Polish Cuisine for Dummies p. 3 My Mother-In-Law’s Hunter’s sauce

When your husband says ‘I miss my mother’s hunter’s sauce’, something going on… I’ve never tried to compete with my mother-in-law cooking. I love her food even though I should have at least 3 stomachs to fit it in. Somehow she possessed ability of cooking of large amount of food in surprisingly short period of time. 7 courses dinner- voila! Done in one hour! What amazes me the most she does it spontaneously while for me is still a long preparation process. I’m glad she is willing to share her cooking tips.

Ingredients

1 cup of smoked bacon cubed (chose leanest bacon you can find or replace it with smoked ham)

1 cup of cubed, pickled cucumbers (surprisingly often being sold  abroad as ‘Polskie Ogorki’)

1 cup of minced tomatoes

3 tbsp. of ketchup

1 small onion finely chopped

2 cups of champignons

1tbsp. of corn starch

½ cup of cold water

Few grains of allspice

2-3 bay leaves

Salt, pepper

 meatballs

250 g of lean pork minced meat

250 g of lean beef minced meat

1 tsp. of minced garlic

1 tbsp. of marjoram

1tbsp. of thyme

1 beaten egg
salt, pepper

Place bacon on the pan and cook on medium heat until starts getting crispy on edges but is still tender inside. Remove excess fat with spoon. Add chopped onion, allspice and bay leaves. Cook together for around 15 minutes stirring frequently to keep onion from browning. Add mushrooms and when they’re cooked combine with minced tomatoes and ketchup. Reduce heat and simmer for another 15 minutes. 

Mix corn starch with cold water and pour into pot to thicken sauce. Throw pickles and black pepper. Salt is optional cause pickles and bacon are salty. Keep mixture on low heat while you preparing meatballs. 

Combine both kinds of meat, egg, marjoram, thyme, garlic and shape into meatballs about 2,5 cm diameter and place on baking pan. Bake at 180 C in oven until start getting brown. Combine with sauce and cook together for another 10 minutes on low heat. Sauce is ready.

 I served it with sweet potatoes gnocchi and arugula and artichokes hearts salad  (next posts). Not very Polish indeed, but I love fusion cuisines!

Polish cuisine for dummies p.2 Sunday lunch (serving for three)

When I moved abroad I was sure I would cook traditional Polish meals at least once a week. Well the truth is I live now in ‘foodies melting pot’. Restaurants and markets with food from all around the world are at my fingertips, so old cooking tips I’ve learned in my origin country seem to be a little boring. However, sometimes I get nostalgic for old flavors. I’m pretty sure that most countries have own special meal for Sunday lunch. Traditional Polish Sunday lunch served at my home had 3 courses:

1) soup- chicken broth with vegetables and pasta, sprinkled with fresh parsley

2) breaded pork chops, mash potatoes with fresh, chopped dill, fresh salad - it could be cucumber and cream salad or shredded cabbage/ sour kraut with carrots

3) Dessert usually cake with fresh or frozen seasonal fruits, berries or rhubarb or ‘babka’ cake

There was also traditional drink ‘kompot’ which is nothing but compote with hot or cold water.

Well, traditional lunch I’ve made last Sunday consisted of course No 2 only. In my opinion real pleasure of cooking comes when we don’t feel forced to do it and we can spend as much time in kitchen as we like. I can stay in kitchen even all day long if I want to. That Sunday wasn’t cooking day for sure.

Breaded pork chops “Schabowe”

Ingredients

6 pork chops

2 eggs

Breadcrumbs

Salt, pepper

 1 tsp. of sugar or 1/5 of cup sparkling water ( to make breading more crispy)

½ cup Cooking oil

You will also need 2 deep plates, paper towel, and skillet

Beat each pork chop on both sides with meat mallet to break up the meat fibers and get them tender. If you don’t have meat mallet use blunt side of knife. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Beat eggs on plate with sugar or sparkling water until white and yolk are combined. Place breadcrumbs in second plate. Dip pork chops first in breadcrumbs then in beaten eggs and again in breadcrumbs. Make sure pork chops are well covered on each side. Many people I know use  regular flour for the first step of breading but using only breadcrumbs makes cover thicker.

 Preheat skillet with cooking oil. When you sprinkle it with a little drop of water it should sizzle. Place pork chops and fry them on each side until golden brown. Then put them on paper towel to absorb excess oil. Ready to serve!

Simple beet salad

4 grated cooked medium beetroots (washed, unpeeled boil in water for about 40 minutes)

Half of red pepper finely chopped (optional)

Half of onion finely chopped

2 tbsp. Olive oil

 2 tbsp. Lemon juice

Salt, pepper

You will also need a grater

Peel cooled beets. Skin should come off easily. Grate them and combine with other ingredients. You can serve it straight away but I find this salad tasting better served couple of hours after preparation.

Mashed potatoes

½ kg of potatoes

1 l of boiling water

Salt

1 tbsp. of butter

½ cup of milk or plain yoghurt

1/3 cup of chopped, fresh dill

Peel potatoes and cut them into smaller pieces. Place them into pot and cover with boiling water. Add salt and put the pan over medium heat and boil until tender. Test it with sharp or fork. If it goes in easily, potatoes are cooked. Drain the water and still hot mash with milk/yoghurt and butter until creamy consistency. Serve it sprinkled with fresh dill.

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