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Polish Housewife

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

Polish Pantry

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.

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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

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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.

garlic parkia butter piped onto a small plate

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 piped on a small plate

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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.

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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

 

Smalec Recipe

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Smalec is something that Americans eye warily at first. Polish friends and my husband said “it’s pork fat; you spread it on bread like butter.” I didn’t find them very convincing!

Of course, I eventually came around. The theme for my time in Poland was to try everything, experience new things, especially when it came to food.

Smalec - known in Poland as the poor man's butter

It is a common thing in Polish restaurants to be served a basket of bread with a bowl of smalec for the table as soon as you sit down, much like chips and salsa in a Mexican restaurant.

It doesn’t take long to discover that some smalec is better than others. Some of it just seems like lard, with very little of the flavorings. Some smalec is a chunky spread, full of crispy brown bits, chock full of delicious things that were until recently a mystery to me. This recipe is the latter!

Smalec, a traditional Polish spread

There was a little pub in Poznań that sold 100+ different beers, mainly Polish, I think. It was always packed with a very young crowd. Their limited food menu included smalec and bread, the perfect nibble to accompany 100+ kinds of beer. We started making a point of going there with our friends Angelika and Keith because we wanted to have the smalec.

I firmly believe that our food preferences are tied to the memories associated with the foods. For me, smalec is a rustic dish, shared in intimate settings with people you love.

Here are somethings I learned in making smalec that I’ll share with you. It can be difficult to buy a kilo of pork fat in the United States. I called several places and found two options for me in Tucson.

One of the local supermarkets was willing to save pork fat for me as the trimmed their cuts of meat. It took several days for them to have enough. But they did eventually call and had a package of pork fat waiting for me at $1.57 a pound.

I called two speciality butcher stores, and one of them had 3 pound packaged blocks of frozen pork fat. They were willing to cut it to size.

Now that we’ve secured the main ingredient, the surprising thing for me was that almost all smalec recipes include tart, green apples. I had no idea!

I’ve also read (with the aid of google translate) that some recipes includes diced dried fruit. My guess would be diced prunes; they’re very popular in Polish cooking. I went the classic route with just apples.

This recipes makes a lot. I filled 7 cute little Polish pottery ramekins. It keeps in the fridge for two weeks, so obviously I need people with whom to share. I’ve put one ramekin in the freezer as a test, and I’m happy to report that defrosted smalec is every bit as good as freshly made.

I love that I can pull a ramekin out of the freezer when I know someone is coming over. This is a dish meant for sharing.

I’d love to hear what you think of smalec!

Smacznego!

Lois

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Smalec - known in Poland as the poor man's butter

Smalec Recipe

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 mins
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

A rich, rustic spread for bread, aka the poor man’s butter

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 pounds pork fat, coarsely ground or finely diced
  • 1/2 pounds bacon, coarsely ground or finely diced
  • 3 medium onions (about 3 1/2 cups), finely diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon marjoram
  • 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cores, and grated or finely diced

Instructions

  1. In a large frying pan, cook the ground pork fat for 10 minutes over medium heat, it will begin to render fat
  2. Add the ground bacon, onions, garlic, salt and pepper
  3. Stir, scrapping the bottom frequently
  4. Reduce heat to low if necessary
  5. I kept cooking and stirring for another 50 minutes, until the rendered fat level began to be high tee than the chopped bits in the pan
  6. Add the marjoram and grated apple
  7. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally for a uniform consistency
  8. Store in the fridge
  9. Serve with a dark bread and small dill pickles

Notes

Best consumed with beer or vodka!

 

Polish Smalec - poor man's butter, but fit for a king!

Twaróg (Polish Farmer’s Cheese)

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Twaróg, also known as ser biały, white cheese, is a pot cheese or farmer’s cheese.  I made a batch this weekend because I wanted to make a Polish cheesecake.

I didn’t expect to fall in love, but I have. After one day in the fridge, the curds that I blitzed to make them creamy and smooth for my pastry had a wonderful, tart, salty taste with just a hint of sweet.

I can imagine using this cheese in so many ways, in recipes that I might have previously made with cream cheese, Brie, or ricotta.

Whip up your own batch of twaróg, a delicious Polish farmer's cheese. It's easy to do and makes a super tasty cheese. Keep reading for serving suggestions!

I could serve it with a tart jam or pepper jelly on crackers. I can also imagine popping twaróg into the oven with brown sugar and pecans, serving the melted, caramely goo over little triangles of pumpernickel.

It would also be delicious mixed with finely diced or grated veggies. If you run it through a food processor, it would also be fantastic on a toasted bagel.

In case you’re wondering, this is also the cheese that you would use for my favorite, pierogi ruskie, filled with cheese and potato.

The twaróg was surprisingly easy to make, but I found that I like the taste better after it had aged in the fridge overnight, so I’ll recommend  not making it at the last minute even though you could.

You can toss the liquid left behind, but many people like to save the whey for smoothies, soups, or bread making; just use the whey for part of the liquid in your recipe.

The cheese I whipped up made a wonderful cheesecake, the best sernik I’ve ever tasted. There are two key differences between American and Polish cheesecake. Polish desserts are less sweet; other than that, it’s all in the cheese.

Smcznego!

Lois

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Twaróg (Polish Farmer’s Cheese)

★★★★★ 5 from 6 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 35 mins
  • Cook Time: 25 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 10 ounces
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

a wonderful homemade cheese that can be crumbly or creamy

Ingredients

  • 2 quarts whole milk
  • 2 cups butter milk
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon to 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (to taste, less for sweet, more for savory uses)

Instructions

  1. Heat milk to 181 F, turn off heat
  2. Add buttermilk and vinegar
  3. Stir until curds form
  4. Let sit for 10 minutes
  5. Line a colander with cheese cloth
  6. Using a slotted spoon, ladle the curds into the cheesecloth
  7. Wrap the cheesecloth around the curds, squeezing gently
  8. Let sit for 30 minutes and squeeze again
  9. Break the cheese into curds and season with salt
  10. Use as curds or you can make the cheese creamy in a food processor or by pushing the curds through a sieve and mashing with the back of a wooden spoon

Polish Plum Liqueur (nalewka śliwkową)

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Polish Plum Liqueur (nalewka śliwkową)
No longer vinegar, now filled with plum liqueur

Trying our hand with Polish Plum Liqueur (nalewka śliwkową)! Making flavored vodkas at home is a popular pastime in Poland with young and old alike.  We’ve tried all kinds of things.  I really liked the cherry.  Raspberry, not as much.

I’ve just strained the green walnuts liqueurs, both Polish and Italian. I hate to say it, but the Italian holds much greater promise.  Perhaps I missed a step in my recipe note taking.

We’ve looked for something plum flavored, but what was available commercially left a lot to be desired.  It was way too strong and had no fruit flavor.  I thought I would try making my own, Polish Plum Liqueur (nalewka śliwkową), and did a test run over the weekend.

I put this together on Sunday, four days later, it’s already very drinkable – great for sipping, and I think it will be an interesting addition to a vodka and tonic.

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I’ve made mine with vodka, and by the time it’s sucked the juice out of the fruit, it’s not so strong. If you like something stronger, substitute spirytus for half of the vodka. For those of you more patient and willing to put in more effort than I, try steeping the plums in vodka for a month. Then strain off the vodka (saving, of course). Cover the plums in sugar and let that sit for another month while the sugar sucks the remaining juice out of the plums. Now add this sugar/juice syrup to the vodka you reserved earlier, and it’s ready to drink.

It was fabulous with tonic, could be popular with those who find tonic too bitter

This was a small batch as a test, expand as your storage and vodka budget allow.

Na zdrowie!

Lois

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Plum (Vodka) Liqueur

  • Author: polishhousewife
  • Prep Time: 2 months
  • Total Time: 2 months
  • Yield: almost 1 quart
  • Category: beverage
  • Method: Infused
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

A plum liqueur, ideally made with Hungarian plums

Ingredients

3 cups vodka
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar (according to your taste)
7 plums, pitted and quartered

Instructions

  • Combine vodka, sugar, plums, and lemon zest (optional) in a large sterile jar (boil the jar and lid for 10 minutes before filling)
  • Leave the jar sitting on the kitchen counter.  Shaking occasionally to help sugar dissolve
  • After a month, strain the mixture through a coffee filter, paper towel, or cheesecloth
  • Add the elderflower syrup (optional) and pour into a sterile bottle, stored in a dark place

Notes

Optional add-ins for your plum liqueur:

  • zest from 1 lemon (I used a vegetable peeler)
    1/8 cup elderflower cordial concentrate (from Ikea grocery)

Keywords: Polish Plum Liqueur Vodka

 

Zubrowka Vodka with Apple Juice (Szarlotka)

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I’ve been in Poland long enough that I’m taking things for granted and saying things like, “Hmm, there are a lot of foreigners in town for this festival.”   I remember how surprised I was the first time I tried this flavor combination.  I’d ordered a vodka and tonic, but the waitress we’d been chatting with suggested I try one of her favorites – Zubrowka and apple juice which has the nickname, apple pie (szarlotka).  Zubrowka, if you’re not familiar with it is a Polish vodka, lightly flavored with buffalo grass, hence the buffalo on the bottle.

I got to introduce my ol’ pal, Julie, to this drink over the weekend.  It was so different than anything she’d tried before, and she loved it too, so it seemed like I should share the idea with you too.  For full apple pie effect, try a dash of ground cinnamon on the top of your cocktail.

 

Wisniak (Polish Sweet Cherry Liqueur)

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Polska piątek (Polish Friday) #1
cherry liqueur, Wisniak, wiesniak, fresh cherries

Popular all over Eastern Europe, I’ve been served this liqueur as an after dinner drink in Polish restaurants.  That happened recently on a trip to Lodz, on the very day that I had just purchased cherries from a vendor in the pedestrian underpass.  At 6.5 zl per kilogram (about $1.10 per pound) I couldn’t pass them by.  We ate the first kilogram, so I bought a second one to bring home and turn into Wisniak. I’m sure Ed could see the “I can make this” light bulb appear over my head as we sipped our cordials.

Similar in taste to our Cherry La La (which is ready in a week rather than months), Wisniak is fruity and very smooth – an ideal way to end a meal.  I’ve been told that if you make Wisniak when cherries first come into season, it reaches perfection in time for the holidays and should be served with a honey cake.  I don’t know if I’ll be able to wait that long.

This can be made with sweet or sour cherries, although officially with sour cherries this is called wisniowka. In either case, you may want to adjust the sugar according to your taste and the sweetness of your fruit.

Na zdrowie!

Lois

PS – Can convince you to give this a try.  It’s now December; I left my jars of Wisniak undisturbed for months and months.  My patience has been rewarded!  I just now strained out the cherries; the cherry liqueur left behind is dark, fruity, sweet, and smooth.  I will make much more next summer when cherries are in season.  It’s so wonderful, that I want to share it with everyone I know!

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cherry liqueur, Wisniak, wiesniak

Wisniak (Polish Sweet Cherry Liqueur)

★★★★★ 4.8 from 4 reviews
  • Author: polishhousewife
  • Prep Time: 90 min active, months passive
  • Total Time: 90 min active, months passive
  • Yield: 5 cups
  • Category: Liqueur
  • Method: Infused
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

Homemade cherry infused vodka = heaven on earth

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 pounds  pitted cherries
  • 1  cup sugar (I used superfine sugar because I had some on hand)
  • l liter vodka (4 – 5 cups, enough to fill container(s)

Instructions

  • Combine all of the ingredients in sterile containers. (I submerged the jars and lids in boiling water for 10 minutes.) The total volume of your container(s) should be half a gallon
  • Shake or swirl daily until sugar has dissolved, it takes a few days
  • Store the containers (in pantry or basement) for  4 to 6 weeks, strain and re-bottle
  • Allow to age 2 to 4 months

Notes

I sometimes substitute brandy for a small portion of the vodka, maybe 1 cup. I just think brandy and cherries go so well together.

If you this with sour cherries, you have wisniowka!

Keywords: infused vodka, cherry vodka, Polish cherry vodka

 

cherry liqueur wisniowka wisniak
Within hours, osmosis has begun

 

Ajerkoniak – Polish Egg Liqueur – Dessert Sauce

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Every time I visit my friend, Elżbieta, I learn a new dish.  During my last visit, we put a very thick Ajerkoniak (sounds like ayer-cognac and translates to eggnog) on our desserts.

Ajerkoniak

This thick version of the liqueur was so rich and yummy – different from anything else I can think of.  The closest thing I could name would be the brandy butter than my mom puts on plum pudding at Christmas.  I had to try making this at home.  I can imagine putting this on all kind of baked goods or ice cream.

Ajerkoniak

Now that I’ve done all that gushing, I have to tell you that this recipe makes me, as an American cook, a little nervous.  It has egg yolk and milk, and the finished product is not to be refrigerated.  That’s what Elżbieta told me, and when Ed mentioned to two guys as the base that I was going to make this, they both said, “whatever you do, don’t put it in the refrigerator.  It will turn into a brick.”  Since the mixture is cooked, and the spirits added are so high in alcohol, I’m going to trust the advise of experienced Polish cooks, and keep this in sterile jars in the cupboard.  I’ll let you decide for yourself.

 

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Ajerkoniak – Polish Egg Liqueur – Dessert Sauce

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

A boozy sauce, perfect over a simple cake or ice cream

Ingredients

  • 8 egg yolks
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 can of evaporated milk (about 1 1/3 cups)
  • 3/4 cups spirytus (grain alcohol, 95% or 190 proof)
  • 1/4 cup brandy
  • 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Combine yolks and sugar in a bowl.
  2. Heat milk until just about to boil.
  3. Add 2 tablespoons hot milk to egg mixture while whisking. Continue adding very small amounts of hot milk to egg mixture until all milk is incorporated.
  4. Sit the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 70 C or 160 F.
  5. Remove the bowl from the saucepan. Place plastic wrap directly on top of the egg mixture, and allow it to cool to room temp.
  6. Stir in remaining ingredients.
  7. Store in clean jars until ready to use.

Notes

I was a worried that my Ajerkoniak would be too thin after I added the booze, but it magically jelled giving me the thick creamy sauce I was after.