Mincemeat Buns

  • I could have called these babeczki – little cakes – however the main ingredients fruit mincemeat is not something you would find in Poland.
  • I still had a half a large jar of mincemeat left from last Christmas and was thinking ahead to making more for this Christmas.
  • I decided to make some small buns based on the ingredients for keks – using mincemeat.
  • They were voted a huge hit!

Ingredients

  • 150g butter
  • 100g granulated sugar
  • 225g plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 50g sultanas or raisins
  • 25g mixed peel
  • 400g of mincemeat (exact amount is not that critical
  • 3 eggs

Method

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM3 – 160°C.
  • Lightly cream the butter and sugar.
  • Beat in the eggs, one by one
  • Stir in the mincemeat and the dried fruit until it is an even consistency.
  • Mix the flour with the baking powder
  • Stir the flour into the cake mixture.
  • Use bun cases in a bun/muffin tray.
  • Place around 1 ½ –  2 tablespoons of mixture into each case.
  • I made 16 but could have made a few fewer.
  • Bake for around 20 minutes
  • Leave to cool in the tin.

Cake Plate by Heathcote – Made in England

Liver with Plums

  • As you may know from previous posts I love liver.
  • I saw this combination of liver and plums and thought I had to try it.
  • I used lamb’s liver – in Poland calves’ or pig’s liver would be more usual.

INGREDIENTS

  • 300 – 500g liver
  • 7-8 sour plums
  • 2 onions
  • Butter to fry onions
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • ¼ teaspoon of dried marjoram or mixed italian herbs.
  • Salt and pepper
  • *
  • Optional – icing sugar – small amount

METHOD

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180°C.
  • Butter an oven proof  – rectangular or square dish,
  • Cut the onions into thin slices.
  • Cut the plums into two and remove the stones.
  • Fry gently in butter till golden.
  • Cut the liver into thin slices.
  • Place the fried onion on the base of the dish.
  • Place the liver on top.
  • Season with herbs and salt and pepper.
  • Place the plums cut side down to cover the liver.
  • Optional – sprinkle the top with a little icing sugar.
  • Bake in the oven for around 30-35 minutes.

Vintage Pyrex dish

Salad Dressing

  • This is a variation on a traditional salad dressing.
  • Mayonnaise is often used especially on cabbage salads (coleslaw).
  • I often mix in some Greek style yoghurt.
  • *
  • I was given this variation last week and it does add a nice little kick.
  • *
  • Equal Amounts of Mayonnaise: Greek Yoghurt: Cream of Horseradish Sauce.
  • *
  • 2  tablespoons of each should be more than enough for a whole shredded cabbage.
  • *
  • Full fat for both the mayonnaise and yoghurt is the best.
  • *
  • Not tested  – but I am sure this will go well with boiled potato salad.

Salads in Bavarian China

NOTE

  • The horseradish does become milder and losses it kick if left for a longer time eg overnight.
  • Best to add this dressing about an hour before the salads are needed so any fruits and nuts soften but the horseradish still has the kick. 

Pumpkin Soup

  • All the shops here in England are filled with pumpkins for Halloween, which is celebrated by many.
  • In Poland it is the Christian feasts of All Saints & All Souls on November 1st & 2nd that are celebrated with many people trying to get home to their relatives graves to clean them up and put grave candles on them.
  • As there are all these pumpkins – dynia -in Polish- I thought I would try out a pumpkin soup.
  • This is a very tasty yet simple soup.
  • I have added a couple of options.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pumpkin – small to medium – around 500g of flesh.
  • 1 large onion
  • Butter for frying the onion
  • 1½ litres of vegetable or chicken stock
  • ¼ teaspoon of ground paprika
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • *
  • OPTION 1 – ½ a red pepper
  • OPTION 2 – 1 red pepper
  • OPTION 3 – roasted pumpkin seeds (not tested)

METHOD

  • Peel the skin off the pumpkin.
  • Cut the pumpkin into pieces – leaving the core.
  • Cut the flesh into small chunks.
  • Chop the onion into small pieces.
  • Fry the onion until it is golden – even turning slightly brown.
  • Add the pumpkin and the fried onion to the stock and heat to boiling.
  • Turn down to simmer.
  • Simmer until the pumpkin flesh is soft.
  • Add the paprika.
  • Use a stick blender to purée the soup.
  • Bring back to boiling and serve straight away.
  • *
  • OPTION 1
  • Chop up ½ a red pepper and blanch and simmer for a few minutes.
  • Add some to each serving of soup.
  • *
  • OPTION 2
  • Chop up  1 pepper and add it after you have puréed the soup.
  • Simmer for around 10 minutes.
  • *
  • OPTION 3 – NOT TESTED
  • Add some roasted pumpkin seeds to each serving.
  • You can clean up and roast the pumpkin seeds from your own pumpkin.
  • *
  • Royal Doulton Carnation rimmed soup plate 
  • Royal Doulton Burgundy rimmed soup plate 
  • Johnson Snowhite bowl.

Coconut Cake

  • This is a simple recipe inspired by a large cake recipe in ‘All About Cookery New Edition’, by Mrs Beeton published in 1911.

  • Mrs Beeton writes “ … dessicated cocoanut is now sold at a moderate price, and its use saves much trouble and labour.”

  • Coconuts are the edible fruit of Cocos nucifera, – kokos in Polish, and probably originated in the area of Indonesia and Malaya and then spread to India.

  • Marco Polo came across coconuts and they were then called Pharaoh’s nuts as they were found in Egypt.
  • Venetians were trading in coconuts by the 13th Century.
  • William Dampier (1651-1715), a buccaneer and explorer brought coconuts to England though they did not become popular until the early 19th century.
  • *
  • My father was not keen on coconut so this was not a recipe my mother made.
  • I originally made this cake in a round tin but have now also also tried it out in a rectangular tin, which makes it easier to slice and portion out.

INGREDIENTS

150g butter

150g caster sugar

200g plain flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

75g dessicated coconut

2 eggs

4 to 5 tablespoons of milk

*

2 tablespoons of apricot or strawberry jam

3 tablespoons of dessicated coconut

METHOD

Pre-heat the over to GM4 – 180°C.

Grease and line or use a cake liner in a 20cm high sided cake tin.

Cream the butter and sugar till fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time and beat again.

Mix the flour, baking powder and coconut together.

Fold this into the mixture.

Add enough milk to make a soft mixture.

Put into the cake tin – flatten the top.

Bake for 40 – 45 minutes.

*

Leave the cake to cool completely on a wire rack.

Take the cake out of the tin.

Mix the jam with ½ a tablespoon of water and heat gently.

Brush the top of the cake with the jam.

Sprinkle the coconut on top of the jam.

*

Alternative size

26 x 20 cm rectangular cake tin.

Line 3 sides with one piece of greaseproof paper.

Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Colclough Stardust & Duchess Bramble Rose tea plates

Courgette Soup – 2

  • This is a more hefty soup than my other courgette soup recipe.
  • The addition of honey and pears adds a  lovely sweetness.
  • But the lemon stops it being too sickly.

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 courgettes
  • 2 medium potatoes
  • 2 pears
  • 1 litre of vegetable stock
  • 1 tablespoon of honey
  • 1 lemon rind & juice
  • *
  • Optional to serve
  • Chopped chives or flat leafed parsley.
  • Cooked Pasta

METHOD

  • Chop the courgettes into small pieces.
  • Peel the potatoes and chop into small pieces.
  • Peel and core the pears then chop into small pieces.
  • Bring the stock to the boil and add the courgettes and potatoes.
  • Simmer for around 10 minutes.
  • Add the pears and simmer for another 10 minutes.
  • Take the pan off the heat and liquidise the soup with  a stick blender.
  • *
  • Bring back to simmer.
  • Add the honey, lemon rind & juice, stir and serve.
  • *
  • Add chopped chives or flat leafed parsley if you have some.
  • *
  • You can also serve this with cooked chunky pasta.

Royal Stafford Blossom Time rimmed soup plate & Royal Doulton Carnation soup bowl

Brown Onion Gravy – 2

  • I came across this simple English recipe for onion gravy or sauce, which appeared in a cookbook of 1852.
  • The gravy was served with roast poultry.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 onions
  • 3-4 sprigs of thyme
  • 3 tablespoons of butter
  • 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar
  • 500ml of water
  • Salt & pepper to taste

METHOD

  • Chop the onions into small pieces.
  • Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the onions and thyme.
  • Fry with stirring until the onions are brown.
  • Sprinkle over them the sugar.
  • Stir and cook for a couple more minutes.
  • Add the water and mix well.
  • Stir and cook for a few more minutes.
  • Sieve the gravy and season to taste.
  • *
  • Pour the gravy over the cooked bird/roast meat and serve.
  • *
  • NOTE
  • A roast chicken was used for testing the gravy.
  • *
  • Or you can serve the gravy separately.

White Fish & Pepper Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 onions
  • 2 red peppers
  • Around 250g of white fish – cod, plaice, basa etc
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • ½ teaspoon hot paprika
  • A little sunflower oil
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • *
  • Optional – chopped parsley or chives to garnish 

Method

  • Cut the onion in half and then slice it thinly.
  • De-seed the peppers and then cut into long thin slices.
  • Lightly fry the onion and peppers in a little sunflower oil till soft.
  • Add the paprika and the vegetable stock.
  • Bring to the boil and then simmer gently for around 10 minutes.
  • Add the pieces of fish and simmer for around 15 minutes.
  • Take out the fish, remove any skin and cut into chunks.
  • Put the fish back into the soup.
  • Stir.
  • Season if necessary.
  • *
  • Garnish with green herbs if you have them.
  • *
  •  Great with crusty French style bread.

Served in a Royal Doulton Burgundy rimmed soup plate.

Kartoflane Placki – 2

  • Kartoflane placki are super Polish potato pancakes.
  • I wrote a post about them many years ago.
  • We always had them with savoury items such as fried eggs.
  • Mama never served them with sweet options.
  • Having seen these in various blogs and Instagram – 
  • I decided to give them a go.
  • I  tried two options –
  • – With plum jam and
  • – With yoghurt cheese and granulated sugar.
  • They were delicious.
  • *
  • I have given the instructions again. 

Ingredients

  • 4 large starchy potatoes such as King Edward or Maris Piper
  • 1 medium or large onion
  • 1 egg or just the egg yolk
  • Plain flour
  • Salt & pepper
  • *
  • Oil for frying

Method

    • Peel the potatoes then grate them using the fine size of the grater into a large bowl, this is the part that takes time – I have tried using the coarse grate but they are not as good.
    • Leave to stand for a few minutes and the water from the potatoes will rise to the surface.
    • If the potatoes are very watery pour of some of the water. The easiest way is to tip up the bowl slightly over the sink and hold down the potatoes with the palm of your hand.
    IMG_20150811_165238337
    Grating the potatoes

     

    • Peel the onion and also fine grate it and add to the potatoes.
    • This is the part that would often result in the grating of my knuckles  as I tried to use every last bit of onion.
    • I now often use some form of electrical mini-chopper to get a pulp of onion.
    IMG_20150811_165955962
    Onion Pulp
    • Add the egg, salt & pepper.
    • Add enough plain flour so that the mixture is thick.

    IMG_20150811_170357625

    • Heat some oil in a frying pan, a thick cast iron one is ideal, place large spoonfuls of the mixture onto the hot oil and flatten them out with the spoon or spatula.
    • A pan should be able to hold 3 or 4. Fry till golden on both sides.
    • They should be thin and  slightly crispy at the edges.

    IMG_20150811_170538654_HDR

    • Do not have the pan too hot or they will burn on the outside and be raw in the centre.
    • Do not have the pan too cool or they will end up too greasy and not crispy.

    IMG_20150811_171517471

    • Serve immediately or keep them warm in the oven on a low heat whilst you make more.

    IMG_20150811_171511857

    IMG_20150811_173653863

  • With yoghurt cheese and granulated sugar.
  • With plum jam made by my friend in Leeds.

Salmon Poached with Peppers

  • After making the Salmon & Pepper soup I thought this would make a lovely light main meal with just a little alteration.
  • The peppers and onion can be cooked on the stove top and then the salmon added and poached in the steam from the stock.
  • Or the dish placed in the oven with a lid once the salmon is added.

Ingredients

    • 2 onions
    • 2 red peppers
    • 1 clove of garlic crushed.
    • 2 portions of fresh salmon
    • ½ litre vegetable stock
    • ½ teaspoon hot paprika
    • A little sunflower oil
    • Salt & pepper to taste

Method

  • Cut the onion in half and then slice it thinly.
  • De-seed the peppers and then cut into long thin slices.
  • Lightly fry the onion and peppers in a little sunflower oil till soft.
  • Add the paprika, garlic and the vegetable stock.
  • Bring to the boil and then simmer gently for around 15 minutes.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180°C
  • Season if necessary.
  •  
  • Put the mixture at the bottom of an ovenproof dish – that has a lid.
  • Place the salmon on top of the mixture.
  • Cover the dish with the lid.
  • Place in the oven for  around 15 minutes.
  • *
  •  Great with crusty French style bread or boiled new potatoes.
  • Royal Doulton Burgundy Plate.
  • OPTION – not tested
  • Add 125ml of dry white wine to the peppers when adding the salmon.