Polish Food – Journey From A Polish Kitchen

Kartacze or Kołduny

Kartacze, sometimes called kołduny , are potato dumplings, stuffed with meat and then boiled.
They are very similar to pyzy but they are a different shape – long rolls rather than round balls.
Traditionally they are served with some skwarki – crispy smoked bacon bits or slightly charred onions, a mixture of the two or just melted butter poured over them.
There are many recipes, some made with raw potato, others with boiled or steamed potatoes and some using a mixture of the two.
I have found that using a 50:50 mixture of fine grated raw potatoes and boiled potatoes gives the best results.
You will need some flour, which can be wheat flour, potato flour or a mixture of the two (I prefer just wheat).
You also need eggs or egg yolks – around 1 egg to 1 kilo of potatoes.
For the filling you needs some cooked meat such as from a klops – meat loaf, cooked kotlety (meat balls/burgers) or meat filling for pierogi.

Ingredients

750g of raw potatoes
750g of cold boiled potatoes
1 egg and 1 yolk
1-2 tablespoons of plain flour & extra for dusting
Salt

Method

Grate the raw potatoes using a fine grater.
Place the potatoes on a clean tea cloth.
Squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
Mash or use a ricer to get the boiled potatoes smooth and lump free.
Mix the two sorts of potato together in a large bowl.
Add the egg and the yolk and mix together.
Add enough flour to make a stiff dough.
Add some salt.

Ingredients – Filling

250g of cooked and then minced or finely chopped meat(usually pork)
such as from:
- Klops – meat loaf
- Cooked minced kotlety (meat balls/burgers)
- Meat filling for pierogi.
Half a grated onion
25g of melted butter
1-2 tablespoons of dried breadcrumbs – bułka tarta
Salt & pepper

Method – Filling

Mix all the ingredients together to make a stiff filling.
Season to taste.

Making the kartacze

You are aiming for a thick roll.
Take a small handful of the mixture and shape it into a flat oval.
Place this onto a floured board.
Add a tablespoon amount of the meat filling.
Bring the potato mixture around the filling and with floured hands shape into a roll.
Seal up the short ends with the potato dough.
Repeat this with the rest of the potato mixture and meat filling mixture.
Have ready a large pan of boiling water to which you have added some salt and a bit of sunflower oil..
Place around 4 kartacze at a time into the hot water.
Let them rise to the top then simmer for 8 – 9 minutes – not too long as they will start to disintegrate.
Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a colander over a pan.
*
Place into a warm serving dish and top with skwarki – crispy smoked bacon bits, slightly charred onions, a mixture of the two or just melted butter.
Keep the dish warm and continue adding to the kartacze in the dish as they cook.
The fat in the topping stops them sticking together.

Cranberry & Apple Soup

This fruit soup is is both refreshing and warming in the winter.
Do not make it too sweet – it needs to be slightly tart.
Just like other soups this is served as a first course.
This soup is delicious served hot.
*
Although not traditional I think it could be super for Wigilia (Christmas Eve).

Ingredients

300g cranberries
2 large cooking apples
100g granulated sugar
2 tablespoons of potato flour or cornflour
Small cinnamon stick
8 cloves or allspice grains
1 – 1.5 litres of water
*
Little sponge cakes to serve

Method

Put the water and spices into a large saucepan.
put the cranberries into the pan.
Peel and core the apples, chop into large pieces and add them to the pan.
Bring to the boil then simmer with a lid on the pan till the fruits are very soft.
Remove the spices.
Leave to cool a little and purée the liquid.
You will find there is a lot of foam and cranberry skins on the top – remove these with a slotted spoon.
You might want to sieve the remaining liquid through a sieve.
Add the sugar to the liquid and bring to the boil.
Mix the potato flour with a little water.
Add this to the soup.
Bring to the boil, stirring gently.
Simmer and stir until the soup thickens.
Serve with little sponge cakes.

Alfred Meakin – Midwinter – Spanish Garden soup dishes from the 1960s.

Beetroots & Apples

This is a delicious way of serving beetroot warm with a roast dinner.

Ingredients

500g boiled or roast beetroots
2-3 cooking apples
60g of butter
Juice and grated rind of a lemon
2-3 tablespoons of creamed horseradish sauce
125ml of soured cream
Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Grate the beetroots using a medium grater.
Peel and core the apples and grate using a medium grater.
Mix the beetroot and apple together.
Mix in the lemon rind and juice.

Melt the butter in a large shallow frying pan.
Gently cook the mixture in the butter stirring often.
Cook for around 5-10 minutes.
Take of the heat.
Add the horseradish sauce and the soured cream.
Mix well together.
Season to taste and serve immediately.

Serve in Royal Doulton – Carnation – 1982 – 1998.

Note

Should you have any left you can serve it cold with cold meats.

Podkarpackie Hreczanyki

I saw a picture on an Instagram site of Podkarpackie hreczanyki – I had not heard of them before so did some research and decided to make them.

They are buckwheat and minced meat kotlety (burgers or meatball).

Podkarpackie is a mountainous province in the south-eastern corner of Poland.

Its name translates into English as Subcarpathian – these are the the foot hills of the Carpathian Mountains.

The usual Polish word for buckwheat is gryka but here a regional word hreczka is used.

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum) is used very much in Polish cookery and was eaten in Poland long before the introduction of the potato in the 18th century.

I have written already about the use of its flour to make bliny & pancakes.

The buckwheat has a strong, slightly perfumed taste and I think beef is a good meat to mix with it.

These are often serve with mushroom sauce. I heated some up in the sauce itself and I thought they were even better this way. They soak up the sauce and are delicious.

Ingredients

100g buckwheat
500g of minced beef
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic
2 eggs
Salt & pepper
*
Dried breadcrumbs or flour to shape
Sunflower oil for frying
*
Mushroom sauce for serving

Method

Cook the buckwheat according to instructions.
I use the boil in the bag method with a 100g packet.
Drain and leave to go cold.

Chop the onion and garlic very fine or use a mini chopper.
Mix the beef and buckwheat together.
Add the onion and garlic and the 2 eggs.
Add some salt and pepper.
Mix the ingredients together with your hands.
Shape the mixture into large balls and coat them with dried bread crumbs or flour.
Fry them on both sides so they are cooked through.
Keep the cooked ones in a low oven whilst cooking the rest.
*
Serve with a strong mushroom sauce or
*
Put them into an oven proof dish and cover them with mushroom sauce.
Cook for at least an hour at GM4 – 180°C.

Royal Doulton – Tapestry – 1966-1988

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.

Knedle – Polish Potato Dumplings

The word knedle comes from a German word knödel which means dumpling.

Knedle are similar to kopytka, both can be called potato dumplings. They are different in shape but both are made with boiled potatoes, which have been left to go cold.

I often boil potatoes the day before – the exact amounts are not critical but you must use starchy potatoes. When you have made these once you will have a good idea of the amounts involved.

Traditionally they are served with either melted butter or skwarki (crisp, fried, small squares of bacon) or charred fried onions.

Ingredients

650 -750g boiled starchy potatoes – such as King Edward or Maris Piper
1 egg & 1 yolk
200g potato flour or plain flour or a mixture of the two.(I prefer a mixture or just plain flour)
salt

Method

Peel the potatoes, cut them up into pieces and boil them in salted water.
Drain the potatoes.
Leave the potatoes to cool.
Mash them so that there are no lumps – I have a ricer which is very good for this.

Use a large bowl and put the mashed potatoes into the bowl.
Lightly beat the egg and the yolk together and add this to the potatoes.
Add a little salt.
Weigh out the flour to give an idea of how much is needed – this will depend on the type of potato and the size of the eggs.
Add the flour and mix first with a wooden spoon and then by hand.
You might not need all the flour or you may need more.
Mix until you have a soft dough.
Have ready a large floured board to put the knedle on.
With your hands take small amount of the dough and roll into walnut sized balls.
On the board flatten the ball to a thick disc.
Made a thumb print in the centre of the disc (this allows them to hold more sauce when served).
Repeat this with the rest of the dough.
Fill a large pan with water, add some salt and bring this to the boil.
When the water is boiling, add the dumplings one by one, do not over fill the pan or they will stick together, around 5 at a time.
As they cook they will float to the surface then let them cook for another 2 minutes.
Then remove them with a slotted or a perforated spoon and put them in a colander.
I have a colander sitting in an empty pan by the side of the large pan in which I am boiling the knedle.

Served here with melted butter, charred fried onions and mushroom sauce.

Served in soup dishes by Royal Doulton – Tapestry – 1966 -1988.

Pierogi with Chicken & Raisins & Walnuts

This is my 250th post!

So I have decided on this Polish classic with a new twist – one I will certainly be making again.

Last Easter time I was in Gdańsk and I got to eat many old favourites and several new dishes.

I tried pierogi in several restaurants, choosing some unusual fillings and have written about some of these already such as pierogi with duck.

I did find that some of the meaty ones were too big – I use a 7cm diameter cutter, which for me gives a better filling to pasta ratio.

On one menu I noticed a filling of chicken, raisins and walnuts. I did not get the chance to eat these but decided that this was a must to try out.

Ingredients

150 -200g of cooked chicken or thighs – roasted or poached – amounts are not critical.
50g of raisins
30-50g of walnuts
Pepper to taste

Method

Place the raisins in a small bowl and cover them with boiling water.
Leave for an hour till they swell up.
Place them into a small saucepan heat them slowly and simmer stirring with a wooden spoon.
Once you have a pulp of the raisins leave them to go cold.
Chop the walnuts into small pieces.
Chop or mince the chicken.
Mix the ingredients together.
Season with pepper.
*
Use this filling for the pierogi – instructions for the dough are given below.
*
Serve with melted butter.

I have written much previously about pierogi – but have included the instructions for the dough again below to save you looking it up.

Ingredients – Dough

250g pasta flour or strong flour or plain flour & 2 tablespoons of fine semolina
150ml water
1 tablespoon oil – sunflower or light olive
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk

Method

In a jug or bowl mix together the water, oil and the yolk.
Put the flour and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
Pour in the liquid from the jug and initially use a knife to mix this into the flour and then use your hands to mix the liquid and flour to get a ball of dough.

Turn this out onto a floured board and knead the dough for a few minutes until you have a smooth ball.
Cut the dough into quarters.
On a floured board roll out a quarter at a time until you have a sheet of thinly rolled dough.
Now prepare a large tray and cover it with a clean tea towel and sprinkle this with flour.
Have a large surface such as a tray covered with a cotton or linen cloth which has been lightly floured ready and place the sealed pierogi on this until they are all made, do not let then touch each other.
I cut them out using a 7 cm diameter cutter.
The excess dough can be re-mixed and rolled out again.
Around a half tablespoon of filling is put on each circle and then they are folded over and the edges pinched together to make a good seal.
You learn from experience how much filling to put in as too much will make it hard to seal them and if not properly sealed they will burst on boiling. Do not worry if you have a few mishaps – it still happens to me even with experience – it is hard to salvage one that has gone wrong – just accept that there will be a few that you do not cook.
To cook the pierogi, use a large pan of boiling water to which you have added some salt and a drizzle of oil.
Drop the pierogi in one by one and allow them to boil. I usually do about 6 to 8 at a time.
As they cook they will float to the surface, let them boil for 2 to 3 minutes and then remove them with a slotted or perforated spoon and put them into a colander above a pan for a few seconds to drain.
Continue boiling batches in the same water.
If you want to make all the pierogi to serve together then you need to get a large shallow dish and put melted butter into the dish.
Keep the dish warm in a low oven.
As you take out the cooked pierogi add them to the dish, mix them with the butter to prevent them sticking.
Keep on adding more as they cook and keep shaking the dish to coat and mix them.

Fried pierogi

All the butter coated pierogi that are not eaten can be fried up later – equally delicious!
Any that are not eaten should be spread out so that they cool with the melted butter around them.
Later, you can then fry them up gently so they are golden in parts.

Pyzy

Pyzy are potato dumplings, usually stuffed with meat and then boiled.

Traditionally they are served with some skwarki – crispy smoked bacon bits or slightly charred onions, a mixture of the two or just melted butter poured over them.

There are many recipes, some made with raw potato, others with boiled or steamed potatoes and some using a mixture of the two.
I have found that using a 50:50 mixture of fine grated raw potatoes and boiled potatoes gives the best results.
You will need some flour, which can be wheat flour, potato flour or a mixture of the two (I prefer just wheat).
You also need eggs or egg yolks – around 1 egg to 1 kilo of potatoes.
For the filling you needs some cooked meat such as from a klops – meat loaf, cooked kotlety (meat balls/burgers) or meat filling for pierogi.

My mother never made pyzy and I must admit the first time I had them in Poland, I thought they were much too big & heavy! Since them I have tried out many different version and have liked them very much.

In Gvara, a restaurant in Gdańsk, I tried a soup with some pyzy in it. It was utterly delicious.

Dried mushroom consommé with thin sliced mushroom carpaccio* and pyzy filled with pork & shrimp.

* Usually thinly sliced raw meat or fish -named by Giuseppe Cipriani (1900 – 1980) bar owner in Venice, because of the colours used by the Venetian Painter Vittore Carpaccio.

Ingredients

750g of raw potatoes
750g of cold boiled potatoes
1 egg and 1 yolk
1-2 tablespoons of plain flour & extra for dusting
Salt

Method

Grate the raw potatoes using a fine grater.
Place the potatoes on a clean tea cloth.
Squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
Mash or use a ricer to get the boiled potatoes smooth and lump free.
Mix the two sorts of potato together in a large bowl.
Add the egg and the yolk and mix together.
Add enough flour to make a stiff dough.
Add some salt.

Ingredients – Filling

250g of cooked and then minced or finely chopped meat(usually pork)
such as from:
- Klops – meat loaf
- Cooked minced kotlety (meat balls/burgers)
- Meat filling for pierogi.
Half a grated onion
25g of melted butter
1-2 tablespoons of dried breadcrumbs – bułka tarta
Salt & pepper

Method – Filling

Mix all the ingredients together to make a stiff filling.
Season to taste.

Making the pyzy

You are aiming for balls around the size of a large walnut.
Take a small handful of the mixture and shape it into a flat disc.
Place this onto a floured board.
Add a teaspoon amount of the meat filling.
Bring the potato mixture around the filling and with floured hands shape into a ball.
Repeat this with the rest of the potato mixture and meat filling mixture.
Have ready a large pan of boiling water to which you have added some salt.
Place around 5 pyzy at a time into the hot water.
Let them rise to the top then simmer for 4 – 6 minutes, depends on the size – not too long as they will start to disintegrate.
Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a colander over a pan.

Place into a warm serving dish and top with skwarki – crispy smoked bacon bits, slightly charred onions, a mixture of the two or just melted butter.
Keep the dish warm and continue adding to the pyzy in the dish as they cook.
The fat in the topping stops them sticking together.

Serving tureen – Gaywood by Ridgeway – Made in England.

Kapuśniak made with Sauerkraut

In the first year of writing this blog, I wrote a post – Poles love to eat cabbage and now as I am writing about soups I am going to write about a Polish classic – kapuśniak – cabbage soup.

There are two types – ones made with fresh cabbage (written about in my previous post) and ones made with sauerkraut.

Now I am going to write about ones made with sauerkraut and these are certainly soups that have the sour taste loved by Poles.

As half a large jar is enough for each of the soups, I often freeze the other half of the sauerkraut to use at a later date.

Kapuśniak – Version 1

Ingredients

400g sauerkraut
200g smoked Polish sausage
1.5 – 2 litres of vegetable stock (can be from powder or cubes)
3-4 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons of plain flour
1 large onion
Oil for frying (originally pork fat/lard would have been used)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
**
More sugar & lemon juice to adjust the sourness might be needed at the end.

Method

Chop the sauerkraut into shorter strands.
Chop the sausage into small pieces.
Into a large pot of vegetable stock add the sauerkraut, sausage, peppercorns and bay leaf
Bring to the boil, then cover the pan and allow it to simmer until the sauerkraut is tender.
Chop the onion into small pieces and fry up till nearly charred.
Stir in the flour and heat till well browned.
Add a couple of tablespoons of soup liquid and stir to get a thick roux.
Add this onion mixture to the soup, mixing it in well.
Add the sugar.
Add salt and pepper if necessary.
You might want to adjust the sourness which will depend on the sauerkraut used.
I rarely add more lemon juice but sometimes add a bit more sugar.
The soup is supposed to be a little sour!

Served here in Royal Doulton – Burgundy -1959 to 1981

Kapuśniak – Version 2

Ingredients

400g sauerkraut
1 onion chopped
100g chopped smoked bacon
2 litres of vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
3-4 peppercorns
2 large potatoes
1/2 teaspoon of caraway seeds
1 – 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste
**
More sugar & lemon juice to adjust the sourness might be needed at the end.

Method

Chop the sauerkraut into shorter strands.
Chop the bacon into small pieces.
Chop the onion into small pieces
Into a large pot of vegetable stock add the sauerkraut, sausage, peppercorns and bay leaf
Bring to the boil, then cover the pan and allow it to simmer until the sauerkraut is tender.
Add the caraway seeds.
Chop the potatoes into small to medium chunks.
Add the potatoes to the cooked sauerkraut and simmer gently till cooked.
Add the sugar.
Add salt and pepper if necessary.
You might want to adjust the sourness which will depend on the sauerkraut used.
I rarely add more lemon juice but sometimes add a bit more sugar.
The soup is supposed to be a little sour!