Mama's Favorite Summer Salads -- Totally Polish & Totally Awesome

Witamy!
Peter's Mother loved the fresh salads of summer because they were so light, refreshing, and paired well with almost any meal.  She would make enough to last several days and we all loved it.  

Now that the hot weather is here, there’s not much better than a chilled salad to accompany lunch or supper. We get our vegetables fresh off the farm from a nearby  farmers' market, and they are always bright, crunchy, and delicious.  These salads are healthy, and with a slight tang of the sour cream, they are totally Polish.  The sour cream is a theme running through these recipes because sour cream is a very popular element of classic Polish cuisine. Used in moderation, sour cream is a great flavor enhancer and a very popular ingredient in Polish preparations - especially when topped with fresh chopped dill or parsley.   Smacznego!

Radishes With Sour Cream  (Serves 5)

3 bunches fresh radishes, sliced thinly

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup sour cream

Lettuce leaves

1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill

Sprinkle salt over the radishes and combine with sour

 cream.  Spread artfully over lettuce leaves and sprinkle

dill on top.

Carrot, Apple & Horseradish Salad  (Serves 4)

6 medium carrots, peeled and shredded

2 apples, peeled, cored and shredded

2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

Salt and sugar

2/3 cup sour cream

Green parsley, chopped

Combine the carrots, apple and horseradish.  Season with both salt and sugar, fold in the sour cream.  Chill for 15 minutes, garnish with parsley for color.

Carrot & Rhubarb Salad  (Serves 4)

4 medium carrots, peeled and shredded

2 stalks of rhubarb, finely sliced

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sour cream

Lettuce leaves

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Sprinkle the sugar on the rhubarb.  Mix with the carrots. Season with salt to taste, mix in the Sour cream.  Arrange on the lettuce leaves.  Sprinkle parsley over the top for garnish.

Fresh Fruit Tart - Polish Style

Witamy!

Summer is here for most of us and fresh fruit is available everywhere.  Peter just came in with bags of beautiful peaches, aromatic plums and sweet nectarines.  These were shipped up from South America but that’s the beauty of a global markets...we can enjoy the harvests year round. 

A stunning way to enjoy the bounty of these harvests is in a delicious fruit tart.  The main stream grocery stores and commercial bakeries sell their versions for big bucks, but they’re usually very sweet, and often full of artificial ingredients.  Those store-baked tarts are often made with a cheap, lard-laden crust, they often contain a gooey pastry cream under the fruit, and the fruit itself has been drenched in some sort of heavy syrup. They are stunning to look at but maybe not the healthiest dessert around. 

Our way is to make a delicious yeasty shell and just fill it with sliced fruit – nothing more and nothing less.  Pure and simple.  Fresh and delicious.   All natural and better for you.  It’s the way to go!

Batter

• 1 packet dry yeast
• ½ cup milk, tepid
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• ¾ stick sweet butter
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch salt
• 1/3 cup breadcrumbs

Fruit Topping

4 cups sliced fruit (peaches, nectarines, apricots, Italian plums, apples, all berries, or mix & match)

¾ cups confectioners’ sugar

To prepare the shell, combine the yeast with milk and 1 tablespoon of sugar.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Mix in ½ cup of flour and place the mixture in 150°F oven until it doubles in size.

Cream the butter and the remaining sugar until pale and creamy.  Add the egg yolks and vanilla, and beat for 5 minutes.  Add in the yeast mixture.  Add in the remaining flour in small portions, while beating.  Beat for 5 more minutes.  Whip the egg whites and salt until stiff.  Fold into the dough.

Butter (or use baking spray) a 9 inch x 12 inch baking pan and sprinkle with the bread crumbs.  Spread the dough evenly in the prepared pan and cover with a light cloth or dish towel; place in 150°F oven until the dough doubles in size.

Distribute all the fruit slices evenly on top of the dough.  Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.  Let cool.  Cut into serving portions while still in the pan.   Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.

Smacznego!

PS  We have plenty of outstanding fruit-based desserts that aren’t so sweet, in our Polish Classic Desserts book.   For a personally dedicated and autographed copy, just click on the blue book cover at the top of this page. 

Getting Saucy - Polish Style

Witamy!   In the best classic cuisines, sauces are the “icing on the cake” that can make or break a great dish.  Classic Polish sauces are delicious, distinctive and fairly simple to prepare.  The key to success is in the proper proportions of fat, flour, liquid, plus a little patience and a lot of love. 

Here are some tips: 

*  Always cook your hot sauces low and slow and always keep stirring - a good wooden spoon will be your friend.

*  Instantized flour, such as Wondra, can be a big help because it yields a smoother and less lumpy texture with less mixing.  It's not always easy to find, but worth a spot in your pantry.

*  Never add flour to the sauce – rather, add sauce to the flour – a spoonful at a time.  Add sauce to sour cream the same way until it doubles in volume – never sour cream to the sauce.

*  Never boil a sauce containing sour cream because it will separate.  However, a separated sauce can still be rescued by adding a more sour cream – the right way. 

*  Using chicken or beef stock generally gives more flavor to sauces, but vegetable stock is better for a fish dish because it is milder and allows the other flavors to shine.

Here are some of our favorite classic Polish sauces for you to try:

Dill Sauce  (3 cups)

1 cup chicken or beef broth

3 tablespoons flour

2 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Salt to taste

½ cup sour cream

Gradually stir the cold broth into the flour.  Bring to a low boil stirring constantly.  Stir in the dill.  Remove pan from heat and season with salt.  Stir in the sour cream gradually..   Serve over roast beef, pork roast, even grilled fish. 

Dried Mushroom Sauce  (1 ½ cups)

1 ounce dried mushrooms

1 cup water

3 ½ tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons cold water

Salt & pepper to taste

½ cup sour cream

Clean the mushrooms well with a brush and rinse several times.  Place mushrooms in water and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes or until somewhat soft.  Remove the rehydrated mushrooms from hot water (now broth) and slice.  But DO NOT THROW AWAY the hot mushroom water.  Combine the four tablespoons water to the flour and mix in the hot mushroom water slowly, while stirring.  Add the mushrooms and bring to ma slow boil while stirring.  Remove from heat.  Season and let cool a bit.  Add in the sour cream slowly.  Perfect with meatloaf, meatballs, Polish hamburgers, pork roast, or any braised meats.

Cold Apple-Horseradish Sauce  (2 cups)

5 ounces prepared horseradish

1 large tart apple, peeled and shredded

1 cup sour cream

Salt to taste

¼ teaspoon sugar

Mix the horseradish with apple.  Add the sour cream.  Season with salt and sugar.  Chill well.  Serve with cold meats, hard boiled eggs, fish.

Cold Mustard Sauce  (1 cup)

2 tablespoons prepared mustard

1 cup sour cream

Salt to taste

¼ teaspoon sugar

Mix all ingredients well. Chill thoroughly.  Serve with cold meats such as pork roast, ham, kielbasa.

Cold Green Onion Sauce  (1 ½ cups)

1 cup sour cream

2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

4 tablespoon chopped green onions

¼ teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients.  Chill well.  Serve with cold meats such as pork roast, ham, kielbasa.

Hot Horseradish Sauce  (2 cups)

1 cup chicken or beef broth

2 ½ tablespoons flour

3 ounces prepared horseradish

½ cup table cream

Salt to taste

¼ teaspoon sugar

Gradually stir the broth into the flour.  Bring to a low boil stirring constantly.  Slowly stir in the horseradish and cream. Keep stirring.  Season to taste with salt and sugar.  Serve on the side with roast beef, pork roast, even grilled fish. 

Smacznego!