Tag: Pancakes

Yeast Pancakes

  • These would be called placuszki drożdżowe in Polish.
  • They are small American style pancakes.
  • They are similar to dropped scones in the north of England.
  • They are similar to bliny but made with wheat flour.
  • They are a variation on my bliny recipe and you could use half wheat and half buckwheat flour  (I intend to try this soon).

Ingredients

  • 170g plain flour
  • 1 tablespoon of dried yeast
  • 250ml of lukewarm milk.
  • 3½ tablespoons of granulated sugar
  • 50g of melted butter
  • 2 eggs
  • Pinch of salt
  • *
  • Little bit of sunflower oil for frying

Method

  • In a bowl mix the yeast, 1 tablespoon of  sugar and 125ml of milk.
  • Leave for around 10 minutes to froth up.
  • In a large bowl mix the flour, salt and 2½ tablespoons of sugar.
  • Mix in the eggs, 125ml of milk and the butter.
  • Add the yeast mixture and mix well.
  • Cover the bowl (a shower cap is good) and leave to rise.
  • This will depend on the room temperature – mine took 90 minutes.
  • Use a cast iron gridle pan or similar.
  • Heat the pan up and add a little sunflower oil.
  • Place large tablespoons of batter on the pan.
  • Adjust the temperature to a medium heat so not to burn them.
  • Cook on both sides.
  • Keep in a warm oven whilst making more.
  • Serve sweet or savoury

Served here with caster sugar on La prune by Jet for Ter Steege of the Netherlands.

Mama’s Pouring Potato Pancakes

  • My mother once said that she had made some potato pancakes from boiled potatoes with the batter being of a pouring consistency.
  • She said the mixture was a similar to  krokiety kartoflane – potato croquettes.
  • Now I never actually tried these nor attempted to make them before.
  • This recipe is the result of a several tests with different quantities.

Ingredients

  • 200g cold boiled starchy potatoes
  • 3 tablespoons of plain flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 200ml of milk
  • *
  • Sunflower oil and butter for frying

Method

  • Mash the potatoes so they are lump free.
  • Add the flour and salt.
  • Add the eggs and mix well.
  • Slowly add the milk , you might not need it all.
  • Mix until the batter is like double cream.
  • A Danish whisk is good for this.
  • Melt a small amount of butter and add a little oil to your pancake pan.
  • Use a ladle to measure out the batter and tip the pan to spread.
  • Turn and cook on both sides.

Served here with maple syrup – but will be good with savoury options too.

Sweetcorn Fritters

  • I have been making these for years but cannot remember where I got the recipe from.
  • Originally I used one small carton of natural yoghurt.
  • I now buy large pots of yoghurt and I use my 125ml measure instead.
  • I always use tinned sweetcorn but you can use frozen sweetcorn, cooked and cooled.
  • There are lots of ways to eat these – I often have then with grilled bacon and fried eggs.

Ingredients

  • 250g plain flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 125ml of yoghurt
  • 125ml of milk – some extra might be needed.
  • 1 tin of sweetcorn (340g) – drained
  • ½ teaspoon of turmeric – optional
  • Sunflower oil to fry

Method

  • Put the flour and salt into a large bowl.
  • Make a well in the centre.
  • Add the eggs, yoghurt and milk.
  • Mix together – a Danish whisk is good for this.

 

  • Aim for a thick batter – add a little more milk if necessary
  • Add the sweetcorn and mix again.
  • Heat a little oil in a frying pan.
  • Drop large tablespoonfuls of the batter into the pan.
  • Cook on both sides.
  • Keep warm on a plate in the oven whilst making the rest.

 

Variations

Add some chopped spring onions or chives to the batter or chili flakes or chopped chilies.

 

Spring Onion Pancakes

  • I came across a recipe for adding spring onions to waffle mixtures.
  • I will have a go at this later but thought I would try out the idea with pancakes.

Ingredients

  • Pancake batter using 2 eggs
  • The green part of 7-8 spring onions or lots of chives.

Method

  • Mix up your pancake batter and leave to rest.
  • I made a 2 egg version using my perfect pancake recipe.
  • Leave to rest.
  • Use the green part of the spring onions and chop them finely.
  • Stir the chopped spring onions into the batter when you are starting to make them.
  • Make the pancakes as you usually do – you might want to make them slightly thicker.
  • Keep them warm in the oven separated with greaseproof if you want them all at the same time.
  • Fan fold the pancakes.
  • Pour maple syrup over them to serve.
  • *
  • Also delicious with grilled smoked bacon.

 

Apple Pancakes

  • At the moment there are lots of Bramley apples from the garden.
  • I often make pancakes – French style crepes and fill them with cooked apples.
  • I also make a slightly thicker type with chopped apples, a recipe from my mum’s sister, sort of apple fritters – racuszki -….. I posted this over 4 years ago.
  • I came across this recipe for – placki, which are more like an American pancake.
  • I think they would have been made originally with soured milk.
  • I have been told you can use kefir instead of yoghurt.
  • I weighed out the flour for this recipe but am sure if you make these often you will be able to judge the amount without getting out the scales.

Ingredients

  • 2 to 3 cooking apples
  • 130g plain flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 125ml of yoghurt
  • 2 eggs
  • Water (up to 60ml)
  • *
  • Sunflower oil for frying

Method

  • Peel the apples and grate them with a coarse grater.
  • Mix in the flour, salt and yoghurt.
  • Beat in the eggs.
  • Add enough water to make a very thick batter.
  • Fry tablespoons on a hot griddle or frying pan – you may need a little sunflower oil.
  • *
  • Best eaten hot – but you can keep them in a warm oven if you want to serve them all together.
  • *
  • Dust with icing sugar to serve.
  • *
  • Also delicious with some hot apple sauce with some ground cinnamon mixed in.

 

Served on La Prune plates by Jet for Ter Steege of the Netherlands.

Pancakes with Sour Cherries

Sour cherries & sweet cherries  are related but in Polish they 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.
  • They feature greatly in Polish cooking.

United Nations Annual crop production figures for sour cherries in 2014:

  1. Russia 198,000 tonnes
  2. Ukraine 182,880 tonnes
  3. Turkey 182,577 tonnes
  4. Poland 176,545  tonnes
  5. USA 137,983 tonnes
  • For this recipe fresh sour cherries would have to be cooked with some sugar but  here in England I have never seen fresh sour cherries for sale so I use bottled ones.
  • Some brands still have the stones in them so you will have to stone them first.

Ingredients – Sour Cherry Sauce

  • Jar of part jar of sour cherries
  • 4 cloves
  • Small stick of cinnamon
  • 1 or 2 tablespoons of potato or cornflour

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 should thicken.
  • Leave on a low heat.

 

Plate is La Prune by Jet for Ter Steege in The Netherlands.

I have written lots of tips for The Perfect Pancake – below is a reminder of the basic recipe.

Ingredients – Pancakes

  • 200g plain flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 200 ml milk (full or semi-skimmed)
  • 200 ml water
  • pinch of salt

This amount makes around 8 pancakes – in my 20cm pancake pan.

  • I remember this recipe as it is all the 2’s for ease
  • Depending on the flour and the size of the eggs,
  • You might not use all the milk & water mixture
  • or sometimes you might just need a little more.

Method – Pancake

  • Beat the eggs and add then them first to the sifted flour.
  • Add the milk mixture to the egg and flour mix until you have a batter the consistency of pouring cream.
  • Leave the batter to stand for at least 1 hour in which time it will thicken, then add a little more liquid.
  • Use a special thin pan which you use just for pancakes, mine has a base diameter of 20 cm and is made of steel, once seasoned, just wipe it clean between uses with kitchen roll – never scour it or use detergent.
  • Work out how much batter you need for a pancake and find a measure which will then give you a consistent amount – I use a small ladle which holds 45ml.
  • Have a dish of melted butter or margarine and sunflower oil for frying so you can add just enough and tip some back if needed.
  • Using the ladle pour the mixture into the pan.
  • Tilt the pan so that the mixture covers the surface completely and evenly.
  • Cook the pancakes on one side and turn them over.
  • You can make them up one by one –
  • or stack then up with a piece of greaseproof paper in between them.
  • You can do this and leave then for later use.
  • *
  • Spread some of the cherries and sauce onto a pancake.
  • Pancakes with sweet fillings are normally folded into triangles – fan -shaped  by folding the pancake into half and half again.
  • *
  • Dust with icing sugar to serve.
  • *
  • You can make the filled pancakes in advance prior to dusting them with icing sugar and then heat them up on both sides – using the pancake pan again – maybe with the addition of a little butter.
  • Then dust them with icing sugar.

Buckwheat Pancakes – New Ideas 2

I have recently returned from a super, short holiday in Gdańsk and in one restaurant I saw on the menu pierogi (Polish filled pasta) which had leeks, peas and soured cream as a filling –  I liked the idea of the sweetness of garden peas with leeks and thought  I could adapt this and use it as a filling with buckwheat pancakes.

Buckwheat Pancakes

Ingredients

  • 75g buckwheat flour
  • 25g plain flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 125ml of milk (full or semi-skimmed)
  • 125ml of water
  • 25g of  melted butter
  • pinch of salt
  • Some extra milk might be needed.

Method

  • Beat the eggs and add then them first to the sifted flour.
  • Add the milk mixture to the egg and flour mix until you have a batter the consistency of pouring cream.
  • Mix the milk with the water
  • Add the milk mixture to the egg and flour mix until you have a batter the consistency of pouring cream.
  • Leave the batter to stand for at least 1 hour in which time it will thicken, then add a little more liquid.
  • Use a special thin pan which you use just for pancakes, mine has a base diameter of 20 cm and is made of steel, once seasoned, just wipe it clean between uses with kitchen roll – never scour it or use detergent.
  • Work out how much batter you need for a pancake and find a measure which will then give you a consistent amount – I use a small ladle which holds 45ml.
  • Have a dish of melted butter or margarine and sunflower oil for frying so you can add just enough and tip some back if needed.
  • Heat the pan – you want a high heat but not too much to burn the pancakes – you will find you have to keep adjusting the heat. (As I cook using gas this is easy to do).

IMG_20150705_172532980

 

  • Using the ladle pour the mixture into the pan.
  • Tilt the pan so that the mixture covers the surface completely and evenly.
  • Cook the pancakes on one side and turn then over – you can make them up one by one or stack then up with a piece of greaseproof paper in between them. You can do this and leave then for later use.

Filling

  • 3 leeks – chopped
  • 100g frozen peas
  • 2-3 tablespoons of butter
  • 2 -3 tablespoons of soured cream

  • Using a deep large frying pan with a lid (a glass one is best), melt the butter and gently cook the leeks to soften them but not brown.
  • Add the frozen peas and cover with the lid and cook for a few minutes.
  • Stir the mixture and add the soured cream.
  • Place some of the mixture on a cooked pancake  in the centre and out to the sides – but not quite to the edge.
  • Fold in two of the opposite sides and then roll up the pancake from the long end to make a long parcel.

Other Ways to use the Filling

The leek & pea mixture goes really well as a vegetable to serve with roast chicken.

Or heat some cooked chicken breast pieces with the leeks & peas.

I think some pasta would also be good with this, though have not yet tried this yet.

Buckwheat Pancakes – New Ideas 1

I have two posts already about buckwheat as a grain and buckwheat flour used in a variety of pancakes.

I have recently returned from a super, short holiday in Gdańsk and had several delicious breakfasts in a restaurant in the Old Town called Gvara- the name is based on the Polish word gwara which means dialect (Polish does not have the letter v !).

One of the breakfasts was buckwheat pancakes with a filling of chopped cucumber and smoked bacon, topped with a soft cooked egg and chives.

On my return I had to recreate this lovely dish.

Ingredients

  • Cooked buckwheat pancakes
  • Chopped cucumber and smoked bacon filling
  • Soft cooked egg – poached or lightly fried
  • Chopped chives or the green parts of spring onions.

The hardest part is getting getting all the parts cooked and warm at the same time.

Buckwheat Pancakes

Ingredients

  • 75g buckwheat flour
  • 25g plain flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 125ml of milk (full or semi-skimmed)
  • 125ml of water
  • 25g of  melted butter
  • pinch of salt
  • Some extra milk might be needed.

Method

Make these in the same way as standard pancakes adding the melted butter after the batter has been standing for about an hour.

  • Beat the eggs and add then them first to the sifted flour.
  • Add the milk mixture to the egg and flour mix until you have a batter the consistency of pouring cream.
  • Mix the milk with the water
  • Add the milk mixture to the egg and flour mix until you have a batter the consistency of pouring cream.
  • Leave the batter to stand for at least 1 hour in which time it will thicken, then add a little more liquid.
  • Use a special thin pan which you use just for pancakes, mine has a base diameter of 20 cm and is made of steel, once seasoned, just wipe it clean between uses with kitchen roll – never scour it or use detergent.
  • Work out how much batter you need for a pancake and find a measure which will then give you a consistent amount – I use a small ladle which holds 45ml.
  • Have a dish of melted butter or margarine and sunflower oil for frying so you can add just enough and tip some back if needed.
  • Heat the pan – you want a high heat but not too much to burn the pancakes – you will find you have to keep adjusting the heat. (As I cook using gas this is easy to do).

IMG_20150705_172532980

 

  • Using the ladle pour the mixture into the pan.
  • Tilt the pan so that the mixture covers the surface completely and evenly.
  • Cook the pancakes on one side and turn then over – you can make them up one by one or stack then up with a piece of grease-proof paper in between them. You can do this and leave then for later use.

Filling

  • Cucumber
  • Smoked Bacon
  • Peel the cucumber and chop it into little cubes.
  • Cut the bacon into small squares and cook these in a frying pan – aiming for cooked but maybe not that crispy.
  • Whilst the bacon is still warm, mix it with the cucumber.

 

 

  • Place some of the mixture on the cooked pancake  in the centre and out to the sides – but not quite to the edge.
  • Fold in two of the opposite sides and then roll up the pancake from the long end to make a long parcel.
  • Top the pancake with a soft cooked egg – poached or lightly fried.
  • Sprinkle with chopped chives or the green parts of spring onions.

 

Served on Royal Doulton – Carnation – 1982 to 1988.

Soup Garnishes & Accompaniments

Soup plays such huge part in Polish meals and I will be writing much on the subject soon (I could write a huge book on Polish soups alone).

Soups are usually served with some sort of accompaniments or garnish.

Some soups have traditional accompaniments but every cook will improvise with what they have.

These accompaniments include a wide variety of pasta and noodles, dumplings, rice, potatoes, croutons, hard-boiled eggs, pulpety (little meatballs) chopped, cooked sausage and crispy fried bacon and so on ….  the list is endless.

Many of the soups to which these are added are of the clear consommé type.

Pasta, Noodles & Rice

Very small pasta shapes are used or larger pasta is cut into small pieces.

The pasta, noodles or rice are all cooked beforehand and a small amount is placed in the soup dish and hot soup poured over them to serve.

 

 

Often  a small amount of pasta, noodles or rice is kept back from when they are being cooked for another dish – these are best kept in the fridge.

 

 

 

Cold boiled rice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Croutons – Grzanki made with rye bread

 

 

These are sprinkled on top of the soup when serving.

Semolina – Kasza manna

The Polish for semolina is manna as in the bible, Exodus 16:1-36,  when the Israelites ate manna from Heaven.

This can be made with coarse or fine ground semolina.

Mix 150g of semolina and 1/2 teaspoon of salt with cold water to make a thin paste.

Place the mixture in  saucepan and heat gently, stirring with a wooden spoon.

As the mixture starts to thicken keep adding more water and continue heating and stirring.

Do this for a couple of minutes.

When you have a thick paste pour it onto a cold plate and leave it  to go cold.

 

 

When cold, the semolina is cut into cubes and these are placed in the bottom of the soup dish and hot soup poured over them.

 

 

 

Lane kluski

This translates as poured noodles.

My mother made these often when I was young.

Beat 2 eggs and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt.

Slowly mix in 6 tablespoons of plain flour until the mixture is like thick cream.

To cook them,  slowly pour batter into salted boiling water.

Cook for around 2 minutes and remove them with a slotted spoon  and place in a colander.

You can cook these by pouring the batter into the hot boiling soup and  then serve immediatly.  However the starch can make the clear soup cloudy.

 

 

 

Uszka

Mushroom filled Polish pasta – known as ‘little ears’ are added to barszcz – beetroot soup.  Often served on Wigilia  – Christmas Eve.

3 or 5 are usually added.

 

Kopytka

Little Polish potato dumpling (gnocci) – cold cooked ones can be cut up into smaller pieces for the soup.

 

 

 

Pancakes

 

Rolled up pancakes are thinly sliced and add to the soup.

 

Pulpety

Small boiled meatballs can be added

 

 

Chopped hard boiled eggs

 

 

 

 

The chopped eggs are sprinkled on top of the soup or several pieces ‘floated’ on top  of the soup when serving.

Krokiety

These are made using  pancakes which are filled with  sauerkraut &  mushrooms, meat or cheese then folded and rolled, then dipped in bread crumbs and fried.

I have found a firm that has these ready made for frying and I think they are good.

I fry them in quite a lot of oil on both sides and then put them in the oven at GM4 – 180°C for around 20 minutes.

I have not made them from scratch myself – I  must do this soon .

Photo  below from my Kuchnia Polska book,1971

Kuchnia Polska, 1971 – Polish Kitchen or Polish Cookery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pasztecik

This is similar to an English sausage roll, often made with a yeast dough pastry, and filled with pasztet (paté),  meat, sauerkraut &  mushrooms or cheese.

Photos  below from my Kuchnia Polska book, 1971

I have eaten these in Poland in cafes and restaurants but not made these myself – something  else to try out soon.

Bread

Bread can be served with soup – it is usually not buttered.

 

Top two slices – sour dough loaf

Carrot Pancakes

Daucus carota – the carrot – was cultivated from wild carrots in the countries we now know as Afghanistan & Iran and are mentioned there in the 10th century and by the 12th century they were mentioned in Europe.

These tap roots were originally white, yellow or purple in colour.

The orange colour that we recognise today was breed by growers in Europe in the 17th century especially in the Netherlands.  It is thought that this was in honour of Prince William of Orange-Nassau (Willem van Oranje) who had an orange stripe on his flag. Nowadays orange is thought of as the national colour for the Netherlands.

These pancakes made with carrots in Polish are called racuszki z marchwi.

They are small round pancakes like American pancakes or dropped scones and are served with sugar or sweetened soured cream.

Ingredients

  • 450g carrots, peeled and finely grated
  • 140g twaróg/cream cheese or yoghurt cheese
  • 2 eggs separated
  • 3 tablespoons of plain flour
  • 1/2  teaspoon of baking powder
  • Sunflower oil for frying

To Serve

Caster sugar or soured cream sweetened with icing sugar.

Method

  • Whisk the whites until they are stiff.
  • In a small dish mix the baking powder with the flour.
  • In a large bowl mix together well the finely grated carrots, the cream (or yoghurt) cheese and the egg yolks.

  • Add the flour mixture.
  • Fold in the stiff egg whites.

  • Heat some sunflower oil in a cast iron frying pan or griddle.
  • Use 2 tablespoonfuls of the mixture for each pancake, cook on one side and then turn them over and cook on the other side.

  • Sprinkle with caster sugar or with a dollop of sweetened soured cream.

 

 

Served here on Wedgwood – Hathaway Rose – 1959 -1987.

Note

I have also tried them with maple syrup poured on them & these too were delicious.

IMG_20160729_161009545