Stuffed Eggs

  • This dish is one often found on buffet tables in Poland.
  • It is easy to make in advance.
  • It could also be served as an hor d’oeuvre.
  • It works well will any tinned fish.
  • The hardest part is peeling the hardboiled eggs.
  • Did you know that very fresh eggs are the hardest to peel?
  • It is better to boil eggs that are slightly older.
  • They can be served on a bed of lettuce with sliced lemons.

Ingredients

  • 6 or more hard boiled eggs – large are best
  • 1 small tin of salmon, tuna or sardines – drained
  • Juice of ½ a lemon
  • 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • *
  • Flat leaved parsley to garnish
  • *
  • OPTION – 1 tablespoon of tomato ketchup instead of 1 of the mayonnaise. 

Method

  • Hard boil the eggs and leave to cool completely.
  • Carefully peel the eggs.
  • Cut the eggs in half.
  • The yolks are used in the filling.
  • In a bowl use a fork to mix the yolks, fish, lemon juice and mayonnaise.
  • Put a large tablespoonful of fish mixture into each egg white hollow.
  • Arrange the eggs on the serving plate with the flat leaved parsley.
  • Grind some black pepper over the tops.

Oat & Rye Biscuits

  • I have been able to buy lots of second hand Polish cookery books in the past few weeks.
  • Inside one of them was a handwritten recipe for these biscuits.
  • It is written in the lovely handwriting people are taught in Poland.
  • I wish my writing was clear and neat as this.
  • I decided to try these biscuits and was very pleased with the result.
  • They only have a small amount of sugar so they go well with cheese.

Heathcote cake plate – Made in England

INGREDIENTS

  • 120g butter – softened
  • 70g soft brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 100g rolled oats
  • 140g rye flour
  • ½ teaspoon of baking powder.

METHOD

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180°C.
  • Grease two baking sheets.
  • Beat the butter and sugar together
  • Add the egg and carry on beating.
  • Mix the oats, rye flour and baking powder together.
  • Add this dry mixture to the butter mix.
  • Mix together until everything is combined.
  • Make small balls of the mixture and place these on the sheets.
  • Bake for 15 – 20 minutes.
  • About half way through the baking – flatten the balls with a spatula.
  • Leave the trays to cool on a wire baking rack.

Kołduny

  • Looking in my new recipe book “Wilno” I came across a recipe for kołduny.
  • They looked very much like pierogi and did I some research to find out how they were similar and how different.
  • Firstly the dough is made with just flour and hot (not boiling) water! – I was very curious as to how this would work out.
  • The filling is meat, usually pork or beef or a mixture.
  • The filling is raw minced meat – not cooked meat as in pierogi.
  • Most recipes used “fatty” meat or added lard (I did not).
  • The chopped onion is also raw.
  • Garlic is added – I have not come across this used in pierogi.
  • Kołduny are described as smaller than pierogi – I now realise that my pierogi are small so these did not seem much smaller.
  • In order to cook the kołduny they are simmered for 20 minutes – much longer than pierogi are boiled.
  • The kołduny are served with marjoram (fresh or dried) and butter or soured cream or
  • They are often served in soup usually rosoł – clear chicken soup.
  • In the book it states that the kołduny are not eaten with a knife and fork but with a soup!
  • I found it hard to eat the ones in the soup as they were very hot to bite through!
  • VERDICT
  •  The dough was good and I would make that again. 
  • However I suppose it is what one is used – but we all preferred the Polish cooked meat fillings of pierogi.

INGREDIENTS – DOUGH

  • 480g plain flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • Around 500ml of water at about 70°C (you might not need it all)

METHOD – DOUGH

  • In a bowl mix the flour with the salt.
  • Make a well in the centre and add 250ml of the water.
  • At first using a knife or spoon – later with your hands –
  • Keep adding water slowly and mix this in with the flour until you have a smooth ball of dough.
  • Leave this to rest for 30 minutes.

INGREDIENTS – FILLING

  • 500g of  minced pork or beef or a mixture.
  • 1 egg
  • 1 onion – chopped fine
  • 2 cloves of garlic – chopped fine
  • Marjoram – fresh or dried
  • Salt & pepper

METHOD – FILLING

  • Mix the ingredients together.
  • Season with the salt & pepper.

Making the kołduny

  • Prepare trays with floured tea towels to put the kołduny on.
  • Cut the dough into quarters.
  • Roll out the dough until it is thin.
  • Cut out circles around a tumbler or cutter around 7cm in diameter. 
  • Place a ball of filling in the centre.
  • Seal up the edges with your fingers to get a semi circle.
  • Place on the floured trays.
  • Repeat with the rest of the dough and with re-rollings from the cutting.
  • *
  • Use a wide saucepan or deep frying pan.
  • Add boiling water, salt and a little oil.
  • Add about 8 kołduny and simmer them for 15 minutes.
  • Remove with a slotted spoon.
  • Repeat with the rest of them.
  • *
  • Serve with butter and marjoram or
  • In rosoł – clear chicken soup.
  • Take care when biting in as the filling will be very hot.
  • *
  • Although not traditional we fried up left over kołduny the next day.

Sour Cherry Sauce – 2

  • This sauce is good for desserts.
  • It can be served hot or cold.
  • Use it with pancakes – hot
  • or cold to pour over baked cheesecake when serving
  • or add to Greek style yoghurt

Ingredients

  • Jar or part jar of sour cherries
  • 4 cloves
  • Small stick of cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon of potato or cornflour
  • *
  • Optional – a little sugar to taste

Method

  • Put the cherries and the juice into a saucepan.
  • Add the cloves and cinnamon.
  • Simmer gently for around 10 minutes.
  • Leave to cool.
  • Remove the spices.
  • Mix the potato or cornflour with a little of the juice.
  • Stir this into the cherries.
  • Bring up to the boil, stirring often.
  • The sauce will thicken.
  • Leave on a low heat if serving hot or
  • Leave to cool.

Skubaniec

  • Skubaniec comes from the word skubać – to pinch or to pluck.
  • This is because the cake dough is pinched into little pieces and then assembled.
  • It could be said this cake is related to pleśniak – a very recent discovery of mine.
  • There is a recipe in the Christmas pamphlet, which I bought but I have adapted it after looking at other recipes. 
  • As in pleśniak there is plain and cocoa cake dough, sour fruits and meringue.
  • Baking powder is used in this dough.
  • Some recipes pinch all the dough including the base, others roll out the base.
  • The next is a meringue layer, then the fruits, followed by a pinched dough topping of plain and cocoa dough.
  • Sour cherries, blackcurrants, gooseberries are the most used fruits but I have seen recipes for apples and for rhubarb.
  • You can use 2 or more fruits – I used fresh blackberries in 1 third and bottled sour cherries in the rest.
  • Bottled fruit, drained, can be used as was here.
  • Frozen fruits can be used and the cake made out of season.
  • Defrost frozen fruit and dry the water away.
  • Egg yolks are used in the dough and then the whites in the meringue.

Ingredients – Dough

  • 420g plain flour
  • 120g icing sugar
  • 120g butter
  • 1¼ teaspoons of baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon of cocoa
  • 4 yolks
  • Cold water to bind the dough

Ingredients – Meringue 

  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 tablespoon of icing sugar

Ingredients – Fruit

  • 200g bottled cherries

Putting the cake together

  • Line 3 sides of a 26 x 23cm rectangular tin.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180°C.
  • Rub the butter into the flour until it is like breadcrumbs.
  • Mix in the icing sugar and the baking powder.
  • Divide the dough into three parts.
  • Take 2 parts, add 3 yolks and water to make a soft dough.
  • Add the cocoa to the other dry mixture.
  • Add 1 egg yolk and water to make a cocoa dough.
  • Take 1 half of the plain dough and roll it into a rectangle to fit the base of the tin.
  • *
  • Drain the fruit from the liquid in the jar (keep the liquid for other things).
  • *
  • Whisk the egg white till stiff.
  • Add the icing sugar, whisk again till stiff.
  • *
  • Spread the egg white mixture over the dough base.
  • *
  • Put the fruit evenly over the egg white.
  • *
  • Pinch small pieces of each colour of dough.
  • Place them on top of the fruit alternating between plain and cocoa.
  •  Bake for around 40 minutes.
  • Leave to cool in the tin.
  • NOTE
  • I did find that the cake went stale quite quickly.
  • Next time I will try using 210g of butter.

Sour Cherry Sauce – 1

  • This was first made for my recipe for duck pierogi with sour cherry sauce.
  • Make this with around 5 tablespoons of sour cherry jam heated up with the juice of 1 lemon and leave to cool. 
  • If you want to make a larger quantity then use the juice of 2 lemons with 1 jar of jam.
  • This would be good with roast duck or pork.

Finnish Cookbook

I am always amazed at what gems you can find in Charity shops.

  • This book on Finnish Cookery is my latest find.
  • The ‘Finnish Cookbook’ by Beatrice A. Ojakangas.
  • First published in 1964 and this edition in 1989.
  • It is aimed at the American market so the recipes are in cups etc.
  • I will go with cups and tablespoons for liquids but for ingredients such as flour, sugar and butter I will convert these to grams when I try them.
  • I have learnt a lot about Finland from this book.
  • Because of its closeness to Russia it is not surprising that some of these recipes are similar to ones found in Russia.
  • It then follows that some of the recipes are also similar to ones found in Eastern Poland and to ones which I have posted.
  • Lingonberries, Rye, Cabbage  & Herrings are just some of the similar ingredients.
  • The ‘Cabbage Pasty’, which is served as a’ ‘Soup Accompaniment’  is one example, which is very similar.
  • Look out for recipes from this book as the New Year (2024) goes on.

Do you know any Finnish Recipes?

Poppy Seed Filling

  • There is a recipe for poppy seed filling in one of my early posts on Poppy Seed Cake and Yeast Cakes
  • This is a variation with added dried fruit and peel, which was inspired by some yeast rogaliki I tried in Gdańsk.
  • I have cut down the amount of filling as you do not need as much for small cakes.
  • 100g of poppy seeds is more than enough for filling small cakes and pastries.
  • The filling can be used in my recipes for Rhubarb Yeast Buns(instead of the rhubarb) Mincemeat Yeast Buns (instead of the mincemeat) or rogaliki.
  • I used the filling to make rogaliki.
  • *
  • Note – as with all yeast pasties they do not stay fresh long – so invite guest to eat then up with you.

INGREDIENTS

  • 100g poppy seeds
  • 300ml milk
  • 2 tablespoons of runny honey
  • 1 tablespoon of semolina
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 50g mixed peel
  • 75g sultanas

Method

  • Put the poppy seeds and milk into a saucepan and simmer then together for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to stop any sticking or burning.
  • The aim is to cook the seeds and adsorb as much of the milk as possible.
  • You need to watch this carefully and keep adjusting the heat to stop the mixture burning.
  • Keep stirring and heating until the milk is absorbed.
  • The poppy seeds then need to be crushed, I use a hand held blender for about 5 minutes which I find is the easiest way.
  • Once crushed, add the semolina, mixed peel and sultanas
  • Whisk the egg yolk and honey together until this is thick and creamy and then add this to the mixture.

Meakin – Poppy plate

Recipes from Wilno

  • I was so thrilled to find this new book in the Empik bookstore in Gdańsk.
  • My father always thought of Wilno (Vilnius in English) as his nearest city.
  • He was born not that far away and where he was born and Wilno were part of Poland then.
  • Wilno was always thought of as a very Polish city.
  • *
  • I am planning to sit down and read this book very thoroughly.
  •  Although my father did not cook, I am sure some of these recipes will be similar to those ones I have tasted, used by his sisters here in England and his cousins in Poland.

Poppy Seed – Tort

  • Today is 31 December 2023 and this will be my 590th post.
  • Thank you to everyone who reads any of them.
  • *
  • Poppy seed cakes are a very Christmas time thing in Polish cookery.
  • But of course can be found all through out the year as well.
  • This could be called a makowiec – but it is light and more a tort (sponge layer cake).
  • I got a packet of ground poppy seeds (for the first time) and this recipe was on the back.
  • I tried it out and it is light, fluffy and delicious.
  • It is good just on its own but the suggestion is to add butter cream.
  • I used a rum flavoured butter cream but think, vanilla, rum or lemon rind would also work well.
  • You can cut the cake in half and sandwich it together or put the butter cream on the top.
  • The cake takes 6 eggs and was baked in a 24cm diameter round tin.
  • It is left to cool in the tin and does sink slightly in the middle.
  • I think next time using 2 sandwich type tins would be better or
  • Make ½ the quantity.

INGREDIENTS

  • 6 eggs separated.
  • 200g granulated sugar
  • 200g ground poppy seeds (a whole packet)
  • 3 tablespoons of semolina 
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • pinch of salt

Method

  • Grease and line the base of a 24 cm round tin.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180°C.
  • Mix together the poppy seeds, semolina and baking powder.
  • Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar till thick and creamy.
  • Fold in the poppy seed mixture.
  • Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and whisk till stiff.
  • Fold the whites into the rest of the cake mixture.
  • Put into the cake tin and smooth over the top.
  • Bake for 40 – 45 minutes.
  • Leave to cool in the tin.
  • The cake may drop slightly in the middle.
  • *
  • Serve dusted with icing sugar or
  • Cut in half and sandwich with a butter cream of your choice – vanilla, rum or brandy or lemon rind.

Duchess & Meakin poppy tea plates.