Easter Fragrances

Wesolego Aleluja! (Happy Easter)!

A traditional Polish Easter celebration is very fragrant.  Beautiful pink and purple hyacinths are partnered with stately Easter lilies and their spring perfumes reach every room.  The dining room table, hidden beneath grandmother’s delicate, snow white lace and linen tablecloth showcases a traditional butter lamb, and is heavy with all the heritage Easter dishes which we enjoy decade after decade, generation after generation.  The scents of chocolate, vanilla, yeast, almonds, rum, candied fruit, reach every corner of the room.  We take great comfort in this traditional setting which changes so little over the years.

Our menu has been pared down over time.  We just can’t eat as much, nor do we want to.  But the core dishes are always there:  classic clear Beet Soup (Barszcz, pg 29 in Polish Classic Recipes), Vegetable Salad (pg 22), spiral ham slices, two or three varieties of the best kielbasa




we can find at our favorite Polish deli, the classic garnish called Cwikla – which is chopped beets with horseradish (pg 49), Polish dill pickles and occasionally deviled eggs. 

Except for the Barszcz, which is sipped hot from fine china tea cups, the rest of the meal is served at room temperature.  For dessert, we often have a light, fluffy and citrusy cheese cake (see pg 61 of Polish Classic Desserts), a beautifully decorated mazurka (as on pg 13) and maybe a yeasty tall Baba.  A very nice rum Baba recipe follows.

These are many of our favorite flavors.  These are many of our favorite foods.  And even though we may prepare them during the year separately, when placed together on the same table once a year at Easter, it becomes magical and incredibly fragrant.

Rum Baba For Easter
Serves 10 to 12
½ cup butter, or margarine, melted
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs
1½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons milk
Grated rind of one orange
Syrup
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
¼ cup orange juice
¼ cup light rum

Batter:  place all ingredients in a bowl, beat for 5 minutes with a mixer at medium speed.  Pour into a well buttered 8-inch fluted ring pan and bake at 350 °F for 45 minutes.  Check to see if done by inserting a toothpick into the middle – cake is done if toothpick comes out dry.

Syrup:  mix the sugar to water in a heavy pot cook over medium heat until it  turns into a heavy syrup.  Mix in the orange juice and rum.

Remove the warm cake from the pan onto a serving platter and immediately pour the syrup slowly over the top, letting it run down the sides.   Cool completely before slicing.
Smacznego!

Polish Classic Desserts Is Here!

No traditional Polish feast is complete without a sweet ending. As simple and inviting as a warm chestnut cookie or as elegant as a tall mocha torte, classic Polish desserts are rich in heritage and in flavor. The authors’ second classic Polish cookbook is dedicated to the legacy of desserts that those of Polish descent will remember from childhood. From casual and rustic to intricate and elegant, these recipes provide the perfect dessert for any occassion. 

Organized by type and with titles in both Polish and English, the desserts in this compilation are full of the intoxicating aromas of rich vanilla, fresh lemon zest, and the yeast of dough rising in the oven. From mazurkas and babas to pastries and beverages, these recipes are designed for the modern kitchen but retain their traditional roots. Each of the forty-five desserts are tested to perfection and paired with mouthwatering photographs and notes on Polish history and customs. Offered here is a sample of Poland’s favorite sweets passed down through generations.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS Laura and Peter Zeranski are a husband-and-wife team who have been cooking and eating classic Polish food together for decades. Peter, a retired marketing professional, was born in Europe to Polish parents. His family’s love for Polish cuisine is showcased in The Art of Polish Cooking, the critically acclaimed cookbook by his mother, Alina Żerańska. Laura, a retired health records administrator, began learning to cook Polish dishes from her mother-in-law shortly after her marriage. As time went on, Alina passed her knowledge and cooking duties on to Laura, who began preparing Sunday family dinners and special holiday celebratory meals.

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER Bob Rock is a self-taught photographer who enjoys portrait, landscape, and macro photography. After a thirty-five year career in the printing industry, Rock is now the owner of Bob Rock Photography & Digital Imaging. He resides with his family in Leesburg, Virginia.

Super Beets - Three Ways to Kick It Up

Witamy! 

Beets are the new “super food.”  Beets contain plenty of minerals and nutrients to make us healthier and to help stave off nasty diseases.  And, as a big bonus, they can also taste wonderfully.  Beets have always been a mainstay of Polish cuisine, and yes, we’ve met plenty of North-Americans who turn up their noses at the thought of eating beets, but many  also admitted that they’ve never tried a beet or only tried a sample of pickled beets out of the can --  not so yum! 

To help us dispell all bad thoughts about beets, here is a fresh marinated beet salad that was featured last year in Healthy Aging Magazine, in an article about the bounty of the garden.   It is a heritage recipe that has remained very popular for generations, even among the “doubters.”

Marinated Beet Salad - Serves 6

• 3 cups cooked beets, 1/4-inch Julienne
• 1 cup finely sliced green onion
• 2/3 cup currants
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
•  salt and pepper to taste
• 1 bunch leaf lettuce (optional)
• green onion for garnish

Combine beets, onion and currants.  Whisk the oil and vinegar and toss with beet mixture.  For a pretty presentation, arrange each scoop of salad on a lettuce leaf.  Garnish with finely sliced green onion.

Beets With Horseradish (Ćwikła)

Easter is just around the corner and we are looking forward to the traditional feast, with ham, kielbasa, maybe some roast pork, and all the usual sides.  Here is a very classic, truly unique Polish garnish that amazes everyone who tastes it.  It takes just a minute to prepare and adds this gorgeous red splash of color next to anything on your plate you’d like to enhance with a little extra kick.   And, if you make it a few days ahead of time, the flavors get richer with time as the horseradish infuses more thoroughly with the beets.  We always have a jar in the refrigerator since it stores well for a long time.

Yields 2 cups

• 2 14 ½ ounce cans of red beets, drained and coarsely chopped (not the pickled kind)
• 5 ounces prepared horseradish
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Combine beets, horseradish and sugar.  Place in a tightly sealed jar and refrigerate.  Note: More horseradish may be added at any time to stimulate a more adventuresome palate.

Roasted Orange Beets – Dressed Up

Occasionally Peter gets in a mental zone to kick up the natural flavor of vegetables.  He’s probably been watching too many cooking shows on the Food Network.  Lately we’ve been playing around with infused olive oils and balsamic vinegars.  We are especially enjoying what sesame seed oil does to roasted vegetables and also the fresh kick that comes from drizzling some aged balsamic vinegar over roasted butternut squash.

 

Tonight’s dinner plan is an experiment:  broiled filet of rainbow trout with roasted orange beets.  One of our favorite dressings for trout filets is made by mixing a few tablespoons of mayonnaise with a bit of Dijon Mustard (the seeds-in variety is best) and some finely sliced green onion. 

 

We’ll mix it up well and spread that dressing thinly all over the trout.  That goes under the broiler for about 7 or 8 minutes (about four inches below the burner to avoid scorching the mayo yet long enough to cook the fish through. The fish will be done when the mayo mix starts to bubble and just char.

 

So the experiment part of tonight’s dinner will be to roast some orange beets which are a bit milder and sweeter that the traditional red varieties, and just before serving spread some of the mayo mix on top, as a dressing.  With the fish and beets on the plate, we’ll sprinkle more of the finely sliced green onion over all of it as another garnish.  It should be great!

If you try this, or have your own interesting twist on roasted beets, we’d love to hear about it in the comments box below.    SMACZNEGO!