry and shape into a rough rectangle.
    • Roll out into a large rectangle around a finger width in thickness.
    • Place the cold filling in the centre lengthwise.
    • Fold the two long sides over the filling so the pastry just meets and is not too thick.
    • Fold over the short sides.
    • Turn the roll over so the “seams” are underneath.
    • Place on the baking tray, cover and leave to rise.
    • *
    • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 180 °C.
    • *
    • Lightly beat the egg white with a little water and brush this on the top.
    • Bake in the oven for around 1 hour.
    • *
    • Best served hot – but still good cold
    • Cut into thick slices to serve.

    Ingredients – Filling

    • Small head of white cabbage or sweetheart cabbage.
    • 250g of mushrooms
    • 1 large onion
    • 100g of butter
    • 2 or more hard boiled eggs
    • Salt & pepper to taste

     

    Method

    • Shred and then chop the cabbage into small pieces.
    • Chop the onion into small pieces.
    • Chop the mushrooms into small pieces.
    • Melt the half the butter in a large deep frying pan.
    • Slowly cook the onions and the cabbage but do not brown.
    • Cover with a lid and let them simmer till they are both soft.
    • Stir occasionally – you might need to add a little hot water.
    • In another pan melt the rest of the butter and fry the mushrooms.
    • Add the mushrooms to the cabbage and onion mixture and mix well.
    • Heat gently together to remove all the excess liquid.
    • Leave to go cold.
    • Rough chop the hard boiled eggs and add them to the mixture.
    • Season to taste.

    Note – this might be more filling than you need – you can always freeze what is left 

    Served on a vintage Pyrex platter and Royal Doulton – Carnation plates – 1982-98

     

     

    Łazanki with Fresh Cabbage

    • I came across a photograph of a dish of  łazanki  with fresh cabbage and decided to have a look at recipes for this.
    • I read that this is a dish very popular in Eastern Poland – strangely enough my mother never made this!
    • Łazanki are a type of Polish pasta often made with buckwheat with the dough being rolled thin and then cut into triangles or rectangles.
    • When the Italian Princess Bona Sforza married the Polish King, Zygmunt I Stary (Zygmunt the Old) in the 16th century, she brought with her many Italian chefs.
    • Łazanki are thought to have originated from that time.
    • The name łazanki comes from the Italian for large flat rectangles of pasta – lasagna(singular) lasagne(plural) – the –ki ending indicates a diminutive in Polish – so these are small and rectangular.
    • I tried out a recipe for wheat łazanki with spelt flour- they were so-so – I bet my babcia (grandmother) made much better ones!
    • I could try using my pierogi dough recipe with wheat flour next time.
    • I tried out a dough for buckwheat łazanki – this was quite reasonable – I might make these again.
    • *
    • Many people now just use ready bought flat pasta such as tagliatelle or pappardelle.
    • Break up the dry pasta or snip it up at the end.
    • Boil the pasta as per the instructions – do not over cook it.

    Ingredients

    • 250g flat pasta (such as tagliatelle) (broken up)
    • ½ head  white or sweetheart cabbage – shredded
    • 1 onion – diced
    • 250g Polish kiełbasa (sausage) or smoked bacon – chopped
    • Butter
    • Salt & pepper to taste.

    Method

    • Cook the pasta as per the instructions.
    • Steam the cabbage.
    • Fry the onion in quite a bit of butter until soft and golden.
    • Add the Polish kiełbasa (sausage) or smoked bacon.
    • Fry gently.
    • Add the steamed cabbage and stir well.
    • Add the mixture to the drained pasta.
    • Mix well together.
    • Season to taste.

    Spelt flour
    Buckwheat flour

    If I have to choose I would say I prefer the dish with bacon.

    With Polish Sausage
    With Polish Sausage
    With Bacon
    With Bacon

    Duszona Kapusta- 2 options

    Duszona kapusta is usually translated as braised cabbage. However it literally means suffocated cabbage, which I think is a lovely phrase. It indicates that the dish is cooked with the minimum amount of liquid with a lid on the pan whilst it is cooking.

    A few months ago Mari (Mariana) who blogs as gourmermarichef.com  posted her recipe for duszona kapusta.  So I thought I would add my versions.

    I used sweetheart cabbage as I really like this but you can use any white cabbage and even savoy cabbage ( but you will have to cook this a little longer).

    My mother would have cooked this till the cabbage was very soft – I prefer to cook it for less time so the cabbage still has a little bite.

    Ingredients – version 1

    • 1 sweetheart cabbage
    • 1 small onion – finely chopped
    • 2 tablespoons of butter
    • 1 tablespoon of caraway seeds
    • 125ml of vegetable stock (can be from a cube or powder)
    • Salt and pepper to taste.

    Method

    • Use a deep frying pan – with a lid.
    • Gently fry the onion in the butter till soft and golden.
    • Finely shred the cabbage.
    • Add the cabbage and stir.
    • Cook for a few minutes.
    • Add the caraway seeds and the stock.
    • Stir and bring to a gently simmer.
    • Put on the lid (a glass one is good) and simmer until the cabbage is soft.
    • Check the progress and stir a few times to make sure the liquid does not dry out.
    • Adjust the seasoning and serve.

    Served in Royal Doulton –  Carnation 1982 – 1998

    Version -2

    Ingredients – version 2

    • As version 1
    • Plus 125ml of soured cream

    Method – version 2

    • As version 1 until the cabbage is cooked.
    • Add the soured cream, stir and cook for another minute.
    • Adjust the seasoning and serve.

    Served in Royal Doulton Tapestry – 1966-1988