Tag: Allspice

Poached Pears

  • I recently went on a trip to The Netherlands to visit my old school friend.
  • We were invited out for a meal and this gave me a few ideas for recipes.
  • The main course was a venison gulasz with gingerbread, which was very reminiscent  of  my recipe for beef gulasz with piernik, which did originate in Belgium.
  • This was served with warm poached pears, which went really well together.
  • This year my small pear tree had a good crop of pears so I tried out a recipe.
  • Hard pears such as my Conference pears are best for this recipe.
  • The pears can be poached in a solution of red or white wine and sugar or just a sugar solution.
  • Sherry or port can be added afterwards when the liquor is thickened.
  • Various whole spices are added to the poaching solution.
  • *
  • You can also serve these poached pears chilled with thick Greek style yoghurt or budyń (Polish custard) or vanilla ice cream.
  • *
  • Below is the version I made.

Ingredients

  • 9-12 hard pears
  • 500ml water
  • 120 – 150g granulated sugar
  • Small piece of cinnamon bark
  • 4-6 whole cloves 
  • 4-6 allspice grains
  • *
  • 1 tablespoon potato or cornflour
  • 1 tablespoon of water
  • 2 tablespoons sherry

Method

  • Peel the whole pears and if possible leave the stalk attached.
  • Put the pears into an oven proof dish – one with a lid.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM3 – 160°C
  • *
  • Make a solution of water, sugar and the spices.
  • Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes.
  • Pour the solution over the pears.
  • Put the lid on the dish.
  • Place the dish in the oven and cook for around 40 minutes.
  • *
  • Strain the liquor from the pears into a small saucepan
  • Mix the water with the potato or corn flour and add this to the liquor.
  • Heat with stirring to thicken.
  • Add the sherry and stir.
  • Pour this over the pears and serve.
  • * 
  • Goes well with any gulasz or roast chicken, duck or pork.
  • *
  • Or leave to cool and then chill.

Lentil Soup

  • This recipe is based on Lentils-Polish style.
  • As autumn is approaching I thought I would share this warming soup recipe.

Ingredients

  • 150g – 200g dried Puy lentils
  • 100g smoked bacon – chopped into small squares
  • 1 large onion or 2 leeks – chopped.
  • 1 courgette – chopped into small pieces
  • ½ tube of tomato purée
  • 1½ litres of chicken stock (can be from a cube or concentrate)
  • 5 grains of allspice
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika (not smoked)
  • 2 tablespoons of butter for frying
  • Ground black pepper
  • Salt might not be needed because of the bacon

Method

  • Cook the lentils in water until they are soft.
  • Fry up the bacon and the onions in the butter.
  • Add the courgettes and put them into a large saucepan.
  • Add the stock, tomato puree and lentils.
  • Add the bay leaves and allspice.
  • Bring to the boil and then let simmer for around 30 minutes.
  • Season with the black pepper to taste.
Here served in Royal Doulton – Carnation (1982 – 1998)

Hot Spiced Apple Drink

  • Earlier this year I wrote about apple Kompot  –  a refreshing drink which can be served either hot or cold.
  • Recently I made some apple soup, which as it was autumn I served warm.
  • These recipes started me thinking and I made a variation on the kompot to be served warm.
  • I used more spices.
  • I used Bramley apples from the garden.
  • The apples are cooked for longer in this version.
  • I did not make this drink very sweet so people can add sugar to taste.

Ingredients

  • 750g of Bramley apples (or other cooking apples)
  • 1½ litres of water
  • 1 small stick of cinnamon
  • 8 cloves or allspice grains
  • 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar

Method

  • Put the water into a large saucepan.
  • Add a small stick of cinnamon and the cloves or allspice.
  • Peel and core the apples.
  • Cut the apples into chunks
  • Add the apples to the pan.
  • Bring to boil.
  • Simmer till the apples are nearly disintegrating.
  • Add the sugar.
  • Leave to cool slightly.
  • *
  • Remove the spices.
  • Remove the larger pieces of apple.
  • Purée the rest of the mixture.

Serve hot and let people add their own sugar to taste.

Sugar bowl with lid by Royal Doulton – Sonnet 1971 – 1998

Spiced Pears

I have two pear trees in the garden and this year I have had the best crop of pears ever,  both in number and size of pear.

As I do not have a place to store the fruit that is cool and dry enough,  I was looking for recipes to use the pears.

I tried this popular recipe from my great Polish standby recipe book but I found it too acidic.  I adjusted the recipe and used less vinegar and more sugar and this I find to be much better.

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg of hard pears such as Conference
  • 300ml of water
  • 300ml of cider or white wine vinegar
  • 500g of granulated sugar
  • 8 cloves
  • 8 grains of allspice
  • Piece of cinnamon bark

Method

Clean and sterilise 2 large glass jars.

Peel and core the pears and cut into large pieces.

Put the water, sugar and spices into a large pan and gently bring to the boil making sure the sugar is all dissolved.

Add the pears and bring back to the boil,  then gently simmer until the pears are soft and translucent.

Using a slotted spoon remove the pears and divide them between the jars.

To the liquid remaining in the pan add the vinegar and bring to the boil.

Leave this on a gently boil for around 5 minutes and then leave to cool.

Use a funnel to pour the liquid over the pears.

When the jars are cold put on the lids.

Store in a cool dry place or in a fridge.

Serve with hot roasts or cold meats, smoked sausages and cheeses.

The pears can be chopped into small pieces and used in various salads.

The spiced liquid can be used in salad dressings or in marinades for meat.

Lentils – Polish Style

The lentil  is Lens culinaris,  an edible legume –  which means its seeds grow in pods.

The seeds are lens-shaped from whence it gets its name –  meaning  little lens.

The Polish is soczewica and is also from a word meaning a small lens.

It belongs to the bean family and these seeds are classed as pulses – dry seeds for consumption.

Lentils originated in the Near East and Central Asia and are the oldest  pulses and among the earliest crops domesticated in the Old World.

The first evidence of pulses comes from 11,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, a region in the Middle East which was home to some of the earliest human civilizations.

They are mentioned in the Bible –  Genesis 25:29-34 – when Esau gives up his birthright to Jacob for a mess of pottage.

” …let me eat the red soup … then Jacob gave him bread and lentil soup …“

Figures for 2016 show the top four countries for lentil production as:

    • Canada
    • India
    • Turkey
    • United States of America

I bought a packet of whole allspice (ziele angielskie) and this recipe was on the back.

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I think it is related to Breton beans – a popular Polish recipe.

Ingredients

200g – 250g dried lentils

100g smoked bacon – chopped into small squares.

200g Polish sausage (I used Toruńska) – sliced

2 onions – chopped

3 cloves of garlic – sliced

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

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

5 grains of allspice

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon of sweet paprika (not smoked)

1 teaspoon of Italian herbs

Sunflower oil for frying

Ground black pepper

(salt might not be needed because of the bacon and sausage)

Yoghurt and chopped flat-leaved parsley to serve

Method

Pre-heat the oven to GM3 – 160°C

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Cook the lentils in water until they are soft.

Use a sieve to remove some of the excess water – if any.

Fry up the bacon and the onions and garlic.

In a jug or bowl mix the stock, paprika, herbs and pepper.

Get an oven proof dish with a lid and add the lentils, fried bacon, onions and garlic.

Add the tomatoes and the stock mixture.

Add the sliced sausage, the bay leaves and allspice and mix all together thouroughly.

 

Put the lid on the dish and place into the oven.

Cook for 45 -60 minutes.

 

 

Serve garnished with flat – leafed parsley or this and a dollop of plain yoghurt or soured cream as well.

Here served in Royal Doulton – Carnation (1982 – 1998) dishes.

More Duck

Duck With Sour Cherries

After apples (see It’s Only A Bird!) one of the most popular ways of serving roast duck in Poland is with sour cherries.

Sour cherries & sweet cherries  are related but in Polish they have have completely different names

Prunus cerasus  are wiśnie  –  sour cherries also known as morello cherries  &  Prunus avium are czereśnie –  sweet cherries.

Prunus cerasus originated in the Iranian plateau & Eastern Europe.

Annual crop production figures for sour cherries in 2012  show:

1  – Turkey with over 187,000 tonnes

2  – Russia with over 183,000 tonnes &

3 –  Poland with over 175,000 tonnes

So the figure for Poland is high when you think of the size of the top two countries, especially when figures for the whole of the United States of America are only  around  38,000tonnes.

For this recipe fresh sour cherries would have to be cooked with some sugar but  here in England rather than fresh sour cherries you have to use bottled ones.

Previously I used to be able to buy bottled sour cherries produced by Krakus or PEK but recently went out shopping for these I could not find any shops that stocked them.

In one of the Polish shops I found some from the company EDMAL and I also found some in Lidl.

Both are good though personally  I preferred the taste of the EDMAL ones.

The Lidl ones are pitted whearas the EDMAL ones still have the stones in – you can remove the stones if you want or just warn people that the stones are still in.

Cherry Stoner

There is more liquid in the EDMAL jar as this is sold as a kompot.

Kompot is a non-alcoholic sweet beverage, that may be served hot or cold.

It is made by cooking fruit such as apples, rhubarb, gooseberries, or sour cherries in a large volume of water, together with sugar or raisins. Sometimes spices such cinnamon are added for additional flavour, especially in winter when kompot is usually served hot.

For this recipe you need to strain more liquid off from the kompot which you  can save and drink later.

A jar is easily enough for  4 people and could serve 6.

The sour cherries are cooked separately from the duck in this recipe.

 

 

Rather than using whole duck,  I use duck breasts, 1 per person, as this makes it easier for me especially when there are more than two people for dinner.

I am giving instructions for 2 different coatings for the duck here –  the rest of the instructions are the same.

Ingredients

Duck breasts – 1 per person

Jar of sour cherries.

Italian herbs or  ground allspice

Salt & pepper

Method

Rub the duck breasts with Italian herbs, ground black pepper and salt and leave for at least an hour.

or

Rub the duck breasts with allspice and salt and leave for at least an hour

Duck breast with Italian herbs, salt and pepper.

 

 

Duck breast with allspice and salt.

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Allspice  is very popular in Polish cooking. It is the dried berry of the plant Pimenta diocia

Allspice in Polish is ziele angielskie  which translates as  herb English because it came to Poland from English traders who brought it from the West Indies in the 16th century.  I do not know why it is called herb (which indicates the  green part of a plant) as the word more often used for spice in Polish is zioła (indicating dried berries or roots etc).

Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180°C

Put a baking tray in the oven for around 10 minutes to heat up.

Heat a heavy based frying pan (I use a cast iron pan) until it is very hot –  you do not need any added oil or fat.

Place the duck breasts in the pan skin side down and turn the heat down to medium and cook for 2 minutes. Turn them over and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Put the duck onto the heated baking tray.

Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes.

You can serve the duck breast as whole pieces or slice them up.

Whilst the duck is in the oven, put the strained cherries with some of the juice into a pan and bring to the boil, then simmer gently for around 5 minutes – do not let them boil dry – add extra juice if necessary.

Serve the cooked duck with the cherries, adding some of the juices as well as the fruit.

Duck with sour cherries served on Carnation (1982 -1998) by Royal Doulton