Easter 2016 – Celebrate Our Heritage With Easter Cheesecake

Have you planned your big Easter meal yet?

Traditionally it’s a mid-day, room-temperature feast served after church.  Our menu has been pretty much the same for over a century, dating back at least to Peter’s great grandparents in Warsaw in the early 1900’s.  The menu has been honored through six generations, including Peter’s emigration to Canada in the 1950’s, through our marriage, kids, and a 5-year old grandchild.  Lucy already has an adventuresome palate, is learning to cook, and last year loved some of the Easter dishes.  This year she’ll try more and learn to love the rest before long. 

For the last month or so we’ve been tracking the Polish food blogs and Polish Facebook groups and checking out everyone’s favorite recipes.  They all look wonderful.  Some highlight the creative spin of contemporary cooks and each is a part of someones’ family tradition whether handed down through many generations or just one.  But as you know, our focus is on heritage recipes and preserving the traditional dishes and flavors of many generations past. 

So here we want to share with you a very traditional recipe for a Polish Easter cheesecake.  It’s absolutely delicious, a perfect ending for your Easter meal, and not hard to make if you follow the recipe exactly.

  

Yields 32 portions

Crust
1/3 cup butter
1¾ cups flour
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
3 tablespoons sour cream
¾ cup seedless raspberry jam
breadcrumbs

Using the paddle attachment of a standing mixer, cut the butter into the flour until it forms coarse crumbs.   Mix the egg with sour cream and add, then add the sugar and baking powder.  Mix until all the ingredients come together into a soft dough.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out 2/3 of the dough to fit a 9x12-inch pan, buttered and sprinkled with bread crumbs.  Bake at 375°F for 10 minutes.  The crust will be only partially baked.  Remove from oven and cool.  Spread the raspberry jam over the partially baked crust.

Note:  if you wish to make a traditional decorative lattice on top of the cheesecake, reserve the remaining third of the dough and keep it cold until you are ready. If you’ve chosen to forgo the lattice, use the entire dough ball in the baking pan.




Cheese Filling
6 eggs
2¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 teaspoons orange zest
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
2½ tablespoons flour
1½ pounds ricotta or farmer’s cheese
½ cup candied orange rind, finely chopped
1 egg white, beaten

Using a standing mixer, beat the eggs with the confectioners’ sugar for 5 minutes at high speed.  Add the vanilla, and lemon and orange zests.  Combine the cheese with the butter and flour and add to the egg and sugar mixture.  Fold in the candied orange rind.  Spread mixture over the partially baked crust and raspberry jam.

Bake for 50 to 65 minutes or until the cake is firm.  Remove and cool. 

To decorate the top with lattice, remove the cake from the oven after the first 30 minutes, or as soon as the filling is firm enough to support the dough strips without sinking.  

Form the remaining dough into thin, even rolls (like long straws) and place them diagonally across the top of the cheesecake in a criss-cross pattern.  Brush the latticework lightly with a beaten egg white.

Note:  for aesthetics, try to lay out the lattice rolls evenly parallel to each other, but don’t worry if they break or don’t quite stretch to the edge.  Stretch and seal the breaks and they’ll be just fine after baking – a few imperfections add rustic character to your cake.  




Return the cheesecake to the oven and continue baking for an additional 20-30 minutes until the lattice is golden brown and the cheesecake is firm.
Smacznego!

Polish Easter Delicacy - Royal Mazurka

"Wesołego Alleluja"

Easter comes very early this year and for Poles who are predominantly Catholic, Easter is just as important a religious holiday as Christmas.  Easter celebrations in Poland are as traditional and elaborate as Christmas celebrations.

When Peter’s Mother was growing up in pre-war Poland, dining during Lent meant several meatless meals every week.  Since they were only occasional fish eaters, entrees were often prepared from:  flour, rice, eggs, vegetables, cheese, or fruits.  The last week of Lent was spent on serious Spring cleaning, and planning for one of the biggest meals of the year – Easter luncheon. 

Since most of the dishes were prepared ahead of time, the meal was served cold, except for the clear Barszcz (beet both) which was reheated on the spot. The table was filled with hams, kielbasa, cold pork roast, vegetables, salads, deviled eggs, and so much more until there was no room for another plate.

Of course the centerpiece was the 
sacred lamb (image borrowed from Pininterest) made of butter or sugar, and a plate of beautifully decorated hard boiled eggs.  


At one end of the table, or on a separate buffet, were platters of traditional sweets, including tall aromatic Baba's, several types of cheese cake, and of course several varieties of Mazurkas.  The Mazurek (singlular) is a flat shortbread cake said to have been originated in the Mazovia region of Poland.  They are always decorated extensively and very traditional for Easter.  Mazurkas are also traditional Polish folk dances as well as a style of music composed by Frederick Chopin and other Polish composers.  

Here is a favorite that has been popular for ages:  the Royal Mazurka.

Yields 32 squares

Dough
6  eggs
2 2/3  cups confectioners’ sugar
½  cup boiling water
3  tablespoons lemon juice
         zest of one lemon   
3¼  cups flour   
1  teaspoon almond extract
¾  cup almonds, ground
1½  cups butter, melted
 butter for pans

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Line two 9x13 baking pans with wax or parchment paper and butter the paper  (note:  butter is best since sprays or oils will change the taste).

Beat the eggs with the confectioners’ sugar using standing or handheld mixer at high speed for 5-7 minutes until pale yellow and very light.  Mix the water, lemon juice, zest, and almond extract in a small bowl or cup.  Add to the egg and sugar mixture in a thin stream while continuing to beat for 3-5 minutes.  Combine the almonds with the flour.  Fold flour mixture, alternating with the melted butter, into the egg mixture.  Mix lightly to incorporate. 

Divide batter (approximately 6 cups) and fold into the prepared baking pans.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until edges turn golden brown.  Watch carefully to ensure edges do not burn.
Cool for about 10 minutes, remove from pans and place on rack to cool completely.

Spread
1 cup apricot jam

Icing
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon warm water
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix the water and 2 tablespoons lemon juice with confectioners’ sugar until sugar dissolves and mixture is white, smooth and coats the back of the spoon.  Add more sugar if icing is too thin or more lemon juice if icing is too thick.

Spread one cooled cake with the apricot jam.  Cover with the second cake.  Spread the top with the icing. Allow icing to harden before cutting into small squares for serving.
Cake can be decorated with almonds and apricots.

Note:  store in the fridge and serve well chilled to prevent the apricot jam from running.

Smacznego!

Hunter’s Stew (Bigos) - the King of Polish Comfort Food

Witamy i zyczymy wszystkiego najlepszego na nowy rok!

Welcome, and we wish you all the best in the new year.

We’re having a party to celebrate the New Year.  Lots of friends and neighbors will be invited to socialize and enjoy an early supper.  There was never any question that the dish of choice will be Hunter’s Stew, or better known in Polish circles as Bigos. 

This is classic and traditional comfort food at its very best. The base is sauerkraut to which we add kielbasa, bacon, pieces of pork and / or beef roast, dried mushroom for distinct flavor, some onion and tomato for background, and basically stew the heck out of it for several hours -  it’s even better if prepared the day before, giving all the flavors time to marry and hang out with each other for a while.  

The recipe below is based on a classic Warsaw version handed down from Peter’s Grandmother.  But truth be told there are a “gazillion” varieties of this hearty dish since every town and every village in Poland, and probably every cook has their own version.  As we travel to various Polish heritage festivals around the U.S. with our books and programs, we’ve noticed that the cooks at every church use some Babcia’s recipe.  Each is a bit different and each is always popular so that Bigos is often the first dish on the menu to sell out.  The beauty of Bigos is that the proportions don’t matter that much and the flavors will all come together, no matter how you change things up to make it your own.  

For our New Year’s day party, we’ll serve it with some boiled potatoes and black bread on the side.   For the adventurous guests, we’ll be "doing" shots of ice cold Polish vodka.

Peter likes Luksusowa potato vodka because it is very smooth and a great value for the price).

For the others, we’ll have a hearty red wine or Polish beer – all of which pair beautifully with 

Bigos.

For dessert, we still have too many platters of Christmas sweets which are still delicious.  We’ll put them out and pray they go fast. 

Serves 5-6
1/4 cup dried mushrooms
1/2 cup water
2 pounds sauerkraut
1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced (optional) 
1 small onion, chopped finely
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
5 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 cup fully cooked Polish sausage, sliced and quartered
1 cup leftover meat (pork, beef, veal) chopped in 1 inch
         pieces
1 cup coarsely chopped bacon, pre-cooked to render fat

Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water until soft.  Transfer the mushrooms and their water to a small pot and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Drain the mushrooms but be sure to save their the liquid.  Chop the mushrooms into rough pieces. 

Wash the sauerkraut twice, thoroughly squeezing out the water each time.  In a large pot, combine sauerkraut, mushrooms and their reserved liquid.  Add the apple, tomatoes, peppercorns and bay leaf.  Add a little water or broth if needed, and simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Be sure the liquid doesn’t all boil off. 

Pre-cook the bacon at least half way to render most of the bacon fat and rough-chop.  Add all the meat and bacon.  Cover and simmer 1 hour longer, stirring occasionally.

This dish tastes much better when reheated the next day.  

Serve with potatoes, and crusty dark bread. It pairs well with either icy vodka, hearty red wine like a cabarnet sauvignon, or beer. 

Smacznego!




PS:  This is a great crockpot dish – cook on high for 2 hours then low for about 6 hours.  Reheat the next day until hot throughout.