Some traditonal Polish spring/summer recipes

Here are a few traditonal Polish recipes some of you many enjoy:

BLUEBERRY PIEROGI (pierogi z jagodami): Remove any leaves or stems from about 1 lb fresh blueberries, rinse and drain well in colander or sieve. Dust berries 1 t potato starch (or cornstarch) to make the cooked filling less runny. For the dough, combine 2 c flour, 1 c dairy sour cream, 1 small egg and 1/2 t salt. Work ingredients together to form a smooth dough and knead briefly. Roll out thin 1/3 of the dough, leaving the remainder under a warm inverted bowl so it doesn't dry out. With drinking-glass or biscuit-cutter cut dough-sheet into rounds. Place a spoonful of blueberries at center of each dough round, bring ends together and pinch edges together to seal. Cook in large pot of boiling salted water, gently stirring occasionally. When they float up, cook another 2 min. Remove with draining spoon and serve with sugar and sour cream.

STRAWBERRY OMELET (omlet z truskawkami): For each serving allow 2 eggs, 1 t cold water and a pinch of salt. Whisk well and pour mixture into heavy skillet containing hot unsalted butter (scant T per serving) over entire surface. Cook on low heat, picking up sides with spatula and letting runny egg mixture to flow onto hot surface. It is done when bottom is golden brown and top is set and glistening. Fold in half and serve topped with sliced, sugared strawberry, strawberry preserves or any jam of choice. A dollop of sour cream may be added.

POLISH APPLE TART (szarlotka): Combine 2-3/4 c flour with 1 c confectioner’s sugar, 4 egg yolks and 1/4 t salt and blend ingredients into a uniform dough. Do not knead! Roll into ball, wrap in foil and refrigerate at least 30 min. In pot combine 2-1/4 lbs tart cooking apples, peeled and sliced, with 3/4 c sugar and 3 T water and cook, stirring frequently, until apples are tender. Season a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg or ground cloves or any combination thereof. Divide chilled dough in 1/2. Roll one half out thin into a rectangle or square to fit your baking pan. Pierce all over with fork and bake in preheated 390° oven 10-15 min. Sprinkle surface of baked dough with 3-4 T crushed vanilla wafers and spread apple filling evenly over surface. Season with 1 t vanilla sugar. Roll out remaining dough half and cover apples. Reduce heat to 350° and bake about 45-60 min.

APPLE SPONGE CAKE (placek biszkoptowy z jabłkami): Peel, core, and slice thin 5 good-sized cooking apples. Sprinkle with a bit of lemon juice and cover so they don’t discolor. Separately, beat 5 egg yolks at high speed until fluffy, gradually adding 5 T confectioner’s sugar and 5 T sifted flour. Beat 5 egg whites and gently fold into yolk batter. Pour 1/2 the mixture into a buttered tube pan, add the apples and top with remaining batter. Bake in preheated 375°oven. Serve warm or cool dusted with confectioner’s sugar.

PLUM CAKE (placek ze śliwkami): Beat 1/2 c butter and 1 c sugar until smooth (about 2 min). Continue beating, adding 2 eggs 1 at a time. Mix 2 c flour with 2 t baking powder and 1/4 t salt and sift into bowl. Gradually stir in the butter-sugar-egg mixture, 1/2 t vanilla extract and 3/4 c milk, beating the whole time until smooth. Transfer dough to greased square or rectangular baking pan. Top dough with ripe Italian plum halves (węgierki) cut-side-up and sprinkle with a pinch or 2 cinnamon (optional). Dot with about 2 T cold butter and bake in preheated 350° oven about 40-45 min, or until inserted wooden pick comes out clean.

STRAWBERRY KISIEL (kisiel truskawkowy): In pot combine 1 c water and app. 1/2 c sugar and bring to boil. Remove from heat. Dissolve 3 T potato starch in 1/2 c cold water, stir into sugar water and slowly bring to boil stirring constantly. Add just under 1 lb hulled, washed, dried, crushed (processed) strawberries. Portion out into dessert bowls pre-rinsed with cold water. Chill. Serve kisiel (pronounced: KEY-shell) with cold coffee cream, half & half or vanilla sauce (The latter can be easily whipped up by combining 1 c cold milk with just enough instant vanilla pudding mix to produce a nice, pourable sauce!)

STRAWBERRIES & SOUR CREAM (truskawki ze śmietaną): Hull, wash and drain fresh strawberries and cut small ones in half and slice larger ones. Fill individual dessert dishes and provide sweetened sour cream (1 c sour cream fork-blended with a heaping T confectioner’s sugar) for your guests, allowing app. 1/4 - 1/3 c sweetened sour cream per serving.

STRAWBERRY ICE-CUP (puchar lodowy z truskawkami): Hull, wash and drain 1 qt fresh, ripe strawberries. Halve or slice strawberries of roughly equal size and sprinkle with sugar (app. 1 T sugar per 1 c berries). Let stand 30 min at room temp. Into parfait glasses place 1 scoop vanilla ice cream or frozen vanilla-flavored yogurt, a heaping T sugared strawberries, add another scoop ice cream, top with another spoonful of strawberries and, if the parfait glass permits, add another scoop ice cream and top with a little more strawberry mixture. Top with a dollop of real whipped cream and crown with 1 nice, whole, unblemished strawberry.

SUGARED STRAWBERRIES (truskawki z cukrem): Place whole, hulled or unhulled, washed strawberries in a bowl with a dish of granulated sugar next to it. Invite your guests to take the strawberries with their fingers, dip them in the sugar and enjoy.

SUGARED TOMATOES (pomidory z cukrem): Sprinkle sliced tomatoes with sugar and enjoy. The taste is reminiscent of red currants (czerwone porzeczki).

HONEYED CUCUMBERS (ogórki z miodem): Peel cucumber and cut into spears. Drizzle with honey and serve. Tastes a bit like watermelon – only better!

You can put them on top of home made macaroni (kluski). It makes a wonderful dinner! My aunt in Poland had a strawberry plantation. She served it for all of us teenage kids after a whole day of strawberry picking (for money). It was the best dinner! After that, we went to sleep in a barn - on the hay(sheets provided). Imagine 6 or 8 teenage cousins, girls and boys, sleeping there... It was so much fun! The stories we were telling each other... as we mostly met once a year at this strawberry picking times... :) Ah, memories.

Thank you, it will be fun to try some of these things.