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Polish Housewife

Polish recipes served up with tidbits of folklore, customs, and history

French

Easy Dauphinoise Potatoes

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Rather than share a Polish recipe today, I’m sharing one I first heard of when we lived in Poland, easy Dauphinoise Potatoes. Living in Poznan exposed us to many things European, and for native English speakers, the easiest to take in are things from Britian. Our Polish cable televsion brought us BBC Europe in our channel lineup. Watching the UK version of Come Dine with Me was the highlight of many an evening at home.

Easy Dauphinoise Potatoes add an elegant touch to any meal!

If you’re not familiar with the program, it consists of four folks, who take turns hosting the other three participants in their home for a dinner party. The three guests score their hosts, and after the final meal, the overall winner is presented with one thousand pounds! We see highligths of them cooking in the kitchen, of the dinner conversation, and interviews in between, where they talk about the meal the night before or the menu they’ve been given for an upcoming meal. The highlight for us is Dave Lamb, an English actor and comedian, who provides voice over commentary, and says all the snarky things that cross my mind as I’m watching and then some.

Watching the show, pointed out differences in British food and American food. There were dishes I’d never heard of, even though I lived in England for a while, way back when. Many of these novel dishes were repeated frequently, sometimes within the same episode. Dauphinoise Potatoes was a dish that appeared with great frequency. (We’ve talked about hosting a dinner party and preparing a menu that would only be the most popular items form Come Dine with Me.) At first glance, I thought Dauphinoise Potatoes are just Scalloped Potatoes or maybe Potatoes au Gratin. For me, the key difference is cooking the sliced potatoes in the cream before moving them to the baking dish with Gruyere cheese. That seems to make a big difference, that and the garlic. Yum.

As they bake in the same cream and milk in which you’ve boiled them with a clove of garlic, the potatoes meld into a thick and rich, mildly cheese casserole. We fixed them a couple of weeks ago when our friend, Mark, was visiting for the weekend. We had them the first night for dinner, and the next two mornings for breakfast. They’re very tasty with a fried egg on top.

Now I’m waiting for my next opportunity to work easy Dauphinoise Potatoes into the menu.

Smacznego!

Lois

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Dauphinoise Potatoes

  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 45 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 15 mins
  • Yield: 9 servings
  • Category: Side Dish
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Description

A rich and creamy potato dish

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon butter, softened
  • 2 1/2 pounds potatoes
  • 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
  • 4 ounces Gruyere cheese
  • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 F
  2. Spread butter across bottom and sides of an 8 inch square baking pan
  3. Peel potatoes and slice 1/8 inch thick
  4. Bring heavy cream, milk, and garlic to a simmer in a large saucepan or Dutch oven
  5. Add potatoes, salt, and pepper and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender about 20 minutes
  6. Using a slotted spoon, transfer half the potatoes to prepared baking dish and sprinkle with half of the cheese and half of the thyme
  7. Add remaining potatoes to baking dish and pour enough cream mixture over potatoes to just cover
  8. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and thyme
  9. Place on a rimmed baking sheet to catch anything that might boil over and bake until bubbly and golden brown on top, 40 to 45 minutes
  10. Remove from oven and grate nutmeg over top just before serving

 

Fasolka Po Bretonsku (Polish Breton Beans)

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Fasolka Po Bretonsku (Polish Breton Beans) is something Ed discovered before I moved to Poland. He’d had it in a restaurant a shopping mall, a galleria, probably either Poznan Plaza or M1. I remember him ordering it, like an experienced diner, one time after I’d joined him. To describe Fasolka Po Brestonsku, I’ll say that it’s like a gourmet version of Campbell’s Bean and Bacon soup, something I loved from my childhood. There are similar flavor notes, but this is so much more. Of course, it’s homemade!

Fasolka Po Bretonsku (Polish Breton Beans)

Poles will be quick to say that this isn’t a Polish recipe, although it’s very popular in Poland. It’s from the Brittany region in France. The New York Times ran a French version of this recipe. There is no sausage; there is no bacon. I think I can see how Poland took a tasty dish and made it even better! It’s such an improvement that I’m inclined to call it a Polish recipe. No matter which cuisine gets credit, I know you’ll enjoy Fasolka Po Bretonsku.

Smacznego!

Lois

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Fasolka Po Bretonsku (Polish Breton Beans)

  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Category: Soup
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

A hearty bean soup with tomatoes, sausage and bacon

Ingredients

  • 1 pound beans, large white beans or baby lima beans
  • 8 ounces bacon, diced
  • 8 ounces kielbasa, sliced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 12 ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon marjoram
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons Wondra flour (optional)

Instructions

  1. Cook beans according to package directions, or cheat like I did and use a box of frozen Lima beans or canned beans
  2. Saute bacon over medium high heat in a Dutch oven, until fat is rendered
  3. Add kielbasa and onion, saute until onion is translucent
  4. Add garlic, cook for 2 more minutes
  5. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and marjoram
  6. Simmer 30 – 60 minutes to blend flavors
  7. (Optional) Sprinkle the Wondra flour over the soup and stir to blend. This will thicken the broth a little bit and seems tone down the tartness of the tomatoes a bit. Wondra is pre-cooked flour, so it blends easily without clumping and doesn’t have a raw flour taste.

 

Ratatouille – French Veg

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Ratatouille

Ratatouille is a traditional French stewed vegetable dish from Provence. We were served ratatouille many times during our trip though France even though we were not in Provence. Similar to Spanish pisto manchego or Italian ciambotta. Ratatouille gets its color from tomatoes and its vivid flavor from the mix of summer vegetables. Its bright taste makes ratatouille the perfect accompaniment for any protein.

Ratatouille Serving Suggestions

If you want to keep the dish vegan, you might sprinkle the ratatouille with nutritional yeast. Serve this along side white beans.

If you’re looking for a vegetarian or Meatless Monday meal, try topping it with a little freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a poached egg.

I made a very small batch, just  to try this out, but it’s a recipe that you could double or triple or. . . you get the idea. If you’re harvesting vegetables or they’re in season and priced right, make a big batch. Ratatouille tastes even better the next day. It will keep in the fridge for four or five days. For longer life, freeze it in small containers.

There is much debate among the experts on the proper way to prepare ratatouille. Should everything be cooked separately or all together? Should it be  finished in the oven or on top of the stove? This is what I did and I can’t tell it apart for what sampled in France.

I hope you’ll bring this taste of the French countryside to your dinner table. Bon appetit!

 

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Ratatouille

  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Total Time: 1 hour 15 mins
  • Yield: 4 - 6
  • Category: Vegetable
  • Cuisine: French
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Description

A bright, colorful side dish from the French countryside

Ingredients

  • 1 eggplant
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • olive oil
  • 1/2 red bell pepper
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 dried tomatoes, diced
  • 1 zucchini, diced (peel on)
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon each fresh thyme and parsley
  • salt, pepper, cayenne

Instructions

  1. Dice the eggplant (I left the peel on) into 1/2 inch (1 cm) chunks
  2. Place in a colander and sprinkle with salt
  3. In a large frying pan, saute the onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until translucent
  4. Add the red bell pepper and cook until the union begins to brown, add a little more oil at any point as needed
  5. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes
  6. Add the tomatoes
  7. Press down on the eggplant to remove any water and add to the dish, along with the zucchini, continue stirring and cook for 5 more minutes
  8. Stir in the tomato paste and water, season with salt, pepper, and a dash of cayenne
  9. You want the texture to be like a thick stew or gravy. If it seems to watery, skip the lid in the next step
  10. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes to 1 hour, until all the vegetables are tender

Notes

I used dried tomatoes because that’s what I had on hand. You certainly could substitute a fresh tomato, diced. In which case, I would probably reduce the amount of water added to 1/2 cup.

If you don’t have fresh herbs, you can substitute 1 teaspoon of dried herbs.

Ratatouille

Olives in Puff Pastry — an Easy Appetizer

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olive puff pastry appetizer

Fluffy bites of puff pastry with a surprise inside

In honor of Bastille Day, let me share with your a quick and easy appetizer that we enjoyed on a recent road trip through France. It was Ed’s favorite on the plate of amuse-bouches that began our meal on an adventurous evening when we trusted our GPS to find a restaurant for us. Not to worry, I don’t think you can get a bad meal in France. You’ll get very expensive meals in Paris, but we were just outside of Langeais along the Loire river.

The next day, July 4th, we were seeing friends who have a home in the area. Our friend Bill and Ed flew together 30 years ago.  Bill’s wife, Anne is French, and they are in the process of restoring an old limestone house that will become their full-time home when they’re both retired. We popped in on them just after they’d arrived from the US for their annual vacation in France. It’s a different and richer experience to visit a foreign country when you’re with locals. You get a feel for how people really live rather than the top tourist attractions.

We went to Bill and Anne’s for lunch which in true European fashion turned into leisurely meal that goes on for hours. It didn’t truly end until 6 PM  when the guys went next door to watch the World Cup quarter-final match with France and the Netherlands. I kept Anne company while she was cleaning up the kitchen; I really did offer to help, but the kitchen is tiny and a second person would have just been underfoot.

201

A 4th of July cookout, French style!!!

Shortly after the clean up was over, our football fans returned and we sat down to eat again. That evening, our hosts took us to see Mille Feux (1000 lights) in the gardens of Chateau Villandry, the grounds were lit with more than 2,000 candles. Anne told me that there are so many miles of boxwood plants in the garden that the staff of 32 full-time gardeners is able to trim them only once per year. They looked perfect the night we were there. The courtyard offered games of skill for visitors, a concert at the lake and at 11 PM, a fireworks display that was so close, I almost pulled out my sunglasses. It was so special for us to be with American friends on the 4th of July and to see fireworks with them in France of all places. 

I knew the French weren’t celebrating our independence day. When I asked Anne what the occasion was, she said that it was in anticipation of July 14th — that many chateaux were spreading our the celebrations, so that people could attend more than one event. It was a really special time, one that we’ll always remember.

When we returned to our Bed and Breakfast, the owner asked how our day had been. We said that we had eaten all day long. He didn’t seem surprised and said, “of course, you’re in France!” He told us that you know you’re in France when your meal time conversation is about the next meal.

To make your next meal memorable, here’s our new favorite little nibble that uses only three ingredients!

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Olives in Puff Pastry — an Easy Appetizer

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 25 mins
  • Category: Appetizer
  • Cuisine: French
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Description

A tasty bite with drinks or to start a meal

Ingredients

  • frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
  • olives, any variety, pitted
  • paprika

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 F
  2. Cut the pastry into rectangles just big enough to wrap around your olives
  3. Wrap the olives and pinch the pastry to seal the sides
  4. Sprinkle with paprika
  5. Place on cookie sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, until puffy and brown

Notes

Variation: brush with an egg wash (made by whisking 1 egg yolk, 1 tablespoon cold water and 1 tablespoon of canola oil), sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese.

 

Trio of Cold Soups for Summer

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Even with temperatures rising, soup is the way to begin a meal in Poland, so much so that I’ve had a waitress argue with me when I ordered a salad for a first course.

cooking class, church, soup

With that thought in mind, I shared three great cold soups recipes in a cooking class this week. It was a good excuse to spend time with my old friends. On Monday night, we gathered in the church kitchen, diced up a ton of vegetables, and created some light, vegetarian soups that are perfect for summer, but we didn’t stop there.

One of my friends has an herb garden, so we whipped up a garlic herb compound butter — just the thing to go with a couple of loaves from our favorite bakery. It’s so easy to do. We used two sticks of soft butter, a minced clove of garlic, a pinch of salt, and a 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup diced herbs. We used lemon thyme, flat leaf parsley, and tarragon; you could use any combination you like.

Getting back to the soups, we made a cold Polish beet soup, Chlodnik. This soup’s most notable feature is its bright pink color. It combines cooled beets and other raw vegetables with lots of dairy, including kefir — something very popular in Poland, but new to my American friends. I urge you to give kefir a try. I’ve read that it has five times the probiotics found in yogurt; add it to a smoothie or try one of the flavored versions.

Chlodnik (Cold Polish Beet Soup)

We also made an asparagus vichyssoise. This was a little different than the version I make in Poland where the asparagus is white; I must admit the green color was very attractive.

asparagus potato soup

A Spanish gazpacho finished off our trio. This has been one of my favorites ever since the 1980s, when we spent four years living in Spain, and I researched gazpacho and sangria all over the Iberian peninsula, but that’s another story.

Gazpacho

Ninety minutes after we started, we gathered around the table for interesting conversation and soup sampling. The lone man who joined us told us about The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. As a cyclist, this was especially interesting to me. In its 42nd year, the week long ride is almost 500 miles. Our friend who has made the ride five times tells us that it’s really just an excuse for a week long party. It is possible to join in just for a day. That might be more my speed if I could find a day that would guarantee a tailwind! 😉

As for our soups, there were many trips to the kitchen to refill our bowls, but no clear favorite. So take a break from salads this summer, give these soups a try and let me know which one you would choose.

 

 

Asparagus Vichyssoise

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I bought fresh white asparagus for the first time a month ago.  When I found out that it had to be peeled before cooking (what a hassle!) I said that from now on, I would only buy green asparagus.

Last week, a farmer’s stand at the tram stop had white asparagus for 1 złoty (37 cents) per bundle, and I bought two.  I just can’t pass up a delicious bargain, even if the preparation is s bother.  Because it does have to be peeled, working with thick stalks is much easier than thin stalks.  With the skinny little ones, it seems as if you have nothing left after peeling.

I used a food network recipe, and we all loved it.  Even Benson, our dog, likes his food more with a spoon full of asparagus vichyssoise.

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Asparagus Vichyssoise

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 25 mins
  • Total Time: 35 mins
  • Yield: 6-8
  • Category: Soup
  • Cuisine: French
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Description

A creamy, cold soup – an elegant summer offering

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced
  • 2 shallots, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, diced
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 large potato, peeled and diced
  • 1 bunch white asparagus (green would be good too), peeled and diced
  • 1/2 to 1 cup heavy cream
  • salt and pepper
  • olive oil
  • chives, sliced

Instructions

  1. In a large saucepan, melt butter and saute leeks and shallots for 5 minutes
  2. Add garlic and cook 2 more minutes
  3. Add broth, potato, and asparagus; cook until potato is tender
  4. Process soup in blender or with immersion blender until smooth
  5. Add cream for desired consistency
  6. Season with salt and pepper
  7. Serve chilled (although warm would be good too)
  8. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of chives

Notes

The original recipe had me reserve the asparagus tips for garish as well, but I don’t think I’ll do that again. The crunch distracted from the rich creaminess of the soup, and visually, I found it more pleasing with just the oil and chives. I filled a teaspoon with oil and drizzled it in circular motions to get the pattern you see in the top photo.