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Polish Housewife

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

Polish Pantry

Sos Czosnkowy (Polish Garlic Sauce)

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Sos Czosnkowy (Polish Garlic Sauce) is a staple in Poland, but lucky for me, since it’s not readily availabe in my stateside supermarket, it’s easy to make. Sos Czosnkowy is used in so many ways that I have to say it’s Polish Ranch Dressing.

I remember when buttermilk ranch dressing first appeared on the scene. We put it on salads. Now, you’ll find it used with chicken wings, pizza, people are dipping their french fries and onion rings in it for heaven’s sake. Polish Garlic Sauce is the same way. It’s offered with pizza, with zapiekanka, along side grilled meat and potatoes, and used to make a dressing for Shawarma Salad and Wraps. It’s super tasty, and I think you’ll find a lot of uses for it too, unless you are my friend, David, who is allergic to garlic! 🙁

You can be a purist and just season the base with garlic, salt, and pepper, or dress it up a bit and add dried or fresh herbs, a combination of whatever you have on hand, parsley, rosemary, thyme, dill.

Let me know how you decided to use your Sos Czosnkowy (Polish Garlic Sauce).

Smacznego!

Lois

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Sos Czosnkowy (Polish Garlic Sauce)

  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 15 min
  • Total Time: 15 min
  • Yield: 1 cup
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Description

A creamy garlic sauce, a versitale topping!

Ingredients

2 – 4 cloves of garlic, minced (depending on how strong you want your sauce)

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup mayonaise

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon chopped fresh herbs or a generous pinch of dried (optional), I used parsley and thyme, next time I will probably add dill, use what you like and have on hand

Instructions

Combine all ingredients, chill for at least 10 minutes to let the flavors meld before serving

Ananasowa (Polish Pineapple Vodka)

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Wondering where the Polish word for pineapple, ananas, comes from? The scientific name (genus, species) is Ananas comosus.  Ananasowa (Polish Pineapple Vodka) is the latest in my fascination with the Polish pastime of tincture making. This pineapple liqueur is going to be delicious for sipping. Even though this Polish recipe is still aging, I speak of the taste with confidence because our niece made something very similar one Christmas. Her technique was to put the vodka, sugar, and pineapple in a jar, and when the pineapple floats to the top, it’s ready to serve, it aged for only a few days, possibly a week because we sampled when we arrived for New Year’s Eve. She made it in one of those jars with a spout at the bottom, very convenient!

Ananasowa (Polish Pineapple Vodka)

I’m taking inspiration from my reference The Great Book of Tinctures (if you buy via this link, Amazon send me a few cents). A book recommended by our friend, Slawek. Just a few days after we sampled his raspberry vodka, we came across the book in a bookstore in Oświęcim, the town known for Auschwitz-Birkenau. When my mother and sister visited, of course, they wanted to see the memorial and museum, but it I just couldn’t face seeing it all for a second time. So we gave them a phone, and Ed and I spent a few hours seeing the town and hanging out at the local shopping mall or galeria.

While this is not as well-known as Wisniowka, cherry vodka, it’s a lot easier to chop up a pineapple than to pit all of those cherries.

Na zdrowie!

Lois

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Ananasowa (Polish Pineapple Vodka)

  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Yield: 1 liter
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Description

A wonderful pineapple liqueur

Ingredients

  • 1 pound of fresh pineapple spears or chunks
  • 1 liter of vodka
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1/4 cup water

Instructions

  1. Put the pineapple in jar(s) and cover with vodka, cover, store in pantry for 2 months
  2. Strain and filter, through coffee filter or paper towel lined colander
  3. Make a syrup of the sugar and water by heating just until the sugar dissolves, add to the pineapple vodka
  4. Bottle

Notes

For a variation, add the seeds scraped from 1/4 vanilla pod and 2 drops of cinnamon oil, now you have Ananasowa z Cynamonem

Wegetariański Smalec – Vegetarian/Vegan Smalec

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Smalec, referred to a poor man’s butter, is often presented at the beginning of a meal in Poland, something gratis, like chips and salsa or a basket of warm bread. Smalec also goes well with beer or vodka, making it perfect to share with friends late at night when the discussions are getting serious and philosophical. Now you can share Wegetariański Smalec – Vegetarian/Vegan Smalec to be sure all of your friends can join the fun.

Wegetariański Smalec - Vegetarian/Vegan Smalec

Traditional smalec is made with rendered pork fat and something we enjoy a lot, but when I made this meatless version recently even my carnivore husband thought it was fantastic. I’d planned to talk about how I saw a bigger need for meatless recipes in the US compared to Poland. I know all surveys have a margin of error and when the sample size is as small as the people I know, the results can be misleading. Of the dozen people who might gather around our table at Christmas, 4 out of 12 wouldn’t eat traditional smalec. I know Poles give a lot of thought to the health consequences of their food, but 25% of the people I know in Poland wouldn’t be considered vegan, vegetarian, pescitarian. Imagine my surprise to find a report that listed the percentage of the US population that is vegetarian or vegan as 13% and in Poland it was 15%! Wherever you fall on the chart, I think you’ll enjoy this recipe.

I have just a couple of tips for you:

  • Be sure to use refined coconut oil, otherwise the predominant flavor will be coconut
  • Be sure to saute the diced onion in just a little bit of oil. If you put all of the oil in while you’re cooking the onions, they’ll boil rather than brown, and you really want that caramelized onion color. I thought I would cut corners, so I’m speaking from experience here.
  • The melting point of refined coconut oil is 77 – 79 F, so you’ll want to serve this a room temperature. It’s very SOLID straight out of the fridge.

Serve your Wegetariański Smalec – Vegetarian/Vegan Smalec with a wonderful bread and small dill pickles.

Smacznego!

Lois

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1 cup refined coconut oil, divided 2 small onions, finely diced 2 cloves garlic, finely minced 1 large Granny Smith apple, shredded 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon marjoram

Wegetariański Smalec – Vegetarian/Vegan Smalec

  • Author: Polish Housewife
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Description

Refined coconut oil replaces pork fat in the popular Polish spread

Ingredients

1 cup refined coconut oil, divided

2 small onions, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, finely minced (optional)

1 large Granny Smith apple, shredded

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon marjoram

Instructions

Add 2 tablespoons coconut oil and onions to a frying pan and cook over medium high heat until onions are golden brown

Add garlic and cook for just another minute of so (optional)

Add the remaining coconut oil, apple, salt, pepper, and marjoram

Stir until oil and melted and ingredients are combined

Pour into a jar or ramekins

Keep refrigerated, but bring to room temp before serving

Herbata GĂłralska Polish Highlander Tea

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One area that everyone raves about is Zakopane in the Tatra Mountains in the southeast of Poland. It’s all about the great outdoors. In the summer, everyone treks down there to hike the beautiful green mountains. In the winter, snow sports rule. Many folks who visit Zakopane mention having Herbata Góralska Polish Highlander Tea. It’s  often referred to as tea laced with vodka.  Reader, Mage, is one of those who sampled Highlander Tea in Zakopane and asked if I had a recipe for the delicious tea. A little research and now I do!

The recipe may be a well kept secret. While there are many mentions of Herbata  Góralska Polish Highlander Tea and many photos of snow bunnies enjoying a mug of Highlander Tea, I found only one recipe online, and that was on polki.pl. It’s seems like each cook puts a personal spin on traditional recipes. So if you and your family have a variation of Highlander Tea, please share it in the comments! I’m curious and want to hear about your experience with the winter beverage.

I’ve adapted the recipe a bit by doubling the amount of tea added. The original proportions are 2 parts vodka to 1 part tea. You can, of course, adjust to your own taste.

Na Zdrowie!

Lois

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Herbata GĂłralska Polish Highlander Tea

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Yield: 2 quarts
  • Category: Beverage
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

Tea leaves with vodka from the Polish mountains

Ingredients

  • 4 cups boiling water
  • 8 black tea bags
  • 6 tablesonns raspberry syrup
  • 4 cups vodka
  • 1/2 cup rum
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • Juice of one lemon

Instructions

  1. Add tea bags to boiling water
  2. Steep 10 minutes before removing the tea bags
  3. Add raspberry syrup, vodka, rum, sugar, and lemon juice
  4. Stir until sugar disdolves
  5. Bottle and store for two months (this is from the Polish recipe, we enjoyed the same day)
  6. Serve warm

 

Dzem Malinowy (Raspberry Jam)

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It seems the biggest controversy about making one’s own dzem malinowy is whether or not to leave the seeds. As you can see from the photo, I chose to go with seeds. To my mind, if I strain out the seeds and, therefore, the pulp too, I would be making jelly not jam, and I believe that some of the natural fruit pectin would be lost, requiring the addition of something to help it gel.

The fresh berries during the summer in Poland are fabulous. I would frequently pick up a carton or two from someone selling at a tram stop, not ours, a busier one where we often had to change trams. They were beautiful, ever so fresh and at 3 – 4 zl, about $1.

Dzem Malinowy, a delicious raspberry jam

The fun part of making one’s own dzem malinowy is deciding what else you might want to add. I’ve come across all kind of suggestions:

  • Mint
  • Vanilla
  • Red Pepper and Balsamic Vinegar
  • Rose Syrup
  • Rum or Brandy
  • Lavender (go easy on the lavender, too much, and it smells soapy)
  • Cranberry
  • Blackberries,
  • Cinnamon
  • Ginger

I chose to stir in a little brandy at the end. The flavors went well together, and it made this perfect jam to spread on nalesniki, Polish pancakes which are more like crepes than our American version of pancakes. What a sophisticated dessert or sweet for brunch.

Smacznego!

Lois

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Dzem Malinowy (Raspberry Jam)

  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Yield: 6 to 8 1-cup jars
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

Easy to make and delicious, raspberry jam

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds raspberries
  • 2 – 4 cups sugar (depending on your tastes)
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/2 – 1 cup brandy (optional)

Instructions

  1. Put 6 to 8 1-cup jam jars and their lids in a pot of boiling water to sterilize them or run them through the dishwasher
  2. Put the raspberries and sugar in a large pan and cover, let sit for 3 hours or overnight to draw out the juice
  3. Add lemon juice and bring to a boil, stirring
  4. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes
  5. Remove from heat and cool
  6. Again bring the jam up to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer of 10 – 20 minutes
  7. You can test the consistency of your jam by putting a small plate in the freezer for 5 minutes to chill, put a small spoon of hot jam on the plate, let it sit for about 30 seconds, tip the plate on its side, if it runs, it needs to cook longer, if it gels and moves only slightly, it’s ready
  8. Remove from the heat
  9. Add the optional brandy if you’re using it
  10. While still hot, pour or ladle into the clean jars, wipe any spills of the rim of the jars, and seal tightly
  11. Put the jars in a pot, fill with at least 2 inches of water, bring to a boil, and let simmer for 10 minutes
  12. Remove the jars from the pot and cool
  13. As the jars cool, you’ll hear popping sounds, as the lids seal, there should be no give in the lids
  14. I’ve never had it happen, but if you have a jar with a lid that didn’t seal perfectly, put it in the fridge and eat this one first

 

OgĂłrki Kiszone (Polish Pickles)

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I’ve gone all American on you with the title of this post, Polish Pickles. One lesson I learned from my Polish friends was that pickles are made with vinegar. The preferred method of creating sour little cucumbers in Poland is to preserve them in brine, so these are more correctly referred to a preserved cucumbers rather than pickled cucumbers. If this differs from your family’s English definition of OgĂłrki Kiszone, I’ll have to refer you to my group of experts in Poznan. I’m just repeating what I’ve been told.

OgĂłrki Kiszone (Polish Pickles) preserved in brine

OgĂłrki Kiszone are much loved, and I was fortunate to be given jars of brine preserved cukes twice. The first jar came from my friend Elzbieta, her mother makes them every year. The second came from a young man, an engineering student at our Poznan’s Politechnika University, and a waiter at our local TGI Fridays. We would chat at Fridays, and occasionally run into each other at a party in our neighborhood. At some point, we got on the subject of OgĂłrki Kiszone, and the next time I saw him, he brought me a jar of his mother’s preserved cucumbers. Apparently, he had multiple jars stashed in his dorm room. I returned the favor at our next meeting with samples of a few things I’ve been whipping up in the kitchen, almond cookies, and his favorite Bailey’s pinwheels.

One of the things I loved about Polish supermarkets (even little markets) was the pack of veggies they’d put together for soup making and in the summer, for your OgĂłrki Kiszone. I bought one of these when I tried my hand at this Polish staple in Poznan. It included multiple cloves of garlic, a flowering stem of dill, a piece of horseradish root, and leaves. My research tells me that any of the following leaves can be used: cherry, black currant, raspberry, oak, grape, horseradish, mustard. The leaves contain tannin and are supposed to help the cucumbers stay crisp during the fermentation process. That’s what’s happening to produce the sour taste, lacto-fermentation.

Laco-fermentation doesn’t involve dairy. Lacto refers to lactic acid. All fruits and vegetables have beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus on the surface. In an oxygen-free environment, these bacteria convert sugars into lactic acid, which inhibits harmful bacteria and acts as a preservative. (This is why you want your cucumbers completely submerged, so they’re in an oxygen-free environment.) It’s also what gives fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kambucha, or sourdough bread their characteristic sour flavor.

Below you’ll find the basic process for making one quart of OgĂłrki Kiszone. Other than the cucumbers and salt, you should feel free to adjust, add to (maybe a bit of chili pepper), or omit on the ingredient list and multiply based on the number of quart jars you’d like to make.

Smacznego!

Lois

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Ogorki Kiszone (Polish Pickles)

★★★★★ 4.7 from 3 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Yield: 1 quart
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

Cucumbers, naturally fermented in a flavorful brine

Ingredients

  • wide mouth 1 quart jar
  • 8 to 10 pickling cucumbers (4-6 inches long), washed and dried
  • 2 tablespoons pickling salt or sea salt
  • 1 quart water
  • 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
  • 2 cloves peeled garlic
  • 1 stem dill, preferably flowering
  • fresh horseradish root, about 1 inch long
  • bay leaf
  • Cherry, grape, blackcurrant, or oak leaf

Instructions

  1. Tightly pack the cucumbers into the sterile jar, you want to squeeze them in, so they’ll stay submerged and not float to the top of the liquid
  2. Add the salt to the water and bring to a boil
  3. Add the mustard seeds, garlic, dill (fold to fit), horseradish, bay leaf, and other leaf if you have one
  4. Fill the jar with the salt water to within 1/4 from the top, all of your ingredients should be covered
  5. Loosely cap the jar with a sterile lid, the lid must be loose to allow the gases produced during fermentation to escape, some brine may seep out, so store where this won’t be a problem
  6. As it ferments, the brine will become cloudy
  7. Depending on your taste, the cucumbers will be ready to eat in 1 to 3 weeks
  8. Fermentation will end after 5-6 weeks, if you have any left at this point, the lids should be tightened to prevent spoilage

 

Sausage in a Jar (Biała Kiełbasa w Słoikach)

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Many of our friends in Poznań grew up in rural villages and still have family on a farm. Specials occasions such as Easter or a wedding call for slaughtering a hog. We were often the reciepiants of homemade pate and sausages made for these celebrations. My favorite? White sausage in a jar (biała kiełbasa w słoikach)! It’s delicious paired with a good bread.
Sausage in a jar

Major Demel was one known to send us treats like sausages. When Ed told him that I especially liked his white sausage in a jar, that I would have a little bit everyday. Major Demel sent a warning, that I should be sure to have a little vodka with it to protect my liver!

When we weren’t the lucky reciepiants of white sausage in a jar, I could buy it on Saturday morings at Bio/Green (organic) market in Plac Bernardyński. There was an organic butcher that set up shop in a little refrigerated truck. He always had the longest line. Seriously, people would wait for 30 or 40 minutes to buy from this butcher. Thinking back, I don’t remember anyone cutting in front of us in line. Which makes this unique as queing up experiences go in Poland.

I’ve always wanted to find a recipe for white sausage in a jar (biała kiełbasa w słoikach), so that I’d be able to make it myself when we returned home. A search of the internet and I found several recipes to translate. As I read through the ingredients, I realized that the flavors are the same as smalec. You’ll find garlic, salt, marjoram, and pork. The sausage is just more meaty.

Sausage in a Jar

 

The cooking process described in Polish recipes calls for heating the sausage inside the jar three times. It is commonly accepted in Poland that after being cooked three times, that the sausage in a jar in shelf-stable and can be kept for months without refrigeration. The process is known as Tyndallization. Heating will kill bacteria, but not the spores. Leaving the jars at room temperature between heating allows the spores to germinate into bacterial cells which can be destroyed by a subsequent heating. I don’t know a lot about canning, but this doesn’t seem to match modern American thinking on the subject.

I will play it safe and refrigerate my sausage since I’m make a small amount and have room in the refrigerator. I probably shouldn’t worry. I’ve heard stories about my grandmother cooking sausage when they butchered a hog on the ranch. She would pack the cooked meat in a barrel and then pour melted lard over it to fill in any space and seal out any air. I suspect the barrel was kept in the root cellar for months. A long way from modern refrigeration. I faced a similar challenge when I made ajerkoniak. When putting bacteria up against grain alcohol, I trusted the Polish advice and left it in the cupboard.

I’m not sure what it is about this sausage that makes it different for me. Maybe it’s because it’s cooked very slowly, in a very moist environment. I realized one morning as a was warming up some of this sausage to serve with fried eggs for breakfast that it, in appearance anyway, resembled Spam. Spam, the nemmisis of every camping trip I took as a child. Don’t let that put you off. There’s something about using good cuts of meat and delicious spices that set the two worlds apart!

Smacznego!

Lois

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Sausage in a Jar

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Yield: 4 pint jars
  • Category: Main
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Description

A wonderfully seasoned preserved pork

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds pork
  • 1 pound bacon
  • 5 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon spoon marjoram
  • 2 teaspoon black pepper
  • A few sprigs of marjoram or thyme

Instructions

  1. Coarsely grind the pork and bacon (or do a fine dice on 1/3 of the pork and mix it with the ground meat)
  2. Run the garlic though a garlic press and add to the raw meat
  3. Add the sugar and seasonings
  4. Boil water and let it cool, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water to the meat mixture
  5. Pack the mixture into sterile jars, using the back of a spoon to push out pockets of air
  6. Using a clean cloth or paper towel, wipe the tops of the jars to ensure a good seal
  7. Screw on lids
  8. Place jars in a large pot, add water 3/4 the height of the jars
  9. Bring to a boil, simmer for one hour
  10. Cool, leaving jars at room temp
  11. Repeat the cooking procedure the following day, boiling for 40 minutes, again leaving the jars at room temp
  12. Repeat the cooking process again on the third day, this time boiling for 30 minutes
  13. The white sausage in a jar is now ready to store as you wish

 

 

Krupnik, a Polish honey liqueur

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The Polish pastime of making flavored vodkas has caught on in our home in a big way. There aren’t many fruits in season now, so I made Krupnik, a vodka sweetened with honey and infused with spices.

IMG_2402

Krupnik originated in the area that is now Belarus in the 1600s, it was then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Legend has it Krupnik may have first been made at a Benedictine Monastery in Niasviz. This distant cousin of mead or miodowka has endless variations, with the taste changing based on the variety of honey used and the spices and or herbs added. Another Krupnik recipe in the book uses, orange zest, nutmeg, and a bit of strong coffee, in addition to the honey, vodka, allspice, vanilla pod, clove, and cinnamon.

IMG_2451

Wielka księga nakewek

The honey flavored liqueur can be served at room temperature, chilled, or heated. My recipe, which I’ve translated from Wielka Ksiega Nalewek (The Big Book of Tinctures) suggests that if you serve Krupnik heated, try adding a small piece of chocolate and a dab of butter.

I’ve tried it warm and found the fumes overpowering. I’ll stick to room temp or chilled.

If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment and rate it 5 Stars. Thanks in advance.

Na zdrowie,

Lois

(Amazon pays me a few cents for purchases via these links)
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Krupnik, a Polish honey liqueur

★★★★ 4 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 25 mins
  • Yield: 1 quart
  • Category: Liqueur
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

A honey and spice liqueur recipe that dates back 400 years

Ingredients

  • 2 cups clover honey
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • zest of 1/2 lemon, remove with vegetable peeler
  • 1/4 vanilla bean pod, sliced open
  • 1 allspice berry
  • 2 cups vodka

Instructions

  1. Pour honey into a saucepan
  2. Add cloves, cinnamon, lemon zest, vanilla, and allspice
  3. Warm (keeping under a boil) and steep for 10 minutes
  4. Add vodka
  5. Remove from heat and let steep for a couple of hours
  6. Pour through strainer
  7. Pour into bottles
  8. Seal bottles
  9. Serve warm, at room temp, or chilled

Notes

If serving warm, add a small piece of chocolate and a small dab of butter

You can make this with spirytus, If using 2 cups of spirytus rather than 2 cups of vodka, add 2 cups of water to the honey before heating.

 

 

Garlic-Paprika Butter

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Paprika seems to be the new thing!  Lays makes a paprika potato chip in Europe that is fantastic; I wish it was available stateside. My husband told me about a French restaurant in Poland that served a garlic-paprika butter with their bread.  The rest is, as they say, history.  And it will be repeated.

Mixing up this colorful compound butter for a dinner party all but guarantees a successful evening. Just be sure to pick up an extra baguette! On more than one occasion, I have seen friends who would just pick at a salad if we dined together in a restaurant, tuck into a good bread and garlic-paprika butter with great abandon.

This could be just the beginning. You’ll find yourself mixing other spices and herbs into buttery spreads.

We used to visit an Irish pub in Poznań that always served a trio of three compound butters with an amazing dark, onion bread with their dinners. The down side was that the little slabs of butter were always ice cold, served straight from the fridge. They couldn’t be spread; attempting to do so would just tear the bread apart, and worst the of all, the flavors of these compound butters were subdued, minimized by the chill.  They would have benefited so much if they’d had 30 minutes to come to room temp. So that she my recommendation, pull your garlic-paprika butter out of the fridge before you’re ready to serve.

To think I used to believe paprika was just for sprinkling on deviled eggs!

Smacznego!

Lois

Garlic-paprika butter

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Garlic-Paprika Butter

  • Author: Polish Housewife
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Description

A colorful and flavorful spread!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, softened, if using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt
  • 5 small cloves garlic, roasted & run through garlic press
  • paprika

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients until well blended, using enough paprika to achieve a color similar to cheddar cheese
  2. Shape into logs, by rolling in wax paper, chill and slice, or pipe into a serving dish
  3. Bring to room temp before serving

Notes

This is delicious for frying an egg or making hash browns

Mandarynkowa – a Clementine Liqueur

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Last week, my blogging friend, David from Cocoa and Lavender, shared his most recent post, Mandarinello, a mandarin orange version of limoncello that he first sampled in Italy. The beautiful orange color of David’s liqueur and the young clementine tree in our garden sent me to Wielka Księga Nalewek (The Big Book of Tinctures) and google translate to make my own Mandarynkowa a clementine liqueur.

Mandarin Orange, Tangerine, Clementine

I’ve known of Mandarin Oranges all of my life. They were tiny orange sections and came in a can. People put them in fruit salads. Tangerines were what I used to get in my Christmas stocking as a child. More recently, clementines have appeared in the markets.

Come to find out, they are all related. Mandarin is a class of orange that is flatter at the top and bottom, easy to peel, and tangerines and the seedless clementines are both varietals of mandarins. So my clementine liqueur can rightly be called Mandarynkowa.

Tinctures

There is nothing finer than the Polish pastime of making tinctures. All over the country, whatever fruit is in season is being steeped in vodka or  something stronger with a little sugar. Time magically transforms the liquid, pulling the color and flavor from the fruit into smooth, jewel toned liqueurs.

We’re finishing off wisniowka, a cherry liqueur that I made two summers ago. It is the perfect end to the evening to pull a bottle out of the fridge and toast our friends around the table.

An afternoon of prep work offers big rewards. I’m sure we’ll sample our clementine liqueur at various stages, but I’ve found these things do improve with age. I used a combination of fruit from our tree and a bag of purchased clementines.

What a difference seating the two! Our clementines have a thick peel and fragrant zest. The purchased ones, not being as fresh, had a very thin peel. It was almost impossible to peel off the zest without getting some of the white pith. I worry that this will make this batch a little bitter.

Mandarynkowa a clementine liqueur

I think next year, we’ll peel off the zest as we’re eating them and freeze the zest until we have enough to steep.

Make it!

Since I made my clementine liqueur with vodka, which is not as strong as spyritus, I’m adding sugar and honey directly to the mix rather than making a simple syrup. I don’t want to further dilute my liqueur.

Here’s my version of Mandarynkowa, a clementine liqueur, from The Big Book of Tinctures, which I’m sure we’ll sip after dinner and probably use in mixed drinks as we would Triple Sec or Grand Marnier.

Na zdrowie!

Lois

Mandarynkowa a clementine liqueur

After two weeks, this is all that remains. It’s fabulous!

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Mandarynkowa – a Clementine Liqueur

★★★★ 4 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Category: Beverage
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

A colorful digestif

Ingredients

  • 6 ripe mandarin oranges (clementines or tangerines)
  • 1 liter spiritus
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon honey

Instructions

  1. Using a vegetable peeler, remove zest from the mandarins
  2. Add zest and spiritus to a large jar
  3. Seal and store for two days
  4. Heat water, sugar, and honey until sugar dissolves
  5. Pour spiritus into another jar to remove the zest, add syrup
  6. Seal and store for two weeks
  7. Using a paper filter (paper towel or coffee filter) strain into another jar
  8. Seal and store for two and a half months before serving