Christmas Eve Archives - Cook In Polish

Orange Christmas Liqueur

Mid November is perfect to think ahead about Christmas. This confirms a fact that in some areas of the world first Christmas decorations are already set! For me it’s to early, but there are some aspects of Christmas that need to be taken care of before. Just like homemade Orange Christmas Liqueur.

I make a lot of tinctures in Summer: cherry, bird cherry, rowan berry, strawberry, black currant and few more. I prefer to call them a tincture than a liqueur. Polish nalewki are to cure: an alcohol is extracting all the beneficial substances from fruits and other tinctures ingredients. Of course they need to be drunk in small amounts. Orange Christmas Liqueur is actually a liqueur not a tincture – not a cure it is just purely to enjoy:) It smells like Christmas:)

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Sauerkraut and Mushrooms Buns

Paszteciki z Kapustą i Grzybami

My Mum used to bake this kind of small Sauerkraut and Mushrooms Buns to accompany beets borscht on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately when I asked her, she did not remember the recipe, what is more interesting, she even didn’t remember that she has been actually baking them:) Eventually I decided to go for Paszteciki recipe I found on Kwestia Smaku, one of my favorite cooking websites.

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Zamojskie Buckwheat Dumplings

Dumplings are Polish favorite dish. They can have a whole range of fillings: sauerkraut, meat, farmers cheese, fruits. I had Zamojskie Buckwheat Dumplings for the first time when I was in college. I went with other students for hiking in Bieszczady Mountains. On a way back my friend Kasia took me to her hometown: Krasnystaw, near Lublin and Zamość. Her mum cooked Buckwheat Dumplings and they were delicious. My new favorite dumpling flavor:)

Lately I found out that buckwheat dumplings are specialty of this area of Poland. They are called Zamojskie (from Zamość), and sometimes Lubelskie (from Lublin).

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Polish ‘Greek fish’

Ryba po grecku

Nobody knows why fried fish with steam veggies is in Poland called Polish ‘Greek fish’:) It is just a common name, used from decades by our grandmothers and mothers.

Greeks, please do not get offended:) Almost all Poles love it, when we eat Greek fish, we think warmly about Greece and Greeks:)

Try also: Traditional Polish Vegetable Salad.

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Beets and horseradish – Ćwikła

In my family house beets and horseradish – Ćwikła is served during Easter and Christmas, it usually goes with home made meats and vegetable salad.

Check more beets’ Polish recipes on: http://cookinpolish.com/tag/beets/.

Beets and horseradish - Ćwikła served on a plate

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Peas and cabbage stew/ Groch z kapustą

Phrase “peas and cabbage” in polish common language is defined as mixing two things which do not match. This dish is not a mess, try:)

Historically in Poland cabbage is one of the most popular vegetables. It is cheap, so it’s available for poor people. Is easy to store during winter, so can be used during the whole year. For years people in Poland use it widely, so we have many traditional dishes with cabbage as ingredient.

Peas and cabbage stew appears on official list of traditional polish cuisine of Łódź voivodeship, but is known in the whole country. Can be prepared as fast dish with fried onion, or with greaves.

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Lenten Cabbage with mushrooms/ Kapusta postna

Lenten cabbage with mushrooms is usually served on Christmas Eve, but it is also popular dish during Lent. Healthy, sour – enjoy!

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Herring under a blanket/ Śledzie pod pierzynką

This herring salad has few layers of ingredients with herring on the bottom of it, that is why it is usually called Herring under a blanket. This is one of my favorite herring dishes for Christmas Eve and Christmas.

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Uszka for Borscht

Small Dumplings with Sauerkraut and Wild Mushrooms

Uszka for Borscht are perfect for Christmas Eve to be served with beets borscht.

If you want to cook borscht with dumplings you need to plan it in advance, check it here: http://cookinpolish.com/beetroot-borscht/.

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Beets Borscht with Uszka

Barszcz z uszkami

Beets Borscht with Uszka is traditionally prepared for Christmas Eve in many Polish homes. As the opposite to borscht sometimes forest mushrooms soup is prepared, but not in my family house- we love beets borscht:)

One important ingredient of Borscht is a beets kvas/ sourdough which you need to prepare few days before. How to prepare a sourdough you can check here: http://cookinpolish.com/beet-sourdough/.

These amounts of ingredients are set for a big family and there will be enough of Borscht for Christmas Eve and the Christmas as well:)

For Christmas Eve we usually have Beets Borscht with Uszka, while for other occasions we have it for example with Sauerkraut and Wild Mushrooms Buns.

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