# ISO help with authentic Polish dishes



## nicklord1 (Jul 15, 2007)

What is the best polish dish , which i could try in order to  really experience  polish  /  eastern european fare. Thank you


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## QSis (Jul 15, 2007)

Well, possibly the dishes that are best known to Americans are:

- golobki (hamburger and rice stuffing, rolled up in cabbage leaves and baked)

- pierogi (potato and cheese-stuffed dough, like ravioli)

- borscht (beet soup)

Here is a picture of some of my pierogi with my borscht.




By QSis, shot with Canon PowerShot S230 at 2007-07-15

I make some pierogi with farmer's cheese, caramelized onions and fried out salt pork cubes, and some with saurkraut and rehydrated wild mushrooms.

My Polish relatives made their borscht, not with beets, but with a strong meat bone stock and rehydrated wild mushrooms, so that's how I make mine. Very complicated family recipe - one that only goes by "tastes right to me".

Lee


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## nicklord1 (Jul 16, 2007)

I am from the UK and there  are many polish communties in   england  so i just wanted to see  what polish cuisine had to offer . Thank you for your reply  any other recipes  would me most appreciated.


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## letscook (Jul 16, 2007)

Qsis   --They look great, put them on a plate and add a little sour cream, Yummy
how do you make your dough?


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## flukx (Jul 16, 2007)

Also Bigos, which is a "hunters stew", which is, at its simplest, a stew with cabbage/sauerkraut, sausage and tomato sauce/puree. There are numerous variations and you should find a number of different recipes.


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## nicklord1 (Jul 16, 2007)

I have had hungarian  food which was very nice and i suppose has similarities with  polish cuisine.  In england  for sunday its traditionally a roast lunch one has. Such as roast beef ,  roast chicken ,  lamb and pork being the most popular .  I was just wondering what was a traditional truly polish  dish .


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## QSis (Jul 16, 2007)

letscook said:
			
		

> how do you make your dough?


 
VERY simply! This is my Aunt Stella's recipe and she sweared by King Arthur's flour. She said eggs toughen the dough, so she left them out.

Lee

Pierogi Dough

3 cups King Arthur's flour
3 T butter
1/2 teaspoon of salt
up to 1 cup of warm water

Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and cut in the 3 T of butter. Begin adding the warm water to the flour and butter, mixing all the while, until the dough is one ball, slightly tacky, with elasticity.

Divide the ball in half and let the halves rest in the bowl, under a dish towel, at LEAST an hour.

Roll out one half of the dough at a time, to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut circles in the dough using a cutter (or a rocks glass). Gently roll out each circle to elongate them just a bit.

Place a pre-made ball of filling in each circle, stretch the dough over the filling so that edges meet. Wet one side of the dough and pinch the edges together, tightly, so that they won't come apart when cooked.

Gently side half a dozen pierogi in a pot of simmering, slightly salted water. Simmer pierogi for 3-4 minutes, then drain on racks. 

When ready to eat, reheat in a frying pan with a little butter, till browned.




By QSis, shot with Canon PowerShot S230 at 2007-07-16


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## nicklord1 (Jul 16, 2007)

IT looks very nice any other dishes  would be more than welcome  as i know little about polish cuisine and as its one of the bigger nations of Europe i think i should .  Eastern european  food has a bad press but i love hungarian  and want to find out more  about the different  cusinines of the  various nationalaties  and ethnic groups that make up eastern  europe.


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## flukx (Jul 16, 2007)

I lived in Poland for over a year and, in general, was not impressed with the cooking. While some dishes are arguably very tasty, i.e. good Barszcz soup (beetroot soup), the cuisine is essentially pork, potatoes, cabbage and...more cabbage. Spices other than salt and pepper are rarely used. 

Pierogis are a great little treat, however, they are also limited in ambition. Essentially just dough and various fillings, the most popular of which would probably be Pierogi Ruskie (Russian Pierogis) comprised of cream cheese and potato puree. However, they are generally served boiled with some fried lard/onions and a pool of butter. Sauces, for example, havent really hit yet and few establishments stray from this norm. Some people squirt soy sauce on pierogi, which I tend to like as well as it adds salt. 

Despite the rather limited ambition, some people spend days cooking one meal, which does add an element of intrigue and depth to what otherwise would be a bland dish. 

Christmas meals have 12 courses!


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## BreezyCooking (Jul 16, 2007)

Polish cuisine is very similar to Czech cuisine.  Being 100% Czech, I grew up enjoying many many different dishes, & would never ever even begin to pronounce the cuisine as "unimpressive".

It's indicative of the nation, it's past, & what it had/has available - just like any other country.  I certainly wouldn't call it "unimpressive".  In fact, what many countries have done with what they had available is frequently far better than what many folks these days call "haute cuisine".


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## mudbug (Jul 16, 2007)

_Hiya, Nick, and bienvenue to DiscussCooking.

Here's one you might like.  Unfortunately when I copied it from our wonderful site here, I forgot to add the name of the original poster so I can't give the proper credit to someone who actually made me like sauerkraut (in this dish only!)_

*Czech Chicken and Sauerkraut*
 
8 Chicken thighs
1 Tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. margarine (or butter)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 lb sauerkraut (try to find Polish or German kraut in a jar.)
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. caraway seeds
dash of pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar
several parboiled/steamed potato chunks, drained
2 cooking apples, cored and cut into thin wedges

Sprinkle chicken with salt and brown on both sides in margarine/butter in a large skillet. Add onion and cook until tender. Sprinkle some caraway seeds over the chicken as it browns. Mix together the kraut, water, caraway, pepper, brown sugar and potatoes. Add to chicken and onion and mix well. Cover skillet and cook 10-12 minutes or until chicken is tender.


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## nicklord1 (Jul 16, 2007)

yeah that sounds different and nice man thanks .  I am thinking of start a new thread for eastern european  cusine   can you contribute and educate me


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## nicklord1 (Jul 16, 2007)

how do you make german or polish kraut


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## mudbug (Jul 16, 2007)

Alas, I cannot educate you beyond that recipe, unless I scare up one for kolatchke (sp?) - that wonderful fruit pastry thing.

I don't make kraut, and rarely eat it.  I bought a jar of it for this recipe.  Someone with a proper love of the stuff  will no doubt come along and give you better advice.


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## mitmondol (Jul 16, 2007)

It is easy to make the sauerkraut.
Shredded cabbage layered with salt, pounded down. People actually used to jump into the barrels and stomp the cabbage.
You don't have to do that. The salt will draw out a brine of the cabbage.
You have to cover the cabbage with a plate (can't hurt to cover with cheesecloth first) and put some weight over it, so the cabbage stays submerged in the brine.
Keep the whole thing in a warm place for a few days. It will start fermenting.
Every day from now on you will have to wash the plate, cloth, weight and skim off the scum from the top of the cabbage.
In about 3-4 weeks it will be ready. Can keep it longer, the flavor will get stronger.


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## letscook (Jul 17, 2007)

Thanks Qsis, going to have to try them. My mother in law used to put sour cream in her dough which made them very tender also had eggs. She has passed now so we don't get to enjoy them. If I get a hold of the recipe from family members I will post it.


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## flukx (Jul 18, 2007)

Breezy, I never called the cuisine "unimpressive". I said I was not impressed, which is a big difference.

And I certainly did not make any comparisons whatsoever to "haute cuisine". The basic point, or rather opinion of mine, is that there is, comparatively, a lack of diversity in Polish food as a whole in comparison. A reason for this, I would imagine, is that the country of Poland is extremely homogeneous with little culinary influences other than the traditions that have been set in place. After communism (and the eventual availabilty once again of consumer goods and food), there was a type of revival of traditional Polish cooking that has continued to this day. I would imagine (hope?) that the cuisine will build upon these traditions and move towards more versatility in the cooking.


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## nicklord1 (Jul 18, 2007)

The kingdom of poland and livonia at one time  was a leading super power of the 16th century . Poland  and eastern european  has never been homogenous unlike western europe which has largely kept to  individual races and nationalities , up until 50 yrs ago which was brought about by mass immigration. Eastern europe on the other hand had  100s of sub races with different influences . Prob the reason why polish food and culture is less known about is because it was wiped of the map along with  much of the baltic  states swallowed up  by lithunania and then prussia and greater germany. It had brief independence   from 1918-1939  but  it was only since the 1990s that they had cultural freedoms . Equally the simple but effective cusine much like the german and austrian and balkans is prob due to climate .  I am still on a voyage  to find an excellent dish in every nation and to try and convince the world that  english cusine is equally good as any . In fact  out of the  top 10 resturants in the world a majority are based in England and spain . Hope my rant   gives you food for thought , no pun intended.


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## 2belucile (Jul 18, 2007)

" want to find out more about the different cusinines of the various nationalaties and ethnic groups that make up eastern europe."
I want to share with all of you this recipe.
It was given to me by Mrs Waldman, a nice Ukranian lady I knew in Toronto.
Potato Knishes
Dough:
4 cups flour
1 beaten egg (add lukewarm water to fill one 8-oz. cup)
1 Tbsp cooking oil
1 Tbsp vinegar
Dash of salt
Knead well, make sure dough is of soft texture. Place in bowl, cover dough with oil and an inverted plate.  Keep in warm area for 1 hour at least.
Filling
5 lbs potatoes, boiled soft and mashed
2 lbs Spanish onions sautéed or fried in oil to light brown
Mix cooked mashed potatoes and onions well, season with salt and pepper  to your taste.
Cut dough into small sections. On well floured  area, roll out each section until  tissue paper thin.
Place a roll of potato-onion mixture at the edge of thin sheet of dough and roll as like a jelly-roll.  Dent each roll with the edge of your hand, and form into a ball like shape.  ( -o-o-o-o it will look like this, cut  each little ball ) 
Grease pan and place each knish in pan. Bake for 1 hour at 350ª
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Hope you like them


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