A world-renowned "Gyros" salad (a 15-minute recipe)

We all know "Caesar", now it's time to introduce you to "Gyros" lol. One of the most famous Polish salad recipes of all time, a nice chicken and veg combination. There is no extraordinary story behind how I was introduced to this recipe. The salad was simply made by my lovely sister, Domi, who wanted to treat us with something fresh, healthy and hearty at the same time. Ever since then this recipe has been a hit in our house for years and it still steals my friends' hearts away each time they attend our dinners or parties.  I guarantee it will be loved by everyone regardless their personal taste and acquaitance with Polish cuisine. 

Ingredients:

1 can sweet corn
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large chicken breast, diced
4-5 gherkins, finely chopped
1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
Gyros seasoning (available in all Polish supermarkets for about £0.49)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup ketchup

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Preparation steps:

Place chicken breast in a frying pan and sprinkle it evenly with gyros seasoning. Fry it. In a medium bowl place fried chicken pieces and cover with ketchup. This would be a very first layer of your salad. The order of ingredients makes the difference in taste so make sure you put layers as follows:

*chicken breast
*ketchup
*onions
*gherkins
*sweet corn
*mayonnaise
*lettuce

All ready to eat! Healthy and easy to make. Great for any occasion. My favourite serving suggestion?? Accompanied by a fair portion of French fries :)

Polish food tastes so good! - Meatballs with tomato-garlic sauce

This is one of those quick, easy and comfortable traditional dishes that every Polish lady of the house is very proud to serve! :) The benefit of it is the fact that you can modify the recipe in many ways and it always tastes so good. Today I will give you the traditional recipe with a tiny bit of modern twist. My only modification to my mum's original recipe was fortifying a sauce with an extra garlic and a scallop of natural yogurt. Other than that, the taste of it is exactly the same as I remember from being a kid.  

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

500g minced pork
1 free-range egg
2-3 tea spoons freshly chopped or dry herbs to season (like marjoram, basil, salt and freshly ground black pepper)
1-2 table spoons bread crumbs

For the tomato-garlic sauce:

1 can tomatoes
2-3 fresh tomatoes (prior to chopping leave them in hot water for 10 minutes, then peel the skin off)
1 tea spoon of tomato paste (optional)
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
salt and freshly ground black pepper according to your taste
1 medium onion
1 table spoon olive oil
fresh coriander

Preparation method:

1. In a bowl, mix the minced pork with herbs, beaten egg and bread crumbs. Make sure the mixture is nice and smooth. Season it with salt and pepper then place it in a fridge for about 10 mins.

2. Meanwhile, make the tomato-garlic sauce. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the chopped onion and sweat on a gentle heat until soft

3. Add the canned tomatoes, empty can fill in half with water and add it to the sauce too.

4. Chop fresh peeled tomatoes and add it to the sauce together with crushed garlic and sauteed onion. Season it with salt and freshly ground pepper.

5. Cook it all covered for about 10-15 minutes until tomatoes soften and the sauce gets its right texture. You may need to use a hand blender to make it nice and smooth.

6. Keep making small round meatballs and place them in a sauce. Sweat covered for another 15-20 minutes on a very gentle heat until meatballs are cooked.

7. Evenly top with a fresh coriander. Serve hot with potato puree, plain rice or pasta (optionally a scallop of natural Greek yogurt). Tastes like heaven and it looks like million dollars to me! lol

Pictures prove it! Enjoy!

God Save the Tea!

Brits love their tea! It's like a mild addiction! lol When I first came to the UK I knew straight away I would be offered a cup of tea every half an hour. When in Rome do as the Romans do, as they say, so I joined the gang of tea lovers and drank 6-8 cups of tea daily. Soon, a morning brew accompanied by a few biscuits became my guilty pleasure. 

As everyone around was sipping tea, it was hard not to adapt this social habit. Now I know that a well-made cup of hot tea can blow away the cobwebs.   

My friends asked whether Poles made their tea the same way Brits do. Here's your post about how Poles make their prefect cuppa. It will be followed by a sequel too! Yaayy!

First, check out a few fun facts. Research shows that Poland's annual tea consumption, next to Ireland, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Russia and Germany is one of the biggest in Europe. Tea as such was not a very popular beverage in Poland until the Russian annexations, when we "discovered" the tea can actually taste good. Ever since then Poles started making tea in a Russian style, i.e. having sweet black tea with a slice of lemon served in a tea glass in a metal holder. In Russia, tea was brewed in so called samovars or so to say self boilers in which tea extract was mixed with boiling water in order to make a perfect cuppa. This Russian tradition has completely vanished and you will no longer find a samovar in use, unless you meet a connoisseur. Like everywhere else everyday tea in Poland is made by putting a kettle on and placing a tea bag in your mug. Not a rocket science :)

Drinking tea the Polish way:

Hot Honey Lemon Tea is the most popular flu and cold remedy in Poland. Feeling ill? Add 2 tea spoons honey and half lemon juice onto your cup of tea or strengthen it with a shot of brandy. This tea will quickly cure what ails you.

In some areas of Poland Christmas Tea is served at dinner on Christmas Eve. Its distinctive aroma and flavour are dictated by the choice of dry fruits and spices. Next to ginger, cayenne pepper, cardamom, cinnamon and clove,  you will taste some dry orange skin, dry plums or apple. All is composing a special blend to serve to guests or treat family with a fresh brew at breakfast to celebrate this festive season. 

Check out the next post for more tea news!

Polish Doughnuts to die for!

As winter is coming, I decided to put these nice spongy Polish doughnuts back to our menu immediately! They are traditionally served on Fat Thursday (or Shrove Thursday) but since I have such a sweet tooth, I am in the mood to make them slightly more often than only once a year! lol I have no doubt you will enjoy them with a morning coffee. They are simply fresh and soft, not too sweet and great for busy bees as all you need is 30 minutes of your time!

Ingredients:

500g plain flour
300g curd cheese
100g butter
200g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
15g vanilla sugar
(icing sugar for dusting, oil for cooking)

Preparation:

1. Mix flour with baking powder then add butter. Using a knife, cut the fat into small lumps then begin cutting them into the flour. Keep going until it's fairly blended.
2. Add remaining ingredients and gradually blend into a smooth dough.
3. Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out fairly thick. Start cutting with a glass to get circles. Using a shot glass cut smaller circles inside your circles.
4. Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer or a heavy-bottomed pan.
5. Fry on each side until golden brown (they get brown very quickly)
6. Pat dry on kitchen paper and sprinkle with icing sugar

Tips:

* butter has to be at room temperature and soft enough to be easily cut with a knife. If it is too cold, you end up kneading the dough twice as long

* make sure your dough is soft and sort of rubbery. If it is too hard, add a little lukewarm water and knead again until you get the right texture. Otherwise, your doughnuts will turn out rock hard (I am talking from experience :)) 

* use leftovers: fry spare small circles in order to get bite-size doughnuts

Smacznego! x

Celebrating Polish Food - Pierogi

You can't talk about Polish cuisine without mentioning Potato-Cheese Pierogi or "Pierogi Ruskie". Pierogi are Polish stuffed dumplings, a little like Italian ravioli or Asian samosa, though boiled rather than steamed or fried. Traditionally, pierogi ruskie are served with caramelized onion, bacon fried pieces or a dollop of sour cream. I wouldn't say they are hard to make, but rather time consuming. However, anyone who decides to try this for themselves would agree they are worth the hassle. As I was making them today I thought it is a great opportunity to share the recipe with you. Again, you can stuff them with a filling of your choice: potato and soft cheese, meat, sourkraut and mushroom, soft cheese and spinach, lentils etc. You may also like sweet versions of them: soft cheese pierogi, pierogi filled with fresh strawberries, blueberries, plums or apples. As you can see there is a plenty of choice. Today I decided to make traditional pierogi.

Potato-Cheese Pierogi (my mum's recipe)

serves 6

Preparation Time: 45 min
Cook Time: 15 min

Ingredients:

Dough:
2-3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 egg
1 cup of lukewarm water

Filling:
500g boiled, mashed potatoes
200g dry curd cheese
1 finely chopped onion sauteed in a little bit of vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon herb pepper (optional)

Note:

These are polish products I used (all easily available in Polish shops):

• maka poznanska (flour) costs £0.69
• twarog poltlusty (cottage cheese) - £0.99
• pieprz ziolowy (herb pepper) -£0.39

Preparation:

1. Mix mashed potatoes with sauteed onion and cottage cheese until smooth. Season to taste, mix it and put aside. I add herb pepper for better result. The filling is ready.

2. Place two cups of flour in a large bowl, break the egg into it and add a little bit of lukewarm water. Start kneading the dough adding a little water and flour at a time. Make sure water is neither hot nor cold, it has to be lukewarm, otherwise the dough will get hard. Don't worry if dough seems to be loose or sticky, keep adding a little flour when necessary. It should end up soft  and sort of rubbery. 

3. Now cutting. Place a half of the dough on floured work surface, then roll it out thinly and start cutting with a glass to get circles. Using a teaspoon place a portion of the filling into the centre of each circle. Then fold dough in half and pinch edges together so that the filling is locked inside. Repeat with remaining circles and another half of the dough.

4. Sprinkle a kitchen towel with flour and place stuffed pierogi on it. In the meantime bring water to boil (it's best to use a large pot so you can boil about 8-10 pierogi at a time). Drop in pierogi into boiling water, reduce the heat. When pierogi rise to the surface, let them simmer for about 3-5 minutes. Remove one to taste if they are ready (the dough should be soft). If you are with them, remove all pierogi with a slotted spoon to a strainer and rinse with a little of cold water. 

5. Serve warm with caramelized onion, fried bacon or sour cream.

PS. It may not be to everyone's taste, but I recommend you to also try them slightly sizzled in a tiny bit of vegetable oil or butter. You will get this nice, crunchy skin! Smacznego!

The making of... Polish Sweet Cream Cheese Pancakes

I am very excited to share this recipe with you hoping it will inspire you to try Polish cuisine. "Nalesniki z serem" is a very popular dish in Poland, definitely one of my favourites. Nice, fluffy pancakes wrapped around with rich sweet cheese filling is what I Iove treating myself with on lazy morning... Smells divinely. Tastes equally good. It is a great breakfast option or an alternative to a sophisticated dessert. If you like New York Cheesecake, you will quickly become a fan of Polish pancakes. Simple enough recipe with all ingredients you easily find in your fridge. So, why wait for a Pancake Day? Let's get them done now!

Ingredients:

For the pancake mixture:

• 200g plain flour
  
  300ml milk
• 1 table spoon sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tea spoon bicarbonate of soda

For the filling:

• 100g curd cheese (you can get it in Polish shop for £0.99) 
• 1 table spoon sugar
• 1 egg
• 15g vanilla sugar
• 
  

To serve (optional):

whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream

fresh or canned fruits (I like pineapple or peaches but you can also serve them sprinkled with icing sugar, fresh raspberries, blueberries or strawberries)

dark chocolate

Tip: if you happen not to have curd cheese, a Philadelphia will do.

Preparation method:

Put all ingredients into a bowl then begin whisking until all lumps disappear. Add milk and flour until it is smooth, with consistency of thick cream. Start making pancakes as you would normally do using butter or a bit of oil. Stack them as you make them. Spread each of them with cottage cheese filling, fold in half, then in half again to form triangles, or else simply roll them up. Basically, they are ready to eat but what I like is an upgraded version of them: get the pan really hot, coat it with butter, then place 4 pancakes each time and fry on each side for 2-3 minutes until tinged gold. Serve hot with whipped cream/vanilla ice-cream and fruits of your choice. 

As we say in Poland: Smacznego! 

Unlike Brits, Poles have pancakes when they like them. Making them is not restricted to any particular day of the year. You can also find them in Polish restaurants menu. I am planning to come back soon with a savory version which I hope you will also like. What I like about pancakes is that you can serve them in tones of different ways, always achieviening success. You can spread them with sweet cream cheese filling, strawberry jam, apple mousse, wild mushroom filling, bacon and grated cheese... The list is endless. I hope you managed to try them and you fell in love.