yum, yum... Polish Cuisine 1. Oscypek with cranberries sauce...3 2. Smalec (Lard).....................4 3. Żurek (Sour flour-based soup)...6 4. Bigos (Hunter’s stew).............8 5. Sernik (Cheesecake) ...........10
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Oscypek with cranberries sauce Oscypek is a smoked raw cheese made from salted sheep’s milk. Grill oscypek until it is dark golden. Serve immediately with a dollop of cranberry jam.
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Smalec (Lard)
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1 kg white pork fat or leaf lard, diced 2 large onions, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1/4 kg pork fat or fatty bacon, diced 2 apples, peeled, cored and diced small 1 teaspoon marjoram Salt and pepper
Grind the diced white pork fat and fry stirring occasionally. Add the onion, garlic and bacon, and saute until bacon is golden brown . Add the apples, marjoram, pepper and salt. Transfer to a stoneware crock, leave at room temperature until fat has solidifed.
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Ĺťurek (Sour flour-based soup) Ryemeal sour: 3/4 cup rye flour 2 cups water boiled and cooled to lukewarm Mix rye flour together with lukewarm water. Pour into a glass jar or ceramic bowl. Cover with cheesecloth and let it stand in a warm place for 4 to 5 days.
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Soup: ¼ kg peeled and chopped soup vegetables (carrots, parsnips, celery root, leeks) 6 cups water ¼ kg fresh (white) Polish sausage ½ kg potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces 2 cups ryemeal sour 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour mixed with 4 tablespoons of water 1 garlic clove crushed with 1/2 teaspoon salt Peel vegetables and boil them. Add sausage and cook 30 minutes. Remove sausage from soup, slice when cool enough to handle, and set aside. Discard the vegetables from the stock. Add the potatoes and ryemeal sour to the stock, adding salt if necessary. Cook until potatoes are al dente. Add flour-water mixture, sliced sausage and garlic-salt paste. Boil the soup.
Bigos (Hunter’s stew)
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1/2 medium green cabbage 1 liter jar of sauerkraut 1 small can of tomato paste ¼ kg bacon ½ kg pork ½ kg Polish sausage several dry mushrooms 1 large onion 2 cloves of fresh garlic pimento bay leaf salt pepper 1 cup dry red wine
Shred cabbage. Stew under cover. Boil sauerkraut with 2 cups of water . Drain cabbage and sauerkraut. Chop pork and fry on vegetable oil. Cut bacon and sausage in small squares. Peal and chop onion and garlic. Fry bacon, sausage, onion and garlic. Combine all precooked ingredients. Add mushrooms, tomato paste, spices and wine. Mix well and stew for about one hour.
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Sernik (Cheesecake) 1 kg ground cottage cheese Ÿ kg butter 1 ½ cup sugar vanilla 3 heaped tablespoons wheat flour 3 heaped tablespoons potato flour 7 eggs, separated 2 teaspoons baking powder raisins, orange zest
Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks. Mix thoroughly with cheese, vanilla, flour, baking powder, raisins and orange zest. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Put them into the cheese mixture and mix very gently with a wooden spoon. Heat oven to 170o -180oC. Bake approx. 50 minutes. Cool before serving.
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