Hard Boiled Eggs – Journey From A Polish Kitchen

Tartar Sauce

Sos tartarski is a classic cold sauce in Poland.
Books say that this is a French sauce but they must have been influenced by Polish ingredients!
Usually served with fish (hot or cold) or hard- boiled eggs.
Very easy to make especially if using bought mayonnaise.
Use the best bought mayonnaise – full fat not the reduced type.
I usually use Hellmann’s mayonnaise.
Soured cream and lemon juice can also be added.
Amounts are not fixed but you are aiming for a soft dropping sauce.

Ingredients

4- 5 tablespoons of mayonnaise
2 -3 gherkins
1-2 tablespoons of capers
1-2 tablespoons of soured cream
½ to 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
*
Some chopped fresh dill to serve – if available.

Method

Mix the mayonnaise, soured cream and lemon juice to a soft dropping density.
Chop the gherkins into small pieces.
Stir the chopped gherkins and capers into the mayonnaise mixture.
Put the sauce into a serving bowl and sprinkle the dill on top.

Mixed Vegetable Sałatka – another version

This recipe is a slightly different take on the classic Polish mixed vegetable salad.
Rather than potatoes, I used boiled parsnips and carrots.
This is a salad you can tinker with often – depending on the ingredients you have at hand.

Ingredients

2 – 3 cooked carrots cut onto small pieces
2-3 cooked parsnips cut into small pieces
1-2 gherkins cut into small pieces
Bunch of spring onions cut into small pieces
3-4 hardboiled eggs – cut into small chunks
2-3 tablespoons of mayonnaise
Salt & Pepper to taste

Method

Mix all the vegetable together.
Add the mayonnaise and mix all together.
Season to taste.
Place in a dish.
Add the eggs and spring onions on top.
Mix together when serving.

The dish is Freiberg – Cordoflam made in East Germany.

Tuna Salad with French Beans

One of my friends from Leeds came round yesterday with freshly picked produce from her allotment.
Green & Purple French beans were amongst them.
I topped and tailed these and steamed them.
Sadly the beautiful purple ones loose their colour and are just a slightly darker green than the others.
I served some of them with buttered dried breadcrumbs – à la Polonaise and
Used the rest, cold, in this tinned tuna salad with other ingredients I had in my store cupboard and freezer.
The proportions are not so important.

Ingredients

1 tin of tuna chunks- in brine or oil
Crisp lettuce leaves
Steamed French beans
Cooked peas
Cooked sweetcorn – frozen or tinned
2 hard boiled eggs
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
Salt & Pepper to taste

Method

Chop the French beans into small pieces.
Mix these with the peas and sweetcorn
Drain the tuna from the brine or oil and break up the chunks.
Mix the tuna with the cooked vegetables.
Add the lemon juice and mayonnaise and mix well.
Season to taste.
Shred the lettuce leaves.
Arrange lettuce leaves over a large plate plate or a shallow bowl.
Place the tuna mixture on top of the lettuce leaves.
Chop the hard boiled eggs into small pieces and sprinkle these over the top of the tuna mixture.

Kulebiak with Cabbage & Mushrooms

Kulebiak is the nearest there is in Polish Cookery to a pie or a pasty.
It can be made with a yeast dough, a short crust type of pastry or puff pastry.
It is very much a large version of paszteciki – the small savoury pastries, which I posted in November 2019.
Popular fillings include cabbage & mushrooms of various sorts, hard boiled eggs and fish.
Many people serve this for Wigilia – the Christmas Eve meal.
Sometimes the several fillings are put in as layers.
Here I have made it with a yeast dough with a fresh cabbage and fresh mushroom filling.
It is best served hot.
*
In the early part of the 20th century Auguste Escoffier, the French chef, wrote about this dish and called it Coulibiac.
Was this the start of dishes such as Salmon en croute?

Ingredients – Yeast Dough

250g plain flour or a mixture of spelt & plain flour
1 tablespoon of dried yeast
1 teaspoon of granulated sugar
125-150ml of milk
1 egg & 1 yolk
40g butter – melted
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 egg white & water for a glaze

Method – Yeast Dough

Put 50g of the flour into a bowl.
Add the yeast and sugar.
Add enough of the milk to make the mixture as thick as double cream.
Leave in a warm place to bubble and froth up.
*
Place the rest of the flour into a bowl.
Add the salt and mix.
Lightly beat the whole egg and the yolk together.
Add the egg mixture to the flour.
Add the yeast mixture to the flour.
Start to mix together using a wooden spoon.
Slowly add as much milk as needed.
Bring the dough together using your hands until it leaves the side of the bowl.
Knead the dough lightly until it is smooth.
*
Flatten the dough into a rectangle.
Slowly pour on the butter and fold over the dough.
Keep kneading the buttery dough until it is all incorporated.
Knead a little longer until you have a nice glossy ball.
Put the dough back into a bowl.
Cover with a cloth or a shower cap and leave to rise in a warm place.
*
Grease a baking tray.
Take the pastry and shape into a rough rectangle.
Roll out into a large rectangle around a finger width in thickness.
Place the cold filling in the centre lengthwise.
Fold the two long sides over the filling so the pastry just meets and is not too thick.
Fold over the short sides.
Turn the roll over so the “seams” are underneath.
Place on the baking tray, cover and leave to rise.
*
Pre-heat the oven to GM4 180 °C.
*
Lightly beat the egg white with a little water and brush this on the top.
Bake in the oven for around 1 hour.
*
Best served hot – but still good cold
Cut into thick slices to serve.

Ingredients – Filling

Small head of white cabbage or sweetheart cabbage.
250g of mushrooms
1 large onion
100g of butter
2 or more hard boiled eggs
Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Shred and then chop the cabbage into small pieces.
Chop the onion into small pieces.
Chop the mushrooms into small pieces.
Melt the half the butter in a large deep frying pan.
Slowly cook the onions and the cabbage but do not brown.
Cover with a lid and let them simmer till they are both soft.
Stir occasionally – you might need to add a little hot water.
In another pan melt the rest of the butter and fry the mushrooms.
Add the mushrooms to the cabbage and onion mixture and mix well.
Heat gently together to remove all the excess liquid.
Leave to go cold.
Rough chop the hard boiled eggs and add them to the mixture.
Season to taste.

Note – this might be more filling than you need – you can always freeze what is left

Served on a vintage Pyrex platter and Royal Doulton – Carnation plates – 1982-98

Chłodnik- 5- with Gherkins

Here is another classic, chilled starter for a summer’s day. It will be the last for this summer – I will be looking out for more for next year!

Ingredients

3 -4 gherkins
Spring onion – green parts or chives
500ml of yoghurt
Handful of dill
Gherkin liquor and cold water
Salt & Pepper & Sugar to taste
*
Hard boiled eggs to serve

Method

Chop the gherkins into small pieces.
Chop the spring onions or chives into small pieces.
Chop the dill into small pieces.
Thin down the yoghurt with gherkin liquor and water to suit.
Mix with the chopped gherkins.
Add dill and spring onions or chives.
Adjust the seasoning to taste.
Chill in the fridge for several hours.
*
Sprinkle with chopped hard boiled eggs to serve.

Served in Royal Doulton – Carnation – 1982 – 1998

Chłodnik – 3 – Beetroot & Cucumber

This chilled soup is a refreshing start to a meal in summer.

Beetroot concentrate is used in this easy version.

Ingredients

Half a cucumber
Spring onion – green parts or chives
500ml of yoghurt or 300ml soured cream & lemon juice
2 tablespoons of beetroot concentrate
Handful of dill
Lemon juice and cold water
Salt & Pepper & Sugar to taste
*
Hard boiled eggs to serve – ½ egg per person

Method

Part peel the cucumber length-ways to give stripes.
Chop the cucumber into small cubes.
Chop the spring onions or chives into small pieces.
Chop the dill into small pieces.
Mix the yoghurt or soured cream & lemon juice with the beetroot concentrate.
Thin this down with lemon juice and water to suit.
Mix with the chopped cucumber.
Add dill and spring onions or chives.
Adjust the seasoning to taste.
Chill in the fridge for several hours.
*
Serve with quarters of hard boiled eggs and a sprinkle of chives.

Served in Tapestry by Royal Doulton – 1966 – 1988

Chłodnik – 2 – Beetroot & Gherkin

Chłodnik means coolant and it is a refreshing start to a meal in summer.

This classic version is usually make with botwiny for which I cannot find a good translation into English.

Botwiny are young beetroots with the stalks and some leaves still attached. In Poland you can buy bunches of these for sale or you can pick them early from your garden or allotment. Here in England I have not see them for sale so if you want them you will have to grow them for yourself.

If you do have some you use all the parts – the roots, stalks and the leaves otherwise you just use cooked beetroot.

The classic version uses soured milk but unless you have access to this then Greek style natural yoghurt or soured cream and lemon juice are good alternatives.

I use beetroot concentrate which is convenient and very tasty.

1 tablespoon of beetroot concentrate to 250ml of yoghurt is a good proportion.

Ingredients

250g of cooked beetroots
3-4 gherkins
Spring onion – green parts or chives
500ml of yoghurt or 300ml soured cream
2 tablespoons of beetroot concentrate
Handful of dill
Lemon juice and gherkin liquor and cold water
Salt & Pepper & Sugar to taste
*
Hard boiled eggs to serve – ½ egg per person

Method

Chop the beetroot into small cubes.
Chop the gherkins into small cubes.
Chop the spring onions or chives into small pieces.
Chop the dill into small pieces.
Mix the yoghurt or soured cream & lemon juice with the beetroot concentrate.
Thin this down with lemon juice, gherkin liquor & water to suit.
Add the chopped beetroots, gherkins, dill and spring onions or chives.
Adjust the seasoning to taste.
Chill in the fridge for several hours.
*
Serve with quarters of hard boiled eggs and a sprinkle of chives or dill.

Served in Carnation by Royal Doulton – 1982 – 1998

Green Early Summer Soup

In olden days, and even in Communist times in Poland, the only vegetables available in winter were root vegetables or preserved or bottled ones.

When sorrel leaves started to grow this marked the end of winter – a herald of spring and the start of fresh greens.

I grow sorrel in pots in my garden.

I posted a recipe for Polish sorrel soup nearly a year ago. The following recipe does not require as much sorrel, though should you not have any sorrel at all, then use more spinach and another lemon.

Ingredients

100g sorrel leaves
100g of fresh spinach leaves (or use frozen)
½ a head of a large lettuce
Juice of 1 lemon
125ml soured cream
2 egg yolks
Salt & Pepper if needed
*
Chopped hard boiled eggs – around 1 egg per serving.

Method

Have the vegetable stock ready and hot in a saucepan.
Remove any thick stalks from the sorrel and spinach.
Chop the lettuce, sorrel and spinach.
Add them to the stock.
Bring to the boil and then simmer gently for around 5 minutes.
Take off the heat and leave to cool a little (for safety).
Blend the soup until you have a thick purée.
Adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Bring back to the boil.
In a small dish mix the soured cream with the egg yolks.
Take the pan off the boil and add the lemon juice
Stir in the soured cream mixture and then use a balloon whisk to mix it in.
Adjust the seasoning if needed.
*
Serve with chopped hard boiled eggs.

Soup plate – Royal Doulton – Burgundy – 1959-1981

Early Summer Soup

In the original recipe this was called spring soup. I thought it a bit strange as not all the ingredients are out in spring – so I have re-named it to early summer soup.

Otherwise you could call it green leaves soup!

It is a really super soup – very tangy with the sourness loved by Poles.

If you have the vegetable stock and some hard boiled eggs ready – then this is a very quick soup to make.

Some of the ingredients – growing in pots in my garden

It is hard to give exact amounts needed – around 500ml in volume of different leaves.

Ingredients

Large handfuls of sorrel
Large handfuls of spinach – or use frozen leaf spinach
Several sprigs of flat-leaved parsley
A stem of lovage or some celery leaves
1 litre of vegetable stock – can be from a cube or concentrate.
1 tablespoon of plain flour
2 tablespoon of milk
250ml soured cream
*
Hard boiled eggs – 1 per serving

Method

Have the vegetable stock ready and hot in a saucepan.
Remove all the leaves from the stalks.
Chop the leaves.
Add the leaves to the stock.
Mix the flour with the milk.
Add the flour mixture to the soup.
Mix well and simmer for 3 minutes.
Take the pan off the boil and stir in the soured cream.
Serve with a hard boiled egg chopped in half per serving.

Served in Royal Doulton – Carnation 1982- 1998

Dutch Cold Dish & Other Salads

I recently returned from a trip to The Netherlands to visit my friend again.

I always have a great time visiting different parts of the country and enjoying the wonderful hospitality.

One dish I have had many times is Koudeschotel – this translates as Cold Dish.

I think it is a sort of “posh cousin” to several Polish cooked salads such as Potato Salad and Mixed Vegetable Salad.

It is often made in large quantities as the centrepiece in a buffet meal.

There is a central mound made with boiled potatoes mashed with mayonnaise, onions, peas, carrots and cooked meat like chicken, pork or beef.

This is then decorated with items such as hard boiled eggs, gherkins, silver-skin onions, prawns or shrimps, asparagus, tomatoes, cooked or smoked meats and dusted with a little sweet paprika.

The koudeschotel on my arrival from England this year.

If the central mound is made without meat it is sometimes called Huzarensalade – Huzar’s Salad.

Ingredients – for the central mound

The original recipe was for a large amount suitable for a big party – I have scaled it down.

1 Kg of cold boiled potatoes
Around 200ml of mayonnaise – real full fat is best
100g of cooked peas
1 large onion chopped fine
2 boiled carrots – diced
200g of cooked chicken, pork or beef – shredded (meat used to make soup or stock is good)
Salt & pepper to taste

Notes

Many supermarkets and delicatessens in The Netherlands sell this mixture ready made.