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Polish Housewife

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

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Kotlety Wolowe Siekane (Polish Ground Beef Cutlets)

by 7 Comments

Looking for something different to do with ground beef, I found a recipe for Kotlety Wolowe Siekane (Polish Ground Beef Cutlets) in Polish Cookery by Marja Ochorowicz-Montowa. My one complaint with this cookbook is that the instructions often refer to another recipe, leaving the reader flipping back and forth, trying to meld the two recipes.

Other than being inconvenient, I didn’t realize it had led to a problem until I began this write-up. Kotlety Wolowe Siekane (Polish Ground Beef Cutlets) are recipe #41.

It starts off, “Prepare meat as in #40, omitting the fish.” The recipes are on different pages, and apparently, as I flipped back and forth, I glommed onto #36, which also has similar ingredients. We loved the way they turned out, so it wasn’t really a problem!

I’m writing this up the way I actually did it, so given the above, it may be different from the way other people make these ground beef cutlets. What I actually did, differs a bit from the given, more typically Polish, instructions.

I didn’t have fresh rolls, so I used dried bread crumbs. I always have dried breads crumbs since my time in PL. Stale bread? Dry it out and blitz it in the food processor, or use that favorite Polish kitchen tool, the box grater.

The recipe calls for running the meat, milk soaked rolls, and bacon through a meat grinder twice. I do have a meat grinder attachment for my mixer, something not common in American kitchens, but it just seemed like to much trouble, and I was getting a late start in preparing this.

So here, my friends, it the round about version of Kotlety Wolowe Siekane (Polish Ground Beef Cutlets). They were delicious, reminiscent of Salisbury Steak.

As we were finishing our late dinner, Ed suggested that he take one for his lunch the next day. Very delicious, with a steak-like texture; I hope you’ll enjoy them and share this with all of your beef loving friends!

Smacznego!

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Kotlety Wolowe Siekane (Polish Ground Beef Cutlets)

★★★★★ 5 from 3 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 10 min
  • Cook Time: 80 min
  • Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Category: Main dish
  • Method: Stove top
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

A delicous Polish steak-like cutlet made with ground beef

Ingredients

  • 1/2 large onion, finely diced
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • 2 pounds ground beef (or mix of beef and pork)
  • 4 slices bacon, finely diced (easier if they’re lightly frozen)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • dash of ground marjoram
  • flour for dredging
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup beef stock

Instructions

  1. Cook onion in 1 tablespoon butter until just beginning to brown, cool
  2. Add bread crumbs and milk to a bowl, stir, add egg, ground meat, bacon, salt, pepper, marjoram, and cooked onions
  3. Mix until well combined, form into 6 oblong patties about an inch thick, lightly dredge in flour
  4. Brown meat patties (on both sides) in 2 tablespoons melted butter, add beef broth, cover and simmer for 1 hour

Notes

Add extra delicousness by serving topped with sauted mushrooms and a bit of the cooking broth, and a sprinkle of fresh herbs. In this case, garlic chives.

Keywords: Kotlety Wolowe Siekane (Polish Ground Beef Cutlets)

Krokiety Polish Croquettes

by 8 Comments

Krokiety Polish Croquettes are traditionally served along side Barszcz, a spicy beet broth soup or topped with a mushroom sauce or gravy. They’re filled naleśniki or crepes that’s battered with breadcrumbs and fried until beautifully crisp.

They are delicious little bits of heaven, and I’m including a couple of shortcuts to tempt you into making them not matter how busy your day is.

Krokiety Polish Croquettes with mushroom sauce

Krokiety Fillings

The filling could take many forms, a mix of vegetables, maybe some meat. Although on Christmas Eve or during Lent you can be sure the filling will be meatless. Just combine flavors that you like.

Veggie fillings should be finely chopped:

  • sautéed mushrooms
  • sautéed onion
  • sautéed cabbage
  • drained sauerkraut
  • grated cooked carrot (from your soup broth if you’re making barszcz)

Meat fillings should be cooked, shredded or ground:

  • chicken
  • turkey
  • beef
  • finely diced ham

Polish croquettes, krokiety, with mushroom sauce and alongside barszcz

Shortcuts

I’ve read some recipes that add egg to the filling to bind it together. I like to use grated cheese, which is quick and easy, or a white sauce. I mix up a bechamel sauce or sos beszamelowy.

Here’s Martha Stewart’s recipe. You would just need 1/4 of her recipe, or save a little time with a packet mix or even jarred sauce, the kind of white sauce or Alfredo sauce you might find next to spaghetti sauce in the supermarket.

The Amazon links below are part of an affiliate program. If you make a purchase via the links below, Amazon sends me a few cents.

In addition to this substitution, you might even substitute egg roll wrappers for the crepes because when you think about it, these are a lot like egg rolls. This is a shortcut that makes it easy to use up little bits of leftover meat or veggies.

I made these with Barszcz, so for the meat, I just used shortribs, and I picked the meat off the bones after making the broth. They’re equally delicious without meat.

Smacznego!

Lois

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Krokiety Polish Croquettes

Krokiety Polish Croquettes

  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 25 mins
  • Total Time: 40 mins
  • Yield: 12 krokiety
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

Crispy bundles filled with veggie and maybe meat

Ingredients

  • for crepes
  • 1 cups flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • for filling
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 8 ouces mushrooms, diced
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1/2 cup sauerkraut, drained
  • 1/2 cup meat of your choice
  • 1/2 cup grated cheese or white sauce (just enough to bind ingredients together)
  • to assemble
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 cup breadcrumbs
  • oil for frying

Instructions

for crepes

  1. Combine flour, milk, water, eggs, melted butter, salt with mixer or blender
  2. Let the batter rest in the fridge for 30 minutes
  3. Heat a small frying pan, 8 or 9 inches, over medium high heat
  4. Brush or spray the pan with oil
  5. Add about 1/4 cup of batter and shake and tilt the pan to spread the batter to coat the bottom of the pan
  6. Cook about 30 seconds, until crepe is set and beginning to brown
  7. Flip crepe and cook another 10 – 20 seconds
  8. Remove, stack on a plate

for the filling

  1. Add butter and chopped mushrooms, and onion to a frying pan and cook until tender
  2. Add sauerkraut, I snipped the kraut with scissors, it seemed easier than dicing, and cooked meat
  3. Add grated cheese or white sauce and stir to combine
  4. Set aside

to assemble

  1. Put approximately 2 tablespoons of filling on a crepe, if the crepe were a clock, position the filling between 10 and 2 o’clock, keeping it about an inch from the edges, fold the top over the filling and fold the sides in and continue rolling
  2. Repeat until you run out of crepes or filling
  3. Whisk egg and water
  4. Carefully dip in rolled crepes in the egg wash and them roll in breadcrumbs
  5. Heat oil, about 1/2 inch deep, to 350 F over high to medium high heat
  6. Carefully place krokiety in hot oil, cooking until golden brown, about one minute on each side
  7. Serve along side Barszcz or with mushroom sauce

 

Kotlety z Piersi Kurczaka (Chicken Cutlet)

by 8 Comments

I love fried chicken, but I’ve never been a fan of chicken breast. Dark meat just has so much more flavor and is more moist. I felt vindicated when a judge on The Big Family Cooking Showdown (Netflix) made a similar comment. Kotlety z Piersi Kurczaka (Chicken Cutlet) might change all of that for me. I used the same technique that I would to make Kotlet Schabowy.

Kotlety z Piersi Kurczaka (Chicken Cutlet)

Pounding the chicken breast thin with a meat mallet (affiliate link), tenderizes the meat and insures that it cooks quickly and stays moist. (You won’t want to use the tenderloin or chicken tenders. It’s just too delicate to tenderize in this way.) With a delicious crisp crust, and a thin, moist bit of chicken breast Kotlety z Piersi Kurczaka (Chicken Cutlet) makes for a delicious meal. We prepared this recently for a Sunday Dinner with my parents and my sister, and it was a hit!

Smacznego!

Lois

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Kotlety z Piersi Kurczaka (Chicken Cutlet)

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 40 mins
  • Yield: 8
  • Category: Main
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

Tenderizing gives you a thin, moist bit of meat, surrounded by a crisp breadcrumb crust

Ingredients

  • 4 chicken breast (without tenders)
  • salt and pepper
  • flour, for dredging
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • breadcrumbs (season with salt and pepper)
  • oil, for frying, lard would be ideal

Instructions

  1. With a meat tenderizing mallet, pound the chicken breast (shiny side up) until very thin
  2. Cut each flattened breast into two pieces
  3. Season with salt and pepper
  4. Set up a 3 plate or bowl station, one with flour, one with egg, one with breadcrumbs
  5. Dredge the meat in flour, dip both sides in egg, and coat with breadcrumbs
  6. Heat oil to 350 F, fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side

 

Łazanki z Białą Kapustą (Polish Noodles and Cabbage)

by 10 Comments

The first time we were stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, Ed was training in the F-4, and I was a college student. His parents drove down from Pennsylvania to visit us. I’d been a guest in their home before, but it was the first time we’d hosted them, so we broke out of student mode long enough to give out townhouse a thorough cleaning in anticipation of their visit. Like moms everywhere, his mother had brought the fixings to cook for us the first night.

One of the things she prepared was Łazanki z Białą Kapustą (Polish Noodles and Cabbage). As we were cleaning up  the kitchen after the feast she’d prepared, my mother-in-law asked how to lift up the top of the stove to clean under the burners.

I had to confess that I didn’t know; it was wasn’t something I’d done in the two months we’d bene living there. Busted! To be fair, we didn’t cook a lot back then. An occasional Sunday dinner or omelettes for his classmates after a Friday night at the Officer’s Club were the extent of our meal prep.

Łazanki z Białą Kapustą (Polish Noodles and Cabbage) a comfort food side with kielbasa

Recently, Mike from PA asked if I could reconnect him with a noodle and cabbage dish his grandmother used to make. I hope Łazanki z Białą Kapustą (Polish Noodles and Cabbage) will come close to what he remembers.

As with all recipes, there are as many variations as there are cooks. To me, a key trait is that the dish is generously seasoned with ground black pepper. Sometimes, my mother-in-law would add a can of sauerkraut that she’d rinsed and drained.

I think it would also be delicious if you added sautéed mushrooms, and everything goes better with kielbasa. You might slice and saute the kielbasa and add it to the noodle and cabbage mixture or serve it on the side. Now that I’ve lived in Poland and gotten a feel for typical seasonings, I like to add a bay leaf an a couple of whole allspice berries.

Łazanki z Białą Kapustą (Polish Noodles and Cabbage) with kielbasa

As we enjoyed this for a quick dinner last dinner, Ed said, “you know, this would be tasty for breakfast too.” Whenever you decide to serve it, I hope you’ll enjoy Łazanki z Białą Kapustą (Polish Noodles and Cabbage).

Smacznego!

Lois

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Łazanki z Białą Kapustą (Polish Noodles and Cabbage)

  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 45 mins
  • Yield: 6-8 servings
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

Full of flavor, a Polish comfort food, a delicious side dish or add sausage for a hearty main

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 2 small onions, sliced
  • 1 head white cabbage, quartered, cored removed, and sliced thin
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 whole allspice
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 14 ounce can sauerkraut, rinsed and drained (optional)
  • package wide noodles, prepared according to package directions

Instructions

  1. Add butter and oil to a Dutch oven over medium high heat
  2. Add sliced onions and cabbage, bay leaf and allspice, salt and pepper
  3. Cook, stirring and scrapping the bottom frequently, until the cabbage is tender (it will cook down to about 1/3 of the original volume)
  4. (Add the optional drained sauerkraut if you’re using it)
  5. Add the cooked (and drained) noodles, toss to combine

Notes

Variations: add sliced kielbasa or serve kielbasa on the side
Add sautéed sliced mushrooms

 

Kotlet Schabowy (Polish Pork Cutlet)

by 10 Comments

Kotlet Schabowy is similar to the well know Viennese Schnitzel except we’re using pork rather than veal. Poles use the same technique with chicken or turkey breast, pound the meat into thin steaks, dredge in flour, egg, and the breadcrumbs before frying. Use beef and you have something like the American chicken fried steak. Pounding the meat until it’s thin, tenderizes it and insures that it cooks quickly, giving you a moist piece of meat in a crispy coating.

Kotlet Schwabowy

During the first year Ed lived in Poland while I was still working in the US. When we talked via Skype, he often mentioned that someone downstairs seemed to have a carpentry shop in the flat. He would often come home and hear someone hammering away. He assumed they were making furniture. It wasn’t until I moved to Poland and began making Kotlet Schabowy, that he realized the pounding sound was probably coming from the neighbors’ kitchen, not a wood shop.

You can serve Kotlet Schabowy with Mizeria, sautéed mushrooms, or with potato salad, or mashed or boiled potatoes. Sometimes, I’ll make a gravy with sautéed red bell pepper slices, heavily seasoned with black pepper to serve over the top.

How every you serve it, I’m sure you’ll enjoy Kotlet Schabowy.

Smacznego!

Lois

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Kotlet Schwabowy

Kotlet Schabowy (Polish Pork Cutlet)

  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 35 mins
  • Yield: 4 servings
  • Category: Main
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

Thin tenderized pork with a crispy coating

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless pork chops
  • salt and pepper
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • 1/3 cup oil, more if needed

Instructions

  1. Place pork chops on a cutting board and pound them flat, about 1/4 inch thick (they’ll be twice as big after the pounding)
  2. Season the flattened chops with salt and pepper
  3. Set up three plates, put flour in the first, beaten eggs, in the second, and breadcrumbs in the third
  4. Dredge the first cutlet with flour, then dip both sides in egg, then bread crumbs
  5. Set aside and repeat with the three remaining cutlets
  6. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat
  7. Add cutlets to the pan without crowding, it may take more than one batch
  8. Cook about 5 minutes and then turn to cook the other side

Notes

Don’t toss dry, stale bread. Blitz it in the food processor to make your own breadcrumbs, or you can grate the dry bread for the same result.

 

 

 

Stuffed Cabbage Leaves Gołąbki

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Revisiting one of my first posts for Stuffed Cabbage Leaves, Golabki in Polish. These little bundles of ground beef and rice, wrapped in cabbage and topped in a rich tomato sauce are named after pigeons!

My first exposure to this dish was with Ed’s family. Their part of Pennsylvania is an ethnic and culinary mosaic, as in all of Europe comes to the New World. When my mother and her sister would cook a big meal for our combined families in Arizona, they would have made a big pan of enchiladas.

For my PA in-laws, it would be a roaster full of stuffed cabbage. We could always count on there being cabbage rolls to greet us when we visited. It was the sign of a special occasion.

 

IMG_2919

I fixed this for Ed and one of his colleagues as they prepared to make the initial trip to Poland. We talked with excitement about the travel arrangements, what it might be like, the plans for apartment hunting.

We had pierogi with the stuffed cabbage. I’m embarrassed to say the pierogi were frozen; I had yet to make my first pierogi back then. Things have changed! I make a pretty good pierogi ruskie now.

Novice that I was at the time with Polish cuisine, I still stand by this recipe for Stuffed Cabbage Leaves. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Smacznego!

Lois
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Heritage Cookbook

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Stuffed cabbage leaves

Stuffed Cabbage Leaves Gołąbki

★★★★★ 5 from 3 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 45 mins
  • Cook Time: 90 mins
  • Total Time: 2 hours 15 mins
  • Yield: serves 8
  • Category: Main
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

A Polish favorite, meat and rice filling in cabbage with tomato sauce

Ingredients

  • 2/3 c. white rice
  • 2 heads green cabbage
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 1/2 lb. ground beef
  • 1 c. chopped onion
  • 1 t. salt
  • 1/4 t. pepper
  • 8 slices bacon, cut in 1-inch pieces
  • 2 16-oz. cans tomatoes
  • 2 8-oz. cans tomato sauce
  • 2 bay leaves

Instructions

  1. Cook rice according to package directions, cool
  2. Remove core from cabbage; run hot water into cored area to help in removing outer leaves
  3. Remove 8 – 12 leaves from each head of cabbage, chop remaining cabbage and place in two baking dishes (or a large dutch oven), sprinkle with salt
  4. Boil cabbage leaves until limp, about 5 minutes, drain and rinse in cold water
  5. Cut about 2 inches of the heavy center vein from the leaves
  6. Cook bacon with 1/2 c. onion till bacon is crisp
  7. Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, and bay leaf, simmer, covered, while preparing the rest of the dish, remove bay leaves before adding to dish
  8. Combine cooked rice, egg, ground beef, the remaining 1/2 c. onion, 1 t. salt, and pepper; mix well
  9. Place about 1/4 c. rice mixture in center of each cabbage leaf; fold in sides and roll ends over rice
  10. Place rolls, seam side down, on top of chopped cabbage
  11. Pour tomato mixture over cabbage rolls
  12. Cover; bake at 350 degrees from 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours
  13. Freezes well

 

 

Creamed Mushrooms Grzyby w Sosie

by 6 Comments

I’m making Creamed Mushrooms Grzyby w Sosie, but this certainly isn’t mushroom season in Poland; that would be in the fall, damp fall in the forest, not too cold! I sound as if I know about such things, but I haven’t ever gone mushroom picking. I would certainly go if invited, but it does make the American in me just a little bit uncomfortable. We’re so careful about such things. Growing up in the desert, my mother’s advice was never eat toadstools, wash your hands if you touch them.

Creamed Mushrooms Grzby w Sosie

 

It seems that every family in Poland has at least one expert, who knows what’s safe to eat, and who knows where to go to find the best mushrooms. As you drive through the forest, you’ll see automobiles parked  on dirt roads and families wondering about with big baskets.

Since it’s March, and I’m in the desert, I’ve purchased mushrooms; the selection available here is nothing compared to my Polish supermarket, or even the neighborhood deli. The next time I return from Poland, I think there will be strings of dried mushrooms in my suitcase.

Even with cultivated mushrooms (I used half white button and half crimini), Creamed Mushrooms Grzyby w Sosie, will make a delicious Lenten supper. I’m serving my mushrooms and sauce over noodles, but you could pour this over toast, or everyone’s favorite, potato pancakes!

This recipe comes from Treasured Polish Recipes for Americans, but I’ve edited a bit as I remember a favorite mushroom soup recipe. I’m embellishing a bit, cooking some minced shallot with my mushrooms, and adding a dash of cayenne pepper. I think if you just read the ingredients, you’ll know that you’ll like it: mushrooms, stock, cream, sherry. What could be better?!!!

Smacznego!

Lois

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Creamed Mushrooms Grzyby w Sosie

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Category: Main or Side
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Ingredients

  • 1 pound mushroom, sliced
  • 1 shallot, minced (optional)
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons sherry
  • dash cayenne (optional)

Instructions

  1. Saute mushrooms an shallot in 2 tablespoons butter for 10 minutes
  2. Remove from pan and set aside
  3. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons butter, add flour, stirring for a few minutes to cook the flour
  4. Stir in chicken stock and cream, season with salt, pepper and cayenne if using
  5. Simmer for 5 minutes
  6. Add cooked mushrooms and sherry

Notes

Serve on toast, noodles, or potato pancakes

 

Easy Turkey Chili

by 2 Comments

A webpage listing a bunch of anti-inflammatory recipes is where I came across this little gem. They touted the many health benefits of peppers, tomatoes, beans, and turkey. This page was a gold mine for a foodie with arthritis, so if NSAIDs like Advil and Alleve are part of your daily routine, you know what I mean. If you have young healthy joints, count your blessings and enjoy this delicious turkey chili for the taste and convenience alone!

I’ve made only small changes from the original source, Two Peas in a Pod. I don’t use a slow cooker for this recipe because I’m just not good at planning that far in advance. If you like to use one, know that this can be made in a 6 quart crockpot.

Convenient & Delicious

We’ve gotten to the point where we make a batch of this tasty and easy turkey chili at least every other week. It’s quick and easy to put together, makes a large quantity, and freezes well.

I work four 10-hour days, so I love the convenience of having a full meal ready to eat at the end of a long day, and my husband, Ed, loves the warm, earthy spices.

Turkey chili

Every time I serve this, he comments about how the combination of spices is perfect. We’ve made a lot of chili over the years, even competed in a 4th of July chili cook off at our air base in Spain back in the day. He seemed let down when I said that all I did was follow the recipe. I shouldn’t have burst his bubble, better that he think of me chopping, grinding, and tempering a variety of spices. I’ll let you in on the secret, chili powder and cumin, 2:1.

I hope this doesn’t hurt my chili cook-off friends’ feelings, but this is so much better than the chili we offered up on that 4th of July, but nothing could compare to the fun we had that day.  The length of our shorts identifies this as the early 1980s!

Chili cook off

I hope my easy turkey chili recipe will be as popular at your home as it is at ours.

Smacznego!

Lois

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An easy turkey chili recipe that's quick and delicious!!!

Easy Turkey Chili

  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Total Time: 1 hour 15 mins
  • Yield: 10-15 servings
  • Cuisine: Tex Mex
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Description

Quick and easy, a delicious pot of chili

Ingredients

  • Olive oil
  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 yellow pepper, diced
  • 2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
  • 2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
  • 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 (15 ounce) cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 (4 ounce) cans diced green chilies
  • 1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • Chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons Wondra flour

Instructions

  1. Add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil to a frying pan and brown the ground turkey, breaking it into small pieces as you turn and stir
  2. Season with salt and pepper. (Go easy on the salt. The canned ingredients will be salty and you can always add more. That being said, I like to add a little salt to each layer of flavor as I’m preparing a dish)
  3. Move the turkey to a Dutch oven.
  4. Add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil the same frying pan and sautéed the onions and peppers, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper
  5. Add the onion and peppers to the ditch oven
  6. Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, beans, green chilies, corn, chili powder, and cumin
  7. Stir, add enough chicken stock to almost cover the ingredients and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30-45 minutes
  8. Sprinkle with Wondra flour and stir it in to thicken the broth

Notes

Top with shredded cheese, sour cream, or sliced green onions

Venison Stew (Gulasz z Sarniny)

by 4 Comments

This venison stew is the perfect way to eat game meat. The venison becomes super tender and melds perfectly with the unlikely combination of flavors, red wine, Madeira, dates, fennel, juniper berries, allspice (which in Polish is referred to as “English herb”). This may be only the second time I’ve ever cooked with fennel. I’ll have to search out more recipes; if you have a favorite I’d love to hear about it.

venison stew

I grew up in a family of hunters. As a children, we ate venison, elk, quail, pheasant. I much preferred beef and chicken. I must say that the first time I truly enjoy game was when I had a Korean style elk prepared by Chef Rob Connoley at the Curious Kumquat in Silver City, NM. Apparently, I only like fancy game meat, 😉 and this venison stew qualifies as fancy!

I’ve been thinking about this recipe that’s in From a Polish Country House Kitchen, by Anne Applebaum and Danielle Crittenden ever since my brother was succesful deer hunting last year. I’ve promised to share the recipe with him, but it’s taken me a while to unpack the box with my cookbooks from Poland. Jeff lives 1500 miles away, so we had to visit a posh butcher shop rather than his freezer. Here’s to hoping he still has a shoulder roast in the freezer or to good luck in the field this winter.

venison stews

I’ve served this with mashed potatoes and also with a combination of mashed potato and celery root. You could keep the Polish feel and serve it over buckwheat groats. Buckwheat is so common in Poland, but it’s a speciality item here in the states. I’ve used up what I brought home with me, so it’s time for an Amazon order. Like quinoa, I like to cook buckwheat in some sort of stock or broth to add flavor. You could go international and serve the venison stew over polenta too.

venison stew marinade

The original recipe doesn’t use any flour, but I like a stew to have a thick broth, so I’ve added some instant flour at the end. Wondra is a precooked flour. You can sprinkle it over a liquid and whisk it in without it getting lumpy. Because it’s precooked, you don’t have to worry about a raw flour taste if you add it at the end of cooking.

No matter what side dish or thickness you choose, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. We all need fancy food now and then.

Smacznego!

Lois

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Venison Stew (Gulasz z Sarniny)

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
  • Category: Stew/Soup
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

A delicious, sophisticed stew. One that’s sure to please everyone!

Ingredients

  • 6 cups dry red wine (1.4 litres)
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar (120 ml)
  • 1 cup sweet port or Madeira (240 ml)
  • 6 juniper berries, lightly crushed
  • 3 whole cloves
  • 3 allspice berries, lightly crushed
  • l large head, garlic, cloves peeled and crushed
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 3 pounds vnison shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut in to 1 inch cubes (1.4 kg/2.5 cm cubes)
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 strips of bacon, chopped into 1 inch pieces (or a small package of lardon)
  • 2 large fennel bulbs, trimmed and thickly sliced
  • 1 cup chopped dates (150 g)
  • 2 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 3 tablespoons Wondra flour

Instructions

  1. Add the red wine, vinegar, port or Madeira, juniper berries, cloves, allspice, garlic, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper to a large bowl
  2. Add the meat and marinade over night or for up to three days
  3. Remove the meat from the marinade (save the marinade, you’ll cook the meat in it)
  4. Pat the meat dry (it will be very purple now)
  5. Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat
  6. Fry the bacon until just crisp
  7. Remove the bacon, drain on paper towels
  8. In the bacon grease, brown the meat over high heat in small batches (5-6) to avoid overcrowding the pan
  9. Pour the marinade to the pan, deglazing by scrappin up the browned bits stuck the the bottom of the pan
  10. Add the bacon and venison to the pan, making sure the meat is covered by the marinade
  11. Cover and simmer over low heat for two hours
  12. Add fennel, dates, onions, and sugar, add more salt and pepper if needed, simmer one hour
  13. Sprinkle Wondra flour over the top of the stew and whisk in to thicken the broth, simmer for just a few more minutes

 

Chicken Chili & Lime Salad

by 3 Comments

Colleagues have been asking what happened to my weekly baking project with Rose’s Alpha Bakers. They’d noticed a lack of baking on my part. It was nice to have an elaborate baked treat in the office fridge for those times when you “hit the wall” mid-afternoon. As much as I hated to leave my dear baking friends, I had found that I just didn’t have the time for the day long baking marathons. I’ve also found that too many of the pounds I lost while living in Poland are returning. So I’m trying to focus on veggies more than cakes. Better for me, but not nearly as much fun!

chicken chili lime salad

This dish is spicy enought to add some fun!

I have friends who love chicken breast, especially the convenience of a boneless skinless cut. I usually prefer dark meat, but I find if I use a tenderizing mallet to beat the livin’ day lights out of it, I too, can enjoy boneless skinless chicken breast. I like to make the entire breast the same thickness to cook it quickly, so if you’re making the thickest part the same thickness as the thinnest part, everything ends up about a half inch thick. That’s how I used the chicken in this recipe for a Chicken Chili & Lime Salad or for my low carb Almond Parmesan Crusted Chicken.

I enjoy Asian flavor combinations, but I’m new to them. For inspiration, I’ve turned to Cooks.com. I’ve turned their lettuce wraps into a salad; to me, it’s just easier to eat as a salad.

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chicken chili lime salad

Chicken Chili & Lime Salad

  • Prep Time: 40 mins
  • Cook Time: 4 mins
  • Total Time: 44 mins
  • Yield: 4 - 6 servings
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Description

A healthy chicken salad with spicy, Asian flavor!

Ingredients

  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 3 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 – 3 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1 11/2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 4 – 6 cups of torn greens
  • 3 tablespoons toasted sliced almonds
  • 2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro leaves (I usually cut with scissors rather than chop)
  • 6 – 10 grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons sliced green onion tops

Instructions

  1. Preheat grill to 425°F
  2. Using a tenderizing mallet, flatten the chicken breast (shinny side up) to about 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick
  3. Combine honey, lime juice, chili garlic sauce (we bought two kinds, ended up gong with the less hot), sesame oil and soy sauce
  4. Remove 2 tablespoons and brush over chicken, you’ll use the rest later
  5. Cook chicken on hot grill for 2 minutes per side or until cooked through, let rest a few minutes
  6. Cut into bite-size pieces and stir into remaining sauce; refrigerate for 10 minutes or up to 24 hours.
  7. To serve, top greens with chicken (including any sauce), almonds, cilantro, tomatoes, and green onions.