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Table of Contents

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16

Dessert

11

vegetable

8

Soup

5

meat

4

Introduction

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A taste of home means diffrent things to diffrent people, for me

a taste of home will always mean Polish food. Polish cuisine

or “kuchnia polska” is a style of cooking and food preparation

originating from Poland. It has evolved over the centuries due to

historical circumstances meaning Polish national cuisine shares

some similarities with other Central European and Eastern

European traditions as well as French and Italian similarities.

It is rich in meat, especially pork, chicken and beef (depending

on the region), winter vegetables and spices.It is also

characteristic in its use of various kinds of noodles the most

notable of which are kluski as well as cereals such as kasha.

Generally speaking, Polish cuisine is hearty and uses a lot of

cream and eggs. The traditional dishes are often demanding in

preparation. Many Poles allow themselves a generous amount of

time to serve and enjoy their festive meals, especially Christmas

eve dinner or Easter breakfast which could take a number of

days to prepare in their entirety.

Introduction

5

Beat out the pork chops with a mallet until thin.

Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

On separate plates, pour flour, egg and breadcrumbs.

Dip each chop into the flour, coating on both sides, and then dip into

the beaten egg. finally press the chops on to the breadcrumbs, ensuring

even coating.

Heat sufficient oil/butter in a large frying pan.

When very hot, add the pork chops and cook over high heat for 5

minutes on each side.

Lower heat and cook for another few minutes until golden.

meat

Breaded pork chop

polish pork chop

4 pork chops/pork

tenderloin

salt and pepper

25g plain flour

1 egg, beaten

25g breadcrumbs

Oil/butter for frying

(Kotlet schabowy)Serves 4

Kotlet schabowy is a

Polish variety of pork

breaded cutlet coated

with breadcrumbs

similar to Viennese

schnitzel.

Kotlet schabowy

can be served with

mashed potatoes, rice

or pasta, pierogi, fried

mushrooms, cooked

vegetables (usually

cabbage), with salads or

with coleslaw.

6

Parboil cabbage in a large pot, removing leafs as they fall off into the

water and are tender. Cook till all leaves are tender, but not ripping

apart; usually 15 min. Run under cold water and drain.

Cut the thick membrane off back of each leaf. While cabbage is

cooking saute onion in butter until lightly browned.

Put all the uncooked meat into a large mixing bowl add eggs. Add

the sauted onions. Next add salt pepper, celery salt, parsley, and

worcestershire sauce along with the cooked rice and mix thoroughly.

Lay out leaves and depending upon their size, place 2-3 tablespoons

of meat mixture on the wider side. Roll leaf up and over meat, tuck in

sides of leaf, and continue to roll to use all leaves and stuffing.

Place rolls, seam down into a greased roasting pan. Then layer carrots

and mushrooms over cabbage. Mix together the tomato paste, crushed

tomatoes, water and brown sugar and pour evenly over all the rolls.

Season with salt and pepper to taste and bay leaves.

Cover roaster and bake 325 degrees for 2- 2&1/2 hours.Half way

through baking check to make sure there’s enough liquid; additional

water can be added. To serve, spoon sauce over rolls.

Stuffed Cabbage

Stuffed Cabbage

1 cabbage, center core

removed

360g minced meat

(turkey or pork)

2 cups cooked white

rice

1 cup chopped onion

1cup tomato paste

2 cans crushed tomatoes

1 1/2 cups vegetable

stock

1 tbs brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt & pepper

1/4 tsp parsley

1/4 tsp Worcestershire

sauce

1/4 cup butter

4 carrots, sliced

450g mushrooms

2 bay leaves

(Golabki)

Golabki is the Polish word for pigeon, but don’t be put off you don’t

need to use pigeon!

meat

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Mix butter with garlic, parsley, chive, (or with dill instead of chive)

lemon zest and juice in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper, divide in 4

and form butter “fingers”. Cover with foil and refrigerate.

Flatten chicken fillets between cling film, put one butter finger on each

and roll them around. Ends need to be secured too. Help yourself with

toothpicks to keep the meat together if necessary.

Beat the egg, add salt and pepper, dip fillets in it and then roll in the

bread crumbs. Refrigerate for 1 hour. You can also dip them in the flour

first and then egg and bread crumbs.

Heat up the oil and fry the cutlets till golden. Tastes best with mashed

potatoes and light salad.

meat

Cutlet de Volaille

Cutlet de Volaille

4 chicken fillets

oil

toothpicks

60 g butter

bread crumbs mixed

with flour (3:1)

1 beaten egg

2 cloves of garlic (finely

chopped)

2 tbsp parsley.Chopped

(Optional)

1 tbsp chive. Chopped

(Optional)

1 tbsp dill. Chopped.

(Optional)

1/4 tbsp lemon (zest

and juice)

salt and pepper to taste

(Kurczak De Volaille)Serves 4

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Heat oven to 400 degrees. Wrap beets in aluminum foil and roast until

tender, about 30-45 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel and

slice into strips or julienne.

In a medium pot, bring stock to boil, add beets, garlic, sugar, lemon

juice or vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer 10 minutes.

Serve hot with boiled potatoes and chopped dill for garnish, or cool

quickly in an ice-water bath and refrigerate to serve cold garnished

with dill and sour cream. Alternativley for a festive alternative serve

with mushroom stuffed mini dumplings.

Beetroot soup

beetroot soup

4 beets, washed

4 cups meat or

vegetable stock

1 minced clove garlic

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons fresh

lemon juice or 1

tablespoon red-wine

vinegar

salt and black pepper

chopped fresh dill

(Barscht)

Barszcz in its strictly

vegetarian version is

the first course during

the Christmas Eve

feast, served with small

dumplings called uszka

with mushroom filling .

Typically, this version

does not include any

meat ingredients.

Soup

9

Kwas:

Rinse out an earthenware jar or any non-alluminium container with

boiling water. Put the flour in the jar and mix to a liquid paste with a

little of water. Leave the mixture to settle for a few minutes, and then

pour on the remaining boiled water. Chop the garlic and add. Cover

the top of the jar with muslin or pierced cling film and leave in a warm

place for 4 to 5 days to ferment. Strain and use as required. If stored in

an airtight container, it will keep for a few weeks.

The Soup:

Heat the stock. Chop bacon and onion and add to stock. Simmer for 10

minutes. Add mushrooms, kwas, cream and garlic. Season with salt and

pepper. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes and then add potatoes and

sausage. Bring to boil.

Sour Rye Soup

sour rye soup

For the kwas:

75g wholemeal rye flour

600 ml boiled, cooled

water

1/4 clove garlic

For the soup:

1.25 litres stock from

vegetables or beef/

chicken bones

100g bacon

100g onion

1 can of mushrooms

400ml kwas

300ml sour cream

5 medium potatoes,

cooked and diced

100g smoked sausage,

dicedt

(Zurek)Serves 6

Soup

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Wash the Mushrooms well to remove all dirt. Remove caps and slice.

Trim ends off roots and dice roots finely.

In soup pot, melt Butter and add Mushrooms and Onion.

Cook on medium low, stirring once in a while to caramelize the

Mushrooms and Onions until the water from the Mushrooms has

cooked off.

Add Broth and bring to a boil.

In a bowl, combine Sour Cream with Flour well. Add a couple of

tablespoons of hot broth and mix well. Pour into soup and bring gently

almost to a boil and turn off. Add Salt and Vinegar to taste.

If you like, you can add a handful of parsley or dill into the pot at this

time.

Mushroom SoupMushroom Soup

450g white button

mushrooms

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 sweet onion, diced

1 lt vegetable broth

1 tbs flour

1/2 cup sour cream

salt

1 tsp apple or white

vinegar

parsley or dill to

garnish, if you like

(Zupa Pieczarkowa)Serves 6

Soup

All Polish mushroom

soups are cooked on

meat and vegetable

stock. Still, mushrooms

dominate both a list of

ingredients and a bunch

of tastes and aromas

of the resulting Polish

food.

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Place dried mushrooms in a medium bowl. Pour over boiling water and

let steep for 30 minutes or until mushrooms have softened. You may

chop the mushrooms, but leaving them whole makes for a chunkier

dish. Set aside with soaking liquid.

Meanwhile, in a oven or large pot with a lid, saute onion and fresh

cabbage in bacon drippings or vegetable oil. When cabbage has

collapsed by half, add sauerkraut, meats, tomatoes, wine, bay leaf and

reserved mushrooms and their soaking liquid, being careful not to pour

off the sediment in the bottom of the bowl.

Mix well and bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower heat to low and

simmer covered for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally and adding liquid

as needed to prevent burning.

When ready to serve, remove bay leaf and any bones from meats.

The longer this cooks the better it tastes, and it’s even better served the

next day.

vegetable

Polish Hunter’s Stew

polish pork chop

1/2 ounce dried

mushrooms

2 cups boiling water

1 tbs vegetable oil

1 medium onion,

chopped

1 small cabbage,

chopped

1 pound sauerkraut,

1/2 pound smoked

Polish sausage

1/2 pound cooked fresh

Polish sausage

1 pound boneless meat

3 large tomatoes,

chopped

1 cup dry red wine

1 bay leaf

Salt and black pepper

to taste

(Bigos)Serves 6 -8

Bigos is considered the national dish of Poland.

It’s a hearty, long-simmered meat and sauerkraut stew that goes back

centuries. It was traditionally served at the start of the hunting season,

from fall through Shrove Tuesday, or until the family’s supply of barrel-

cured sauerkraut ran out.

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Serves 12

For the sauerkraut filling: melt the butter in a medium frying pan over

medium heat. Cook the onion, stirring, about 5 minutes or until soft.

Add the drained sauerkraut and cook for 5 minutes. Season to taste

with salt and pepper; transfer to a bowl. Cool.

For the potato filling: melt the butter in the same pan over medium

heat. Cook the onion, stirring, about 5 minutes or until soft. Stir into

the mashed potatoes; season with to taste with salt and pepper.

For the dough: beat together the eggs and sour cream in a large bowl

until smooth. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder; stir into

the sour cream mixture until dough comes together. Knead the dough

on a lightly floured surface until firm and smooth. Divide the dough

in half, then roll out one half to 3mm thickness. Cut 8cm rounds from

dough using a biscuit cutter.

lace a small spoonful of the mashed potato filling into the centre

of each round. Moisten the edges with water, fold over, and press

together with a fork to seal. Repeat with the remaining dough and the

sauerkraut filling.

Polish Dumplings(Pierogi)

Possibly the most

popular Polish food,

these dumplings can be

served with any filling

limited only by your

imagination but the

most popular in poland

are; sourkraut, cheese

and potato or meat

pierogi (usually pork or

chicken).

Sweet varaities also

exist with cherry,

blueberry or strawberry

fillings and garnished

with icing sugar.

vegetable

polish dumplings

13

Polish Dumplings

polish dumplings

For the Filling:

2 tablespoons butter

1 small brown onion,

chopped finely

1 1/2 cups sauerkraut,

drained and chopped

finely

20g butter

1 small brown onion,

chopped finely

2 cups cold mashed

potatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white

pepper

For the Dough:

3 eggs

250g sour cream

3 cups (450g) plain

flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking

powder

(Pierogi)

vegetable

Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add perogies

and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until pierogi float to the top. Remove

with a slotted spoon. Can be frozen for later.

Best served with finley chopped fried onion.

14

Slice cucumbers very thinly.

Mix rest of ingredients together in a closed bowl and give a shake.

Add to cucumbers, chill till very cold & serve.

t’s a great accompaniment to pork, ham, chicken, fish, just about

anything. Choose thin cucumbers with small seeds or the seedless

variety. Dress this just before serving so the dish doesn’t become

watery.

For a unique take on the dish have it next to indian curry.

Cucumber Salad

cucumber salad

2 cucumbers

2 tablespoons sour

cream or 2 tablespoons

yogurt

salt and pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon chopped

fresh dill

(Mizeria)

vegetable

Legend has it this dish

was a favorite of Queen

Bona Sforza, an Italian

princess who married

Polish King Sigismund

I in the 16th century.

Homesick for her native

Italy where cucumbers

were common,

everytime she ate it, it

made her cry. Hence

the Polish word for

“misery,” derived from

the Latin.

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Cook and mash potatoes. Wait until they cool off then mix the potatoes

with flour until you have a loose dough that does not stick to your

fingers.

Roll out the dough on a floured board and cut into thin noodle strips.

Bring some salted water to boil and drop the noodles into it.

They are ready when they float to the surface.

Fry onion and pieces of bacon in a little oil and pour over Kopytka in

serving dish. Serve.

Little Hooves

Little Hooves

4 large potatoes (the

best are Idaho), cooked

and mashed

3 1/2 to 4 cups flour

Pinch of salt

Bacon (small cubes)

1 Onion

(Kopytka)

vegetable

Kopytka, kapytki

(literally "little hooves")

are a kind of potato

dumpling. They are

very similar to gnocchi

although they are

typically served baked

with cheese, fried bacon

or onion.

Serve these as a stand

alone dish, or as a side

dish with other food.

Also try and experiment

with different sauce

toppings to suit you.

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In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.

Separate the eggs, adding the yolks to the dry ingredient mixture,

and placing the whites in a small mixing bowl. Beat whites until

moderately stiff; set aside.

Add milk and melted butter to dry ingredient mixture and blend.

Fold stiff egg whites into mixture. Ladle mixture into hot waffle iron

and bake.

Cover waffle in whipped cream and apply fresh fruit and jam as you

like. Nuts and dried fruit can also be used.

Polish Waffles

polish waffles

1 1/3 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking

powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

2 eggs, separated

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 3/4 cups milk

whipped cream

fresh fruit of choice

jam of choice

(Gofry)

A popular dessert, it is

very popular in coastal

regions where you can

buy it from food stands

at the beach but you

can find it throughout

Poland and it basically

consists of waffles on

which a variety of

toppings are applied.

Dessert

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Combine egg yolks, whole egg and salt in bowl of mixer. Beat at high

speed until thick and lemon colored, about 5 minutes. Beat in sugar,

cream, vanilla and rum. Add flour and beat until blisters form, about

5 minutes. Turn dough out onto a floured board, divide in half, cover

with plastic wrap and let rest for at least 20 minutes. Working with half

of the dough at a time, roll out to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch-

wide strips. Cut these strips on the diagonal at 4-inch intervals.

Heat 2 inches of oil in a large, deep skillet to 350 degrees. Make a slit

in the center of each strip of dough. Then pull one end through the

slit to form a bow. Fry 6 chrusciki at a time for 1 minute or less per

side or until golden. These fry quickly, so watch closely. Drain on

paper towels. Dust with confectioners’ sugar. Some like to drizzle their

chrusciki with honey. These pastries tend not to store well, but if kept

tightly covered, they can be recrisped in a 350-degree oven for a few

minutes and served the next day.

Angel wings

polish pork chop

5 large egg yolks, at

room temperature

1 large whole egg, at

room temperature

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup confectioners’

sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon rum or

brandy

2 cups all-purpose flour

Canola or vegetable oil

Confectioners’ sugar

(Chruciki)

Dessert

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Prepare the stuffing: scald the poppy-seeds with boiling water, drain.

Drain and mince three times. Melt butter and honey in a saucepan,

add vanilla, almonds, currants and orange peel.

Mix well, add poppy-seeds and fry for 10-15 min. Leave to cool, add

beaten egg whites and rum, mix lightly. Mix the yeast with cream.

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, beat in an egg, add sugar, yeast with

cream, lemon peel and salt. Chop all the ingredients with a knife, then

knead the dough.

Transfer onto a square. Spread the dough evenly with the stuffing,

leaving 2 cm margins on opposite sides. Roll up the dough into a roll

and transfer to a greased baking tin.

Leave to stand in a warm place for 1 hour. When the dough rises,

pierce it in a few places, transfer to a medium hot oven and bake for

40-50 minutes.

Poppy-seed cake

Poppy-seed cake

400 g flour, 150 g

butter, 100g icing sugar,

5Og yeast, 2 eggs, 3

tablespoon sour, cream,

1 tablespoon grated

lemon peel, salt.

400 g poppy-seeds,

150 g butter, 200 g

sugar, 100 g almonds,

4 tablespoons currants,

4 tablespoons honey, 2

egg whites, 5 ml rum,

2 tablespoons chopped

orange peel fried in

sugar, 1/2 vanilla pod

(Makowiec)

Makowiec is a classic

dessert or tea bread that

is commonly served

during polish holidays.

Dessert

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To make the batter, sift the flour into a large bowl. Add the egg and egg

yolks. Stir in the milk, water, oil and nutmeg. Mix together thoroughly.

Whisk the egg whites with salt until stiff, and fold into batter.

Grease a pancake pan or frying pan with butter. When hot, pour in a

enough batter and cook on both sides until lightly browned. Continue

until all the batter is used. Keep the pancakes warm in the oven at low

heat.

To make filling, push the curd cheese through a sieve, cream the butter

with the egg yolk and add to the cheese. Add sugar and vanilla sugar.

Stir in milk if the mixture is too stiff. Put a spoonful of filling on each

pancake, fold over and serve hot.

Polish Pancakes

polish pancakest

225g plain flour

1 egg

3 eggs, separated

300 ml milk

300 ml water

1 tbs oil

pinch of nutmeg

1 tsp salt

25g butter for greasing

250g curd cheese

25g butter

1 egg yolk

sugar to taste

pinch of vanilla sugar

milk

(Nalesniki)

These pancakes can

be alternatively served

with jam.

Dessert

Serves 6

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