Carrots – Page 2 – Journey From A Polish Kitchen

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.

Carrot Leek & Apple Salad

I was sorting out my recipe box notes and cuttings when I came across this recipe from one of my cousins in Białystok for a salad made from carrots, leeks and apples.

I had not noted down whether the leeks were just sliced or if they were blanched as well so I tried both ways and both salads were super.

Ingredients

2-3 carrots
1 leek
1- 2 eating apples – Braeburns are good
Juice of a lemon
2-3 tablespoons of Mayonnaise
Salt & pepper to taste

Method – 1

Grate the carrots using a coarse grater.
Thinly slice the leeks and cut the rings into halve or quarters.
Core the apple and chop into small chunks.
Pore the lemon juice over the salad.
Add the mayonnaise and mix well.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Method – 2

As above except for the leeks.
Put the cut leeks into hot water and simmer for a few minutes.
Allow the leeks to cool.
Drain the leeks and pat dry with kitchen roll or a clean tea towel.
Mix all the ingredients together.

Carrot Pancakes – 2

I posted a recipe for carrot pancakes more than three years ago.
These are normally eaten as a sweet dish – usually served with sugar.
This recipe is for a savoury carrot pancake.
Both are the American style of pancake.
Both in Polish would be called racuszki (z marchwi).

Ingredients

8 spring onions
2eggs
80ml of milk
90g plain flour
½ teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of paprika
¼ teaspoon of salt
350g peeled and coarse grated carrots
Ground black pepper
Butter for frying the spring onions
Sunflower oil for frying the pancakes.

Method

Chop the white and green parts of the spring onions into little rounds.
Fry gently in butter with soft.
Leave to go cold completely.
Put the grated carrots into a clean tea towel and squeeze out excess liquid.
Pre-heat the oven to GM 1- 140°C.
Line a baking tray with kitchen paper and put this in the oven.
Mix the egg and milk together.
Mix the flour, baking powder, paprika and salt together.
Mix the flour mixture and the eggs and milk together till smooth.
Stir the carrots and spring onions into the mixture.
Add some ground black pepper.
A Danish whisk is good for mixing batter.
Heat the sunflower oil in a frying pan.
Drop in tablespoons of the batter and flatten them slightly with the back of the spoon.
Fry on both sides until golden brown.
Lift onto the baking tray and keep in the oven whilst cooking the rest.
*
When first cooked the carrots are crunchy – they soften in the oven.
*
Serve as a starter with a yoghurt or soured cream sauce and some salad or
As a vegetable with a roast or with a gulasz.

Plate – Royal Doulton – Carnation , 1982-1998

Bean Soup

This is a lovely winter soup.
It would once have been made with reconstituted dried beans but now it is easy to open tins of beans.
Any white beans are good such as Haricot, Cannellini or even Black-eyed beans.
This can be made in a stock pot on the cooker or in the oven however I find that using a large slow cooker to cook it makes life a lot easier.

Ingredients

2 tins of white beans such as Haricot, Cannellini or Black-eyed beans.
3 large carrots
2 onions
1½ litres of vegetable stock – can be from a cube or powder
150g smoked bacon.
8 peppercorns
3 allspice grains
1 teaspoon dried marjoram or 1 tablespoon of fresh
Butter to fry the onions.
Salt & pepper to season – may not be necessary depending on the bacon and stock.
Chopped flat-leaf parsley or chives to garnish when serving

Method

Chop the onions into small pieces.
Gently fry the onions till golden.
Chop the carrots into circles and halve or quarter them.
Chop the bacon into small pieces.
Drain the beans from the cans.
Put all the ingredients into a pot.
Bring to the boil and then simmer – or use a slow cooker.
Cook until the carrots are soft.
Allow the soup to cool slightly.
Remove about half of the beans and carrots with a slotted spoon and put them in a bowl.
Purée the soup left in the pan – using a stick blender is good.
Put the beans and carrots back into the soup and stir.
Bring back to the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes.
Garnish with chopped flat-leaf parsley or chives.

Royal Doulton – Tapestry soup plate – 1966 to 1988.

Ogórkowa – Gherkin Soup -2

I posted the recipe for ogórkowa – gherkin soup, which is a classic Polish soup, over a year ago.

It is sour, a taste much loved by the Poles!

It is traditionally made from brine fermented gherkins but you can also use pickled gherkins.

I was sorting out my cutting and notes the other day and came across this recipe from my aunt in Białystok and decided it was time I made this version.

Ingredients

250g gherkins
125ml gherkin liquid
1.5 litres of vegetable stock (can be from cubes or powder)
4 medium potatoes, peeled – boiled or steamed
3-4 carrots whole – peeled – boiled
125ml of soured cream
Chopped dill – some to add and some to serve

Method

This is easiest to make if you have some potatoes and carrots boiled already.

Add the gherkin liquid to the vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
Rough chop the gherkins.
Drop the gherkins into the liquid and simmer for around 20 -25 minutes.
Chop the boiled potatoes into rough cubes.
Chop the boiled carrots into circles or half circles (depending on the size)
Add the potatoes and carrots, stir and simmer for around 5 minutes.
Stir in some chopped dill.
Stir in the soured cream.
Serve with extra dill sprinkled on top.

Served in Royal Doulton – Tapestry – 1966 – 1988.

Carrot, Leek & Apple Salad

As well as any cookery books and magazines, I have notes and cuttings from various sources. Ever so often I look through these for inspiration and think “Yes, I must try that!”.

Here is a recipe for a salad that I jotted down when visiting one of my cousins in Białystok.

Ingredients

2 large carrots – coarse grated
2 leeks cut into fine slices
2 eating apples – cored and rough chopped
Juice of half a lemon
2 -3 tablespoons of full fat mayonnaise
Chopped chives to serve

Method
Mix everything together apart from the chives.
Put into a serving dish
Sprinkle the chives on top and serve.

Served in Royal Doulton – Carnation – 1982 – 1998

Carrot & Parsnip Soup

I had lots of carrots and parsnips needing to be used up so I decided to make a slightly different soup.

I cooked a chicken as for rosȯł – clear chicken bouillon, with instead of 1 or 2 carrots and parsnips, I used around 8 of each, peeled but whole.
Once cooked I removed the chicken for a different dish and strained the cooked vegetables from the liquid.

For the best results, leave the liquid in a cool place for a few hours or even overnight so that you can skim off some of the chicken fat.
Use a blender to purée the carrots, parsnips and the onion.
In a saucepan add the puréed vegetables and enough of the liquid stock to give the required consistency for a soup – not too thick.
This puréed style of soup is more English than Polish!
Gently heat the soup for around 5 minutes, stirring it occasionally.
Check for seasoning and to serve, stir in around 100ml of soured cream or 150ml of Greek style yoghurt.

Ingredients – if not wanting to make the rosȯł from scratch

2 litres of good chicken stock (or a from stock cubes if you do not have any)
8 carrots
8 parsnips
1-2 onions
2-3 grains allspice
1 bay leaf
Salt & pepper to taste
100ml soured cream or 150ml Greek style yoghurt

Method

Simmer the vegetables in the chicken stock with the allspice and bay leaf till they are all soft.
Purée the vegetables in the soup using a stick blender.
Season to taste.
Add soured cream or yoghurt to serve.

Red on Red!

I recently went to a family gathering, although it was in fact a very sad occasion, it did include a lovely buffet meal.
There was a beetroot and carrot salad served, which had a lovely sweetness and seemed to me quite Polish in style.
I asked one of cousins if she knew who had made the salad and was told that this was one of the dishes supplied by a local “deli” in Consett.
So I have had a go at making this and made one with beetroot and another with red cabbage – both delicious.
Serve with cold meats and Polish style sausages or roast pork or grilled lamb chops.

Sweet Red Dressing

I made the same dressing for both of the salads – using redcurrant the first time and lingonberry the second.

Ingredients

Around 200g (7-8 tablespoons) of either Redcurrant jelly, Lingonberry jam or Cranberry sauce.
Juice of one lemon.

Method

Put the jelly/jam into a small saucepan.
Add the lemon juice.
Heat gently and stir with a wooden spoon.
Keep stirring until the ingredients have combined and you have a thick liquid.
Leave to cool before use.

Beetroot & Carrot Salad

Ingredients

Boiled beetroots – I used 2 vacuum packets
2 Carrots

Method

Chop the beetroot into small chunks or cubes.
Grate the carrots using the coarse grater.
Mix the beetroot and carrots together.
Pour the dressing over them and mix well.
*
I found that this was better if it was left for many hours as the beetroot really absorbs the dressing.
You can add the dressing to the beetroots first and leave overnight and then add the carrots the next day.

Instead of chopping the beetroot you can grate it using a coarse grater.

Red Cabbage & Carrot Salad

Ingredients

Half a red cabbage
2 carrots

Method

Grate the red cabbage using a coarse grater.
Grate the carrots.
Mix the red cabbage and carrots together.
Pour the dressing over them and mix well.
*
This is also better when left for several hours before serving.

Note

Both keep well for several days in a covered glass or plastic container in the fridge.

Krupnik – Pearl Barley Soup

Krupnik is the name of the very Polish – Pearl Barley soup.

Krupnik is also the name of the famous honey liquor drink known in Poland from the 13th century.

I always wondered why these two had the same name. I now know that krupa is an old name for grain and barley in particular – hence the connection.

Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) grows in temperate regions and is one of the oldest known cultivated grains, known in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago.

Jęczmień is the Polish for barley.

Pęczak is the Polish for pearled barley.

Pearl or pearled barley, is whole grain barley that has been processed to remove its fibrous outer hull and polished to remove some or all of the bran layer. It is the most common form of barley for cooking.

I think of this as a quite filling winter soup.

Ingredients

10g dried mushrooms
2 litres of chicken stock (homemade is best – but use cubes if you have no other)
3 carrots
2 parsnips
Half a celeriac or 3 stalks of celery (celeriac is more traditional but not always available in British shops).
150g of pearl barley
4-5 peppercorns
2-3 allspice grains
Salt & ground black pepper
Flat-leaved parsley – to garnish

Method

Cover the mushrooms with boiling water and leave overnight.
Chop the mushrooms into small pieces.
Add the chopped mushrooms and the liquor from soaking to a saucepan of stock.
Peel and grate the carrots on a medium grater.
Peel and chop the parsnips into small pieces,
If using celeriac – peel, cook the whole piece – remove when nearly cooked and chop into small pieces and put back in.
If using celery stalks – chop them fine.
Add the carrots, parsnips and celery/celeriac to the stock.
Add the peppercorns and allspice to the pot.
Bring to the boil.
Rinse the pearl barley with cold water.
Add the pearl barley to the soup and bring back to the boil.
Cook for around 5 minutes.
Cover the pot with a lid.
Turn the heat down and simmer for around 30 minutes.
If using celeriac – remove and chop it up into small pieces and put it back in.
Check that the pearl barley has cooked, simmer for longer if need be.
Check the seasonings.
Serve garnished with flat-leaved parsley.