Category: Sauce

Tomato Sauce – Winter

  • This is a quick and easy sauce that can be made at all times of the year.
  • In olden times this could have been made in the winter when fresh tomatoes were not available.
  • This sauce is served hot.

    Ingredients

  • 50g tomato purée
  • ½ small onion – chopped
  • 250ml vegetable stock
  • 125ml soured cream
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1-2 teaspoons of sugar – optional
  • Salt and pepper to taste

    Method

  • Simmer the onion in the vegetable stock until it is a pulp.
  • Blend with a stick blender.
  • Add the tomato purée, stir and simmer for a few more minutes.
  • Stir in the just of 1 lemon.
  • Adjust the sweetness with sugar.
  • Season to taste.
  • Stir in the soured cream just before serving.

Option

  • Add some paprika or mixed herbs to the sauce.

Brown Onion Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 onion
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons of butter
  • 1- 1½ tablespoons of plain flour
  • 300ml chicken or vegetable stock
  • ¼ teaspoon of ground allspice
  • Salt and pepper
  • Juice of ½ lemon

Method

  • Chop the onions into small pieces.
  • Start to fry in the butter- gently at first – stirring all the time.
  • Bring up the heat and allow the onions to brown – even slightly char.
  • Sprinkle the flour over and stir and cook for a couple of minutes.
  • Add the allspice.
  • Slowly add the stock and stir whilst the sauce thickens.
  • Simmer gently for a few minutes.
  • Season to taste.
  • Stir in the lemon juice before serving.

Serve hot with roast darker meats or kotlety mielone – Polish large meatballs/ burgers.

Lemony Chicken Sauce

  • This is a lovely easy sauce to have with roast chicken or steamed vegetables.
  • It is served hot.

Ingredients

  • 500ml chicken stock (can be from a cube, powder or concentrate)
  • 50g butter
  • 25g plain flour
  • Salt and pepper
  • Juice of 1 lemon

Method

  • Gently melt the butter in a saucepan.
  • Stir in the flour and heat together.
  • Do not let it brown – just mix and stir for a few minutes.
  • Slowly add the stock – stirring all the time.
  • Cook for a few minutes.
  • Season to taste.
  • Just before serving – stir in the lemon juice.

Chocolate Sauce

    • This chocolate sauce is based on vanilla sauce with the addition of cocoa or chocolate instead of vanilla essence.
    • It is served chilled.
    • Try serving it with bottled or tinned fruit, ice cream or yoghurt.

      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

    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.
    • Pour into a glass dish (or several small dishes) – leave to cool.
    • 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.
      • Pour into a glass dish (or several small dishes) – leave to cool.
      • Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Apple Sauce

  • This sauce is super just eaten on its own or can be eaten with vanilla sauce.
  • Both these should be chilled.
  • You can also serve it with fresh fruit salad.

Ingredients

  • 2 large Bramley apples
  • ½ – 1 tablespoon of potato flour
  • 50g granulated sugar
  • Grated rind of 1 lemon
  • Water

Method

  • Peel and core the apples.
  • Cut them into small pieces.
  • Cover them with water and cook till soft.
  • Use a stick blender to purée them.
  • Add the sugar and lemon rind.
  • Mix the potato flour with a little water.
  • Add this to the apple mixture.
  • Heat gently stirring all the time until thickened.
  • Pour into a bowl or individual dishes.
  • Chill for a couple of hours.

Vanilla Sauce

    • Sos waniliowy – vanilla sauce and budyń are very similar.
    • They are both also similar to English custards.
    • In Poland these are both served chilled.
    • Vanilla sauce is more a pouring sauce and budyń is thicker and set.

    Ingredients

    • 250ml of milk (full fat is best)
    • 50g of granulated sugar
    • 2-3 drops of vanilla  essence
    • 1-1½ tablespoonfuls of potato starch (you can use cornflour – if potato flour is not available)
    • 2 egg yolks

    Method

    • Put 150ml of the milk, sugar and the vanilla essence into a saucepan.
    • Heat gently till the sugar dissolved, stirring all the time.
    • Take it of the heat.
    • Blend together the rest of the milk (150ml) with the egg yolks and potato flour.
    • Add some of the boiled mixture to this and stir well.
    • Add this to the rest of  the mixture and stir well.
    • Put the pan back on the heat and stir gently till thickened .
    • Pour into a glass dish (or several small dishes) – leave to cool.
    • Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

    This sauce is served with, bottled fruit, fruit salad, fruit sauces. or kisiel

     

Hungarian Sauce

  • This sauce has its origins in gulasz, a much loved Polish dish of Hungarian origin.
  • This is good served with pan fried meats or kotlety-mielone – Polish large meatballs.

Ingredients

  • 1 onion
  • 2 tablespoons of butter
  • 1 tablespoon of plain flour
  • 250-300ml of chicken stock (can be from a cube or concentrate)
  • 2 tablespoons of tomato purée 
  • ½ teaspoon of paprika
  • ½ teaspoon of sugar
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 125ml of soured cream or thick yoghurt
  • Salt & pepper to taste 

Method

  • Chop the onion up into small pieces.
  • Cook gently in the butter – do not brown.
  • Cook until the onions are soft.
  • Mix together the stock, tomato purée, paprika and sugar.
  • Add the flour to the onions and cook gently whilst stirring.
  • Slowly add the stock mixture, stirring all the time.
  • Cook till the sauce is thick and uniform.
  • Add extra stock if it is too thick.
  • Stir in the lemon juice.
  • Season to taste.
  • Stir in the soured cream or yoghurt.
  • Mix well and serve.

White Onion Sauce

  • The onions are boiled not browned to make this super sauce.
  • The sauce is served hot.
  • This sauce goes well with roast pork or chicken as well as steamed vegetables.

Ingredients

  • 2 medium onions
  • 30g butter
  • 1 tablespoons of plain flour
  • 250 & 125ml 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. 

Herb Sauce

  • The English word sauce and the Polish word sos – both originate from the Latin – salsis meaning salted.
  • Over the next few weeks I will be looking at a variety of hot & cold, sweet & savoury Polish sauces.
  • This delicate, slightly “lemony” herb white sauce is super made with:
    • Chives
    • Dill
    • Parsley
    • Sorrel
  • It is delicious served with fish or chicken, boiled potatoes or steamed vegetables.
  • It has become one of my  regular staple sauces.

Ingredients

  • 250ml of vegetable stock
  • 1½ -2 tablespoons of plain flour
  • 125ml of full fat Greek yoghurt or soured cream
  • 3 tablespoons of the chosen chopped herbs
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 yolk optional

Method

  • Mix the stock with the flour and beat out any lumps.
  • Add the pinch of salt.
  • Heat the mixture in a small saucepan.
  • Mixing all the time until it thickens.
  • Stir in the yoghurt until thoroughly mixed. 
  • **
  • Add the chopped herbs.
  • *
  • **If using the yolk add this before the herbs and mix well.

Mushroom Sauce

Mushroom sauce must be my favourite sauce.

  • I looked through my Polish cookbooks and many of the mushroom sauces are made with only dried mushrooms.  These are delicious and have a strong flavour however it works out very expensive and are not available everywhere.
  • I am going to  give instructions for a sauce using fresh mushroom and just a small amount of dried mushroom and
  • Another versions of this mushroom sauce using a mushroom stock cube.
  • The best dried mushrooms are Boletus edulis, in Poland they are called borowik or prawdzik, in Italy porcini.
  • I recently got some other dried mushroom which are also good.

Podgrzybki – Xerocomus badius

  • In Poland there are now 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 and contain a small amount of dried mushroom extract.

Mushroom sauce 1 – using dried mushrooms

Ingredients

  • 150g fresh button mushroom caps – white and/or chestnut
  • 5g of  dried mushroom (around 3 slices)
  • 500ml hot boiling water
  • 1 heaped tablespoon of cornflour
  • 3 tablespoons of milk
  • 2 large tablespoons of soured cream.
  • Butter to cook the mushrooms in
  • salt & pepper to taste

Method

  • You need to start this sauce the night before or in the morning for use in the evening.
  • Cover the dried mushrooms with 500ml of boiling water and leave to soak.
  • The following day take out the reconstituted mushrooms and using a knife you can chop then up into tiny pieces or if the are soft enough you can  spread out the pulp on a chopping board.
  • Slice the mushroom caps into fine slices and fry them gently in some butter till they are soft.
  • Add the dried mushroom pulp and the liquor in which they were seeped.
  • Simmer gently for about 5 to 10 minutes.

  • In a little dish mix the cornflour with the milk.
  • Add the cornflour mixture to the cooked mushrooms and stir gently over the heat until the sauce thickens.
  • Add salt & pepper to taste.
  • Remove from the heat and add the 2 large spoonfuls of soured cream and mix well in.

Note

None of these amounts are exact – they are a rough guide depending on what you have – you can use more water, milk or soured cream and so on.

Mushroom sauce 2 – using a mushroom stock cube

Ingredients

  • 150g fresh button mushroom caps – white and/or chestnut
  • 500ml hot boiling water
  • 1 heaped tablespoon of cornflour
  • 3 tablespoons of milk
  • 2 large tablespoons of soured cream.
  • Butter to cook the mushrooms in.

Note

I rarely have to add any more salt or pepper as the stock cube has enough seasoning in it.

Method 

  • Dissolve the stock cube in the hot water.
  • Slice the mushroom caps into fine slices and fry them gently in some butter till they are soft.
  • Simmer gently for about 5 to 10 minutes.
  • In a little dish mix the cornflour with the milk.
  • Add the cornflour mixture to the cooked mushrooms and stir gently over the heat until the sauce thickens.
  • Remove from the heat and add the 2 large spoonfuls of soured cream and mix.

Super served with boiled or creamy mashed potatoes – sprinkle chopped dill or parsley over them before serving.

Served on Carnation (1982 – 1998)  by Royal Doulton.