Tag: Soup Accompaniment

Liver Pulpety Served in Green Soup

I wrote about pulpety over three years ago. They are small meatballs which are simmered, often in stock, not fried.

They are often used as an accompaniment for soup,

In this recipe the liver pulpety are cooked directly in the soup and served with it.

Ingredients – Pulpety

  • 150g of pork liver or chicken liver
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 1 tablespoon of chopped flat-leaved parsley.
  • 60g-80g of dried breadcrumbs – see Breadcrumbs – Bułka tarta
  • Salt & pepper
  • *
  • Some plain flour for your hands for shaping.

Method -Pulpety

  • Mince the liver or wizz in a mini-chopper.
  • In a large bowl mix all the liver, egg and parsley together.
  • Add salt & pepper.
  • Add enough dried breadcrumbs so that it is a firm mixture – best to do this using both hands, making sure that all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.
  • Put some flour in a dish for your hands to make it easier to shape the pulpety.
  • Pinch off small bits of the mixture and roll the piece between your hands to make small round balls and place these onto a floured board or tray whilst you make them all.
  • *
  • Leave these to chill in a cool place or in the fridge.

Ingredients – Soup

  • 1 litre of vegetable stock – can be from a cube or powder
  • 100g frozen peas
  • 100g frozen whole green peas
  • Bunch of spring onions
  • 2-3 tablespoons of butter
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method – Soup

  • Chop the green beans  into small pieces similar in size to the peas.
  • Chop the green and white parts of the spring onions in to small pieces.
  • In a large pan melt the butter.
  • Add the chopped spring onions and fry gently till golden.
  • Add the peas and beans.
  • Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
  • Reduce the heat and simmer gently until the peas and peas are cooked.
  • Season to taste.
  • Bring the soup up to the boil.
  • Drop the pulpety into the boiling liquid and then let them simmer for around 5 -7 minutes.

To serve

Polish style would be to have 3-5 pulpety in a bowl of soup –  but for a light lunch  have a large bowl of soup with lots of pulpety per serving.

 

Paszteciki – little savoury pastries

Paszteciki are little savoury pastries often served as a soup accompaniment. They are made with with a pre-cooked filling which sometimes contains meat but vegetable versions are very popular and mushroom or sauerkraut & mushroom ones are very often made for Wigilia – Christmas Eve.

They are shaped like little sausage rolls or diagonal slices cut from a large roll.

I think they are best served warm.

You can make these using many sorts of pastry doughs – the following yeast dough is one that is often used.

Yeast Dough

Ingredients

  • 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 used for glaze

Method

  • Put 50g of the flour into a bowl.
  • Add the yeast and sugar.
  • Add enough of the milk to make the mixture like 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 cling film and leave to rise in a warm place.
  • ***********************
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM7 220 °C.
  • Grease several baking trays.
  • Take the pastry and shape into a rough rectangle.
  • Roll out thinly into a large rectangle.
  • Cut the rectangle into two lengthwise so you have two long thin rectangles.
  • 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.
  • Turn the roll over so the seam is underneath.
  • Cut the roll into diagonal slices about 5cm thick.
  • Place the pieces on the baking trays.
  • Glaze the pieces with beaten egg white.
  • Leave for around 30 minutes.
  • Bake for 14-15 minutes.
  • Allow to cool a little and then remove from the tray and place on a cooling rack.

Served on Royal Worcester  – Evesham – tea plates –  a design from 1961

Fillings

A variety of  fillings can be used such as ones that you would use for pierogi – Polish filled pasta, for example mushroom or sauerkraut & mushroom or you can  use pre-cooked vegetables, meats and also include hard boiled eggs.

All fillings should be cold when used.

Below are two fillings that I made for my paszteciki.

Fresh Cabbage & Mushroom Filling

Ingredients

  • Small head of white cabbage or sweetheart cabbage.
  • 150-200g of mushrooms (I used the chestnut ones)
  • 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.

Mushroom Filling

This is a new filling for me using just fresh mushrooms.

Ingredients

  • 250 -300g mushrooms(I used chestnut)
  • 1 onion
  • Around 50g  of butter
  • 3-4 tablespoons of soured cream
  • Salt & pepper to taste.

Method

  • Slice and chop the mushrooms into small pieces.
  • Chop the onion into small pieces.
  • Fry the onion in butter till they are soft – do not brown.
  • Add the mushrooms and fry together.
  • Keep stirring and cook gently till the mushrooms are soft.
  • Add the soured cream and stir together.
  • Heat for a little while to remove excess liquid.
  • Leave to go cold.
  • Season to taste.

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

 

Rosół – Chicken Soup

This is my 200th post!

So it is fitting that this one is a Polish classic.

Rosół – Chicken Soup – must be the most well know of Polish soups and can be the basis for many others.

It is a clear soup which is known as a bouillon – bulion in Polish. The word consommé which I thought was interchangeable with it, in fact denotes a clear soup which has been cleared with egg whites cooked in it.

Rosół is usually served with cooked pasta, often fine noodles and is the origin of chicken noodle soup.

In times gone by the chicken used would have been an old broiler – these are not as available here as much.  Nowadays for taste it pays to use the very best free range chicken you can get.

A whole chicken is simmered for around 2 hours with Wloszczyzna – Soup Greens.

I was talking with my Polish friend who lives in Leeds and she told me that the addition of  Lubczyk – Lovage – Levisticum officinale leaves enhances the flavour.

I have this herb, which belongs to the celery & parsley family , growing in a pot in my garden but as it was still a bit early in the year when I made this, I have not been able to try this out – I must do so later!

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken
  • 1 onion – halved (leave some dark skin on to add colour) or 2 leeks – trimmed
  • 3 whole peeled carrots
  • 2 whole peeled parsnips
  • Half a celeriac – peeled
  • 8 peppercorns
  • 2 -3 allspice grains
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Leaves & stalks of fresh herbs such as thyme, parsley and lovage
  • 1 tablespoon of salt
  • Chopped parsley to serve

Method

  • Place all the ingredients into a large stock pot and cover with boiling water.
  • Bring it all to the boil and put on the lid.
  • Either lower the heat to let it all simmer or put the pot  into an oven at around GM 2 – 150°C.
  • Leave to simmer for around 2 hours until the meat is tender.
  • Remove the chicken.
  • Strain the soup.
  • Leave the liquid to cool and then place in a cold place or fridge preferably overnight.
  • Remove as much fat as possible from the top of the liquid.

Note

The soup should have some oczka – little eyes on the top – these are the fat droplets –  tastes have changed somewhat and less fat is prefered by many now.

To Serve

Heat up the soup gently to boiling and simmer for a few minutes.

Pasta & Noodles

This is the classic way of serving.

Very small pasta shapes or larger pasta cut into small pieces or noodles are all cooked beforehand and a small amount is placed in the soup dish and hot rosół poured over them to serve.

 

 

Chopped flat-leaved parsley is added on serving.

Served in Royal Doulton – Carnation – 1982 – 1998

 

You can add some of the cooked carrots, sliced, to the soup and/or some of the cooked chicken meat, chopped.

Uszka (Polish filled pasta) can be added and the convention is to add three or five uszka to each soup serving.

 

Note

The cooked chicken can be used in many dishes which require cooked chicken such as in the filling for pierogi.

I find that the meat is really tasty and succulent and makes super sandwiches with some mayonnaise.

Note

Rosół  is often used as the base of many other soups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zupa – Soup

Zupa is soup in Polish – it is a huge topic and I could easily write a book on soups alone.

The words zupa and soup originate from either the French soupe which is a broth or the German sop which is bread used to soak up soup or the Italian zuppa which is a country vegetable soup.

I intend to cook and write about soups in 2019.

Soup is traditionally the first course of the main meal of the day – served usually sometime between 12.30pm to 5pm.

For a larger occasion, the first course can be a cold starter,  followed by the soup and then the main course.

My cousins in Poland found it hard to imagine a meal without a soup to start with!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Makłowicz, a Polish TV chef and cookery writer, writes  in one of his books

“Polak bez zupy robi się smutny“ –  A Pole without soup becomes sad.

Nina Froud is a cookery book writer & editor of the 1961 & 1977,  English translations of the 1938 Larousse Gastronomique.

 

In an introduction to Polish food in Country Cooking, published in 1978, she wrote:

“Poles are hearty but discriminating eaters … they like food unashamedly and are clever at producing delicious dishes from simple and inexpensive ingredients.”

This I think is very true and especially so in the making of soup.

 

There are so many, many soups – where do I begin?

  • hot soups
  • chilled (cooling) soups
  • fruit soups
  • milk soups

12 Well-Known Polish Soups in Alphabetical Order

  • Barszcz ………….. Beetroot
  • Fasolowa ……….. Bean
  • Grochówka …… Pea
  • Grzybowa ……… Mushroom
  • Kapuśniak …….. Cabbage
  • Kartoflanka …… Potato
  • Krupnik …………. Barley
  • Ogórkowa ……… Gherkin
  • Pomidorowa ….. Tomato
  • Rosół ………………..Chicken
  • Szczawiowa …… Sorrell
  • Żurek ……………… Sour Rye

    These are just a start!

 

Soups are served with  Garnishes & Accompaniments

 

 

Polish Fairy Tale about Soup

My mother used to tell this story to me when I was young – I loved it then and since I have cooked myself I love it even more.

My mother would vary the ingredients so that each time she told it, it could be a different recipe!

Here is a shortened version of the story –

Once upon a time a stranger, with a knapsack on his back,  comes to a village and sits down on a path.

He gets out a little cooking pot and pours in some water from a container and lights a little fire underneath and sits waiting for the water to boil.

Whilst waiting he unwraps a shiny stone which was covered in a linen cloth and pops this into the water.

Slowly the villagers come out, curious to see what he is doing.

They ask him what he is doing – “making Magic Stone Soup – the best soup in the world” he replies.

As the water starts boiling the stranger takes out a ladle and takes a sip.

The villagers ask him how it tastes.

“Good”says the stranger “but would taste even better with some potatoes”

“I can get some potatoes” said an old man, who then went off to get them.

The stranger peeled and chopped the potatoes and added them to the pot.

After a few minutes the stranger again takes a sip of the soup, saying it tastes good but that it would taste even better with some onions.

“I can get some onions” said an old woman, who then went off to get them.

The stranger peeled and chopped the onions and added them to the pot.

….here my mother would go on adding ingredient after ingredient, varying them every time she told the story ….

The stranger again takes a sip of the soup, saying it tastes good but that it would taste even better with some salt & pepper.

“I can get that” says a young boy who then went off to get some.

When he comes back the stranger seasons the soup and declares it nearly ready.

“It just needs some flat leaved parsley to garnish it”.

“I can get some” says a young girl.

When she returns the stranger chops the leaves and sprinkles them on the soup.  

The stranger then ladles generous servings of it into bowls and handed them around to all the villagers and also has a bowl himself.

He then takes out the stone, wipes it dry and puts it away into his knapsack.

 

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

Rye Bread Croutons

Croutons are called grzanki in Polish – the word is plural and means something that have been heated up.

Rye bread croutons are used as a soup accompaniment.

Ingredients

  • Several slices of rye bread
  • 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil (not virgin)

I used some of my own sour dough loaf.

 

Method

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4  – 180°C
  • Cut the bread into small cubes
  • Heat the olive oil in a frying pan.
  • Toss the bread cubes in the oil and fry gently for a few minutes.

 

Place the cubes onto a baking tray and put in the oven for around 5 – 10 minutes till golden.

Serving

Add several to each serving of soup.

Sprinkle with salt flakes or ground salt and eat them as a nibble or little snack.

 

Pulpety – Polish Meatballs

The Polish word pulpety comes from the Italian word polpette & that word come from  polpa meaning pulp.

The word polpette has been used in Italy  since the 15th century – though of course meatballs in many forms are to been found in most cultures & countries  and are a way of using every last piece of carcass.

Pulpety in Poland are made from meat or fish – I am just going to cover meat in this post.

Meat pulpety can be made from fresh meat or from cooked meat.  I prefer the fresh meat ones and if I have any  roast meat leftovers I am more likely  to use them up in other ways such as in  Pierogi – Polish Filled Pasta  fillings.

Fresh meat pulpety are very similar to  kotlety mielone.

The difference being that pulpety are very small and they are boiled/simmered not fried.

They are often used as an  accompaniment for soup – with around 4 to 6 being added to a serving of  soup. (There will be much more on the  topic of soup in the future.)

Pulpety can be simmered in water or stock  – I always uses stock – either chicken or vegetable.

Meat pulpety

Ingredients

  • 400g of minced beef or pork or a mixture of the two
  • 1 onion
  • 1 slice of white bread or bread roll, left for half an hour in a bowl with a little milk – do not use the excess milk just the wet slightly squeezed bread.
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 1 teaspoon Italian herbs
  • Dried breadcrumbs – see Breadcrumbs – Bułka tarta
  • Salt & pepper
  • Some flour for your hands for shaping.
  • Stock / bullion – chicken or vegetable – can be from a stock cube.

Method

Grate the onion on a fine grated or use an electric mini-chopper.

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In a large bowl mix all the ingredients together except for the dried breadcrumbs, it is best to do this using both hands, making sure that all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

 

Add enough dried breadcrumbs so that it is a firm mixture.

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  • Put some flour in a dish for your hands to make it easier to shape the pulpety.
  • Pinch off small bits of the meat mixture and roll the piece between your hands to make small round balls and place these onto a floured board or tray whilst you make them all.
  • You can leave these to chill in a cool place or in the fridge if you have time.

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In a large pan heat up some stock and drop the pulpety into the boiling liquid and then let them simmer for around 5 minutes.

 

 

Remove them from the liquid with a slotted spoon.

 

 

Polish style would be to have around 5 pulpety in a bowl of soup –  but  often I do these for a light lunch and have a large bowl of soup with lots of pulpety per serving.

In the photograph below, they were served in a tomato soup.

 

 

Served In A Sauce

The varieties here are endless – make one of your favourite sauces for example mushroom or tomato and drop the cooked pulpety into the sauce and let them simmer.

You can then serve them with potatoes, pasta, rice or to be very Polish – buckwheat.