CookINPolish – Traditional Recipes
Polish Cuisine from an Old Cookbook
Blueberry Pierogi is the best food in Summer, specially made from wild, picked in the forest blueberries. This year I picked blueberries myself, as a matter of fact I didn’t believe I would make it, but I made it! 2 hours in the forest and I got 3 liters of delicious blueberries. It was enough to make pierogi, blueberry yeast rolls and blueberry tincture 😀
I have lately discovered Fuczki – Sauerkraut Pancakes. I was surprised when I was frying Fuczki – their flavor reminded me of Sauerkraut Croquettes, which I love, but which are quite time consuming at the same time. It is so much easier and quicker to make Fuczki – sauerkraut pancakes!
Surówki – Polish salads are always on Polish table for dinner: you have meat, you eat potatoes and there must be also Surówka as a side dish. Polish salads are usually made of raw vegetables, but there are also very yummy salads made of cooked vegetables (more popular in winter) or with addition of fruits. Most of them are really easy to prepare, they are healthy and dietetic. It’s important to use good oils – preferably raw unrefined, as they are the healthiest. You eat surówka without thermal preparation, so all the best of oils will remain inside of the dish. Another important thing is to choose high quality vegetables, I go to local market where farmers are selling their produce. I buy from my favorite trusted sellers.
Last Sunday I launched on my Facebook and Instagram’s profiles a week of Polish Surówka:) Each day I presented one popular Polish salad.
Under each salad’ post my readers say – “Add dill!” or: “I always use dill to this salad”, or: ” You forgot about dill! It’s Polish staple!” – so the main picture to Polish salads would be:…………….. a dill!
In Poland when you have standard dinner, you eat potatoes, meat and – surówka, which is a salad made of raw fruits and vegetables. There is variety of different salads that can be prepared, but one of the most popular is an apple and a carrot salad. This easy side is quick to make and so delicious. Both: carrots and apples are really easy available all over the year in Poland, so they are quite cheap! This make Apple and Carrot Salad very popular in school’s canteens:) I can live with that, it’s delicious and so healthy.
I am lucky to have birthday in June! I love this month, as strawberries are in full and best season, the cheapest and the most sweet. Polish Cheesecake with Strawberries is a must for me to take to the office for my colleagues:)
This time I prepared baked cheesecake, very easy to make, delicate and not very sweet. It take some time to finish it, as the jelly needs to settle, but this is a case of work organization. Make cheesecake one day before serving, it needs a night in a fridge to get the best of it.
I like to have lot of jelly on my cheesecake, I use double package of it and together with strawberries I add some blueberries, this is the best mix I know:)
For me Spring in Poland has a flavor of fresh vegetables: dill, radish, beets, cucumbers, young cabbage and potatoes. In Spring you can get first wild mushrooms – chanterelles. Very popular ingredient of Polish desserts is rhubarb. You can get first strawberries and cherries. So yummy! I tried to choose the best of Polish ingredients and recipes in Polish Spring Menu.
Today I’ve got 2 dinner menus for you, one is for usual Spring day, the other one is more special. Actually as I was writing this I decided, that I need to mention few wild plants soups, as an alternative to standard Polish Spring menu, as they are underappreciated, but so worth trying – full of vitamins, ecological and the main ingredient is usually free (like stinging nettle) 🙂
Let’s cook seasonally and let’s cook Polish dishes!
This Chłodnik – cold soup – my Grandma was making us quite often, we loved to eat it accompanied by boiled potatoes sprinkled with sauteed onions and/or fried bacon. I remember that we used to have only one shared plate of potatoes (with onions, bacon and dill) for the whole family and we would scooped some potatoes and fill the spoon up with chłodnik from our own bowl.
Chłodnik – cold soup is easy and really quick to do. It’s enough to cut the vegetables and combine them with sour milk or other favorite milk drink, such as buttermilk or kefir. We’ve usually used sour milk- zsiadłe mleko, as it was the most easily available at that time. Our neighbor had a cow and we used to get fresh milk from her. My Grandma would left some milk on the counter covered with a cloth and after 2 days sour milk have been ready. Now it is hard to make a decent sour milk out of the carton milk or it may be even impossible.
Polish Crepes with Farmer’s Cheese are one of the favorites sweet suppers in Poland. These thin pancakes served with Polish white cheese, heavy cream and almond flakes are the best!
Maybe you would like to check Polish Pancakes with Apples? Apple racuchy are really delicious!
I’ve made Dandelion syrup few times so far. It’s so tasty. My children like pancakes splashed with Dandelion syrup just as much as with maple syrup.
In Polish folk medicine it is know from ages as a cure for cough and a help with liver cleansing. Dandelion syrup recipe can be found in Saint Hildegard of Bingen’s books and she lived in XII century:) It is sometimes called Dandelion honey, but actually it is a syrup. Try this easy recipe for homemade Dandelion Syrup. For more immunity booster recipes check: Immunity.
Important Note: Dandelion syrup should not be used by people suffering from hyperacidity nor with dandelion allergy.
Bear’s Garlic Creamy Soup is a full of vitamins Spring soup. A season for bear’s garlic (which can be also called wild leek, ramps, wild garlic) is quite short, use it and cook this healthy soup. If you still have some ramps left, you can try out other recipes: Bear’s Garlic Cream Cheese or Bear’s Garlic Pesto.
I remember eating Homemade Canned Pork made by my Grandma Emilka in our old house. Jars with this delicious meat was stored in a basement where was a pantry with canned food: fermented cucumbers, sauerkraut, red peppers, homemade tomato sauce, canned beets, forest mushrooms in vinegar, jams, fruit compotes and ‘mięso w słoiku’ – a rare delicacy for special occasions:)
Try this garlic flavored delicate meat with one more essential ingredient – a meat jelly, which moisturizes bread and make a sandwich with meat totally perfect 🙂
Make few jars to your pantry, it could help you to stay secure in this crisis times of pandemonium.
Early spring is the only time in the year when you can obtain fresh bear’s garlic (also called ramps or wild leek). In Poland it is a perfect time for it right now. Last year I made delicious Pesto, from this year’s batch I decided to make a bread spread: Bear’s Garlic Cream Cheese and a Bear’s Garlic Soup, which recipe is coming up soon. Stay alert not to miss my next recipe;) You can for example subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on Facebook or Instagram. Maybe you prefer Pinterest? Feel invited to choose your favorite way to stay in touch with me:)
I love cooking according to old recipes, specially I like real recipes of real people. These recipes are passed down from generation to generation and are cherished by the whole families. When these dishes are cooked and eaten, people gather and recollect the old times and recall people who are no longer with them. Last week I found this kind of recipe on one of the Facebook groups gathering Polish food lovers. Tracey shared her Babcia’s recipe for Braided Yeast Easter Bread, Pani Staciuk’s Paska. I am so happy that she shared with me her memories and also a picture of her Grandma, Maria Steciuk!
Polish Easter Mazurek can be made in many different ways. Basically if someone says Mazurek, you can imagine short, about 3 centimeters high shortcrust pastry with custard made of chocolate, fudge or caramel and decorated with nuts, dried fruits and chocolate. The topping composition is of your choice.
Try my recipe which is very easy to make, it is rather basic, you need just a few ingredients and you get delicious dessert.
Today there is something special for you, a great guest on my blog, let me introduce you my friend’s Grandma. She is leaving in the Eastern Poland in Włodawa, near Belarus and Ukrainian border and has made thousands of pierogi in her life:) Her favorite are Pierogi Ruskie, made with potato and cheese filling. Ladies and Gentelmen, best Grandma’s Potato & Cheese Pierogi!
Classic Polish Chocolate cake is easy and delicious. Moist and fluffy, delicate, with perfect amount of cocoa and sweetness. Classic Murzynek Polish Chocolate cake was the first cake I have baked myself:) It was so popular during PRL and still is now. My children love this cake, they love to bake it themselves, my son even choose it as his birthday cake. Try this traditional recipe, Polish chocolate cake would suit well on Easter table, if you prefer to keep it simple but delicious.
For more Easter dishes check the link: Polish Easter recipes.
Fresh (in Poland also called: white) Polish sausage is very popular dish for Easter. It is an important ingredient of Żurek, hearty traditional Polish Easter soup. But this time I invite you to check Polish White Sausage Baked in Horseradish Creamy Sauce. It is so easy and quick to make. It is so delicious, roasted kiełbasa with spicy creamy rich sauce. Horseradish and kiełbasa accompany each other so well, that they make a perfect comfort dish not only for Easter.
Forest Moss Spinach Cake is not a traditional Polish cake, but is something that got very popular in Poland in the past years, so I decided to bake it and show you what are the latest trends in Polish cooking.
Forest Moss Spinach cake is easy and it doesn’t take long to make it, but the result may be spectacular and delicious on the same time:) It would also give a Spring touch on your Easter table!
I used recipe I found on one of the most popular Polish cooking sites: Kwestia Smaku. My favorite!
It is always worth to care about your immune system, not only while coronavirus pandemonium. Onion Syrup for immunity will help you to stay healthy, strong and not to get ill. In my family it is a first help for my children while first moments of caught. And surprisingly- they like it’s taste!
Recipe is easy, there are only two ingredients. Onion is widely available all over the world and is a source of taste in many culinary dishes. Onion is also very healthy, as it has strong antibacterial effect, it contains vitamin C, magnesium, silicon and zinc for immunity boost. It’s not only folk medicine, it really works.
Remember, if you are sick you need to contact your doctor. Do not ignore fever and other flu symptoms. Onion Syrup will help you not to get sick, but if you do – you need professional medical advice.
Prażoki is a dish made of cooked potatoes with the addition of wheat flour. Kind of mashed potatoes, usually served with sauteed onions and greaves.
I saw Prażoki for the first time in a food TV programme and they were introduced as a Kurpie dish. When I checked internet cooking forums I found out that Prażoki are known all over the Poland, but under several names. Some people call it prazoki, other prażuchy, but also completely different names are used like: porka, fusier, psiocha, kamza or lemieszka:)
