How to make sauerkraut at home?

cabbage after one week of fermenting - crunchy yet with distinctive sauerkraut flavour already, more photos to follow soon

Homemade sauerkraut is a world apart from the stuff that comes from the shop in jars or plastic bags. The real thing that you can buy in Poland (I am sure Czech, Slovakia, Russian, Germany and more too) from a butt (barrel?) tastes so much better than the jar stuff I buy in UK. So I decided (finally!) to make my own following my Mum's and Granny's advice. My partner and I both agreed that this was one of the best ones we ever ate. Come on winter! We no longer should have an immune problems, good bye colds (hopefully!), but to be honest for me what is the best is the flavour of sauerkraut - you cannot beat it. Have you tried and liked kimchi? Then you should try sauerkraut. 

What is sauerkraut? 

Directly translated it is indeed "sour cabbage". To be more precise finely cut cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria therefore very good for your health. It has a long shelf-life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid that forms when the bacteria ferment the sugars in the cabbage.

Autumn cabbage is the best for making sauerkraut

Why it is good for you?

It is extremely high in vitamins C, B, and K; the fermentation process increases the bioavailability of nutrients rendering sauerkraut even more nutritious than the original cabbage. It is also low in calories and high in calcium and magnesium, and it is a very good source of dietary fiber, folate, iron, potassium, copper and manganese.

If unpasteurized and uncooked, sauerkraut also contains live lactobacilli and beneficial microbes and is rich in enzymes. The fiber and supply of probiotics improve digestion and promote the growth of healthy bowel flora, protecting against many diseases of the digestive tract.

Sauerkraut is high in the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, both associated with preserving ocular health.

Can you prepare sauerkraut at home? 

YES! 

This is what you need:

- white cabbage, preferably during Autumn time (this is what Gran told me - earlier cabbages don't taste as good)

- good quality natural salt (with no additives such as anti-caking agents) - about 10-20 grams for every kilogram of fresh cabbage

- carrots, firm sour apples, caraway (seeds or ground) - OPTIONAL, for extra flavour 

- possibly a stoneware but glass jar will be good too for small batches (my Great grandmother use to make it in a wooden butt, but she had one and a special space for it, also a much bigger family to feed than we nowadays)

- mandoline or a food processor with shredding attachment (unless you want to cut it with a knife)

How?

Work in fairly clean environment - you want good bacteria to do their job, so clean the worktops and the container you will be making sauerkraut in. 

First remove outer leaves from the cabbage and discard any wilted, limp outer leaves. Cut in half and in quarters then trim out the core. Some people use it, but it has to be very finely shredded - so it is up to you, you may as well leave it just to make sure it is shredded finely than the leaves.

Using a mandoline or a food processor shred the cabbage into fine ribbons. At this stage you can place them in a container that will be used for fermenting or in something else for a time being (and mixing with salt). I place it in a large clean plastic bowl.

Sprinkle the salt over the top of the shredded cabbage. If you making a lot of it (like me - 8kg of cabbage in one lot) it would be beneficial to sprinkle salt over few layers of cabbage as you shred it. 

Next begin working the salt into the cabbage by massaging and squeezing the cabbage with your hands, wooden rolling pin or... clean feet. Yes, this is fun! :) The main purpose for this is to get some juices out of the cabbage. Gradually, the cabbage will become watery and limp. It is time to add whatever you want to add for extra flavour, or you can leave it as it is. 

shredded cabbage

For 8kg of cabbage I used 2 large carrots (peeled and grated), 3 firm sour apples and about 3 tsp of ground caraway. I placed some carrots in between layers of cabbage when I was transporting it to a stoneware container. Also I sprinkled few layers with ground caraway and just before the last layer I added apples and covered them with last layer of cabbage. 

You have to make sure all the juices go to the container. You must press the cabbage down again, quite firmly, then cover with clean cloth and place something heavy on the top to weight it down - I used plate with big jar of water. Cabbage must be weighed down, and eventually, submerged beneath its liquid.  If after 24 hours in room temperature, the liquid has not risen above the cabbage, dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in 1 cup of water and add just enough to submerge the cabbage.

bashing the cabbage with a rolling pin

Ferment the cabbage for 3 to 14 days. Time will depend on the quantity you are making and the temperature. At the beginning keep it at the room temperature, but then after about 1-3 days place in a cool place, preferably about 12-15 C. As it's fermenting, keep the sauerkraut away from direct sunlight, check it daily and press it down if the cabbage appears above the liquid. After about 1-3 days (again depending on the quantity) get a wooden spoon and using it's bottom pierce the cabbage in few places to remove the natural gas that may occur during the fermentation and sometimes can make the cabbage taste a bit bitter.

Small batch of sauerkraut will ferment more quickly than larger one. Start tasting it after 3 days — when the sauerkraut tastes good to you, remove the weight, place cabbage in the jars, screw on the cap, and refrigerate (I keep in the cool garage during Autumn/Winter). You can also allow the sauerkraut to continue fermenting for 10 days or longer. There are no hard rules for when the sauerkraut is ready— go by how it looks and tastes.

Gas, bubbles, noises are all happy signs of fermentation so do not worry. :) And please note the released juices are extremely tasty, refreshing and healthy.

Refrigerated in jars sauerkraut should keep for 2-3 months. 

chopped cabbage in stoneware dish

I hope you have enjoyed my first English post in months and I would love to hear from you if you make your own sauerkraut. 

our traditional stoneware dish we brought from Poland

Steak tartare

This is something that I remember from my childhood, very popular party dish when I was a kid, for adults quite often served with a shot of very cold vodka. Couldn't quite grasp why people would eat raw meat, but once I got older I actually started to enjoy it. I think it was at least eight years since last time I ate it and then suddenly I had cravings for this dish last week.

Many Polish cooks would just mince fillet of beef. For me this is a crime. It is quite pricey, and by mincing it you destroy it's delicate texture. You may as well get cheap cut of lean beef and mince it, why do it to expensive fillet? Honestly I don't get it. So chop it finely, yet to the stage when you can still feel some texture under your teeth. Secondly, traditionally in Poland people would use onion, for me onion has too strong flavour and can overpower the flavour of beef. I use more subtle shallots. I would normally use diced pickled mushrooms but these are difficult to get hold of where I live, so I skipped them. I added cornichons and capers. I would advise to not to use strong flavoured oil, but something with a delicate flavour, mild olive oil or rapeseed oil. To enhance the beef flavour it is good to add some anchovies, and my last word: I never use mustard - I think it kills the meat flavour.  

So this is my take on this traditional dish.

Serves 2 

about 300g fillet of beef

1 small shallot (I used French variety, if British you need two)

2 medium cornichons (gherkins)

2 tbsp of salted capers

1 tbsp olive oil

2 small egg yolks (you can use quail eggs) 

4 anchovies (tinned or from a jar)

freshly ground black pepper

salt

Slice beef fillet into about 3mm slices and then chop into small dice. You can go again with a knife over the chopped meat, but do it roughly. Add minced anchovies (mince it with a side of a knife or a fork), some pepper and mix, adjust the saltiness by adding some salt according to your taste, but remember this dish will get more salty when you mix it with capers.

Peel the shallot and dice finely. Dice the gherkins and rinse the capers thoroughly under a running water then drain and chop roughly.

Place cooking ring on a plate and place one layer of meat then one layer of gherkins or caper or shallots, then again layer of meat and layer of next ingredient. Finish off with a layer of meat and make a little well in the centre. Gently place egg yolk in the well and sprinkle with some pepper and salt (optionally). Make sure you save some gherkins, shallots and caper for the finishing touch.

Using oil make three lines across the plate and place some gherkins, shallots and capers in each line. Remove the ring and serve immediately with good bread and optionally with a shot of good quality very cold vodka.

My everyday bread. From starter to loaf.

I don't  consider myself a bread expert by no means but I finally decided to write about my everyday bread after I had some many requests from my guests. Most of them asked if recipe for the bread I served them can be found on my blog. So here it is. 

This is one of my easiest sourdough breads, requires little effort but little patience and time. I bake this bread at least three times a week and quite often I use different types of flour, just stick to the general quantities. Also I use a bread loaf that tin - a kind of spring form - the side bit comes off and bread can be easily lifted from a bottom when it is still hot.

How to make it? First you have to prepare the sour starter. This is a key to good sourdough bread and it’s worth taking some time to get it right. The older the starter is, the more regularly you feed it the stronger it gets. For some time I have been using rye starter only, but you can make it using wholemeal wheat flout too. I personally prefer the smell and taste of the bread made with rye starter. Also it is quite strong so it will lift those breads made with heavier types of flour such as wholemeal rye flour (dark, dense, sour breads).

Most of the bread books and experts recommend to measure the ingredients for sour starter. I don't think this is as much important, as long as you stick roughly to the proportions (similar amount of water to flour).  However if you are beginner I think it will be better if you measure the exact quantities. Looking after your starter on a regular basis will give you more experience and teach you that using a kitchen scale in not always necessary.

I would say that 5 days old starter is far too young to lift heave dough made with rye flour, so you may as well use little yeast or for a start make a white loaf. This is not always the case, as you have to remember that starter is very individual and living thing - some of then can be quite strong from a start and up for a challenge! 

Rye sour starter (as advised by Jeffrey Hamelman)

Day 1

100g wholemeal rye flour

100g water (natural, untreated, in room temperature)

Mix the water with flour in glass or plastic container. Cover with cloth and leave it in warm place (ideally 25C) for 24 hours.

Day 2

half of the mixture from day 1

50g wholemeal rye flour

50g water

Mix all of the above in glass or plastic container. Cover with cloth and leave it in warm place for 24 hours.

Day 3

100g of the mixture from day 2

100g wholemeal rye flour

100g water

Mix all of the above in glass or plastic container. Cover with cloth and leave it in warm place for 12 hours.

The same day, 12 hours later

100g of the mixture from earlier that day

100g wholemeal rye flour

100g water

Mix all of the above in glass or plastic container. Cover with cloth and leave it in warm place for 12 hours.

Day 4

100g of the mixture from earlier that day

100g wholemeal rye flour

100g water

Mix all of the above in glass or plastic container. Cover with cloth and leave it in warm place for 12 hours.

The same day, 12 hours later

100g of the mixture from earlier that day

100g wholemeal rye flour

100g water

Mix all of the above in glass or plastic container. Cover with cloth and leave it in warm place for 12 hours.

On day 5 starter should be ready to use. Store it refrigerated in airtight container and you have to feed it at least every two weeks. To do so remove from a fridge, bring to the room temperature and add the same amount of fresh water and flour - I don't use scale anymore, just add handful of flour and some water to bring it to the double cream like consistency. Leave it in room temperature for 4-8 hours, some young starters may require up to 12 hours to work. After this time it should start to work - bubble and lift little bit - it means it is active and ready to use. I feed my starter every 2-3 days, because I bake my bread quite often, but when I go on holiday I leave it in a fridge for 2-3 weeks and feed it immediately when I come back home. If you don't feed the starter it will die. (or shall I say go off)

I have been making this bread for a long time now and in last few months I learned how to make it without measuring the ingredients using a scale... because mine got broken and I never bought a new one since. You will learn with time how dough should look like, how much water require different types of flour and I am sure you will be liberated from using kitchen scales too.

I am big fan of using a stand mixer. Personally I think Kitchen Aid is great to do this job, especially when it comes to heavy rye dough, but any mixer with a hook will be good, also you can use your own hands - this will require a bit of strength and some more time. I use mixer because I never was a big fan of preparing the dough by hand, also I like to have spare time to do other things while the dough is getting ready. This is my personal choice, I know some people like to work with the dough themselves.

And one more thing I should probably mention. I make most of my breads in two (or three) distinct stages – first by incubating the starter and then adding this to the proper bread dough. The incubation is important because it allows the starter to grow and multiply in fresh flour and water and create what I call the sponge - this helps to rise the dough into a loaf.

Easy mixed sourdough bread

Phase one - the sponge

about 100g wholemeal wheat, or wholemeal spelt or wholemeal rye flour

5 tbsp active starter

about 100g water

Mix all of the above in a plastic bowl, cover with clean cloth  and leave it in room temperature for about 10-16 hours. It should lift little bit and become airy.

 Phase two - the loaf 

about 150g wholemeal wheat, or wholemeal spelt or wholemeal rye flour

about 350g white strong (bread) flour

about 300-350g water (you have to adjust this - different types of flour will require different amount of water)

7-10g salt

optionally - few tbsp of seeds such as linseed, sunflower or pumpkin seeds

Place the flour on a bowl, add the sponge, seeds and about half of the water, then start to mix. When mixing add the remaining water, not all at once - you may have to adjust the amount of water. The dough should be quite flexible, bit sticky, not too dry but not too wet - you should be able to lift it with wet hands and stretch it a bit. When using mixer it should take about 7 minut, by hands - 10 to 12 minutes.

Next turn the mixer off and leave the dough in the bowl, sprinkle with salt and leave to rest for about 10 minutes. Next knead the dough another 3 minutes using mixer, or 5 minutes if using hands. 

Oil the loaf tin with little sunflower (or other neutral oil) and sprinkle with some oat bran - this will help to develop crust and help to remove the loaf from a tin after baking. Remove the dough from a bowl with your wet hands and stretch, then fold like an envelope. Place seal side down in prepared tin. Optionally sprinkle with some more oat bran, cover with clean cloth and leave it for about 8-12 hours in room temperature. (my starter is mature and strong, and on hot day it only needs about 5 hours to rise the dough).

When bread is risen heat the oven to 250 C. Place the tin in oven and immediately spray with some water (I use flower spray). Bake for about 5 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 220 C and bake for further 30 minutes. If the crust is getting too dark cover the loaf with some kitchen foil.

Remove form the oven and leave it to cool down for few minutes, then remove from a tin and leave it to cool down completely - on a wire rack. Tip - you know the bread is ready when it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Enjoy your homemade sourdough loaf!

I fight my demons, vol. 4

Knödel or semmel knödel (Germany and Austria), knedlík (Czech Republic) or knedel (Poland). This round, poached potato or bread dumpling (made without yeast) was giving me a right headache for a long time. I love this kind of food, not so keen on making it though. I was afraid something will go wrong, as I only had a general directions from one of my knedel guru I met on internet culinary forum. It probably took me more than two years to prepare mentally before I got round to make my own. Silly me. This wasn't difficult at all. The main thing is not to make the dough too wet, because it will be difficult to form the dumplings and adding more flour will make them too dense and unpleasant. These are even more delicious when reheated next day.

So my next culinary demon is officially defeated now and bread dumplings are going to be on my menu more often.  I am sorry about not posting an exact recipe for the bread knödel, you have to work your own quantities, as they may vary - depending on what bread you use. I only give you general directions for the dumplings but exact recipes for my pork goulash and beets that work so well with knedel. 

So you definitely need some stale bread, preferably rustic baguette or some good quality crusty bread. No cotton wool like sliced supermarket bread - forget about it! I used three ciabatta rolls and one large white homemade bread rolls - all 2-3 days old. Dice the bread and place in a bowl. Fry one diced onion in a little butter until soft. Add to the bread together with approximately one cup of milk mixed with two eggs, add lots of chopped fresh parsley, season with salt and pepper, optionally add some dried marjoram. Mix it with your hands, leave it to soak for about 30 minutes. Next add 2-3 tbsp of all purpose flour and  mix again with your hands. If you found the mixture too loose and too wet to form the dumplings add some breadcrumbs or some more diced bread - never add more flour. I ended up with 16 dumplings of a size roughly about a tennis ball.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and using wet hands form dumplings about size of a tennis ball and add to the boiling water. Don't shake the pan, leave it, until they start to flow on the surface. From this moment boil them for about 10-12 minutes, then remove with slotted spoon. The bigger dumplings are the longer you have to cook them.

We had them with simple pork goulash and some beets cooked with orange juice. If you are not afraid of gherkins in salty brine called ogórki kiszone (as some people are, as they think they too sour or even gone off), popular in Central and Eastern Europe give them a go with dumplings and meat - they work perfectly well together. 

Pork shoulder goulash 

Serves 4

3 tbsp sunflower oil

about 800g diced pork shoulder
few tbsp all purpose flour

some salt

some freshly ground black pepper

1 onion, peeled and diced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped 

3 tbsp sweet paprika

pinch of chilli powder

about  800ml vegetable or chicken stock, or lager or water

2 anchovies (optionally, I used them, because I had some leftovers)

small handful of dried marjoram

Place flour with some salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the meat and shake so it is covered with flour. Shake the excess of the flour and fry the meat in batches in a pan with sunflower oil. Do not overcrowd the pan, do it in 3-4 batches. Remove the meat from a pan and set aside.

Heat the remaining sunflower oil in a pan and add the onion. Fry for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and fry for minute or so. Next add the paprika and the chilli and fry for a minute or so before adding the meat and any juices released when it was resting. Stir, add anchovies if used, stock or lager, marjoram, bring to the boil, low the heat to simmer, cover and cook fro about 1 hour.

Beetroots (roasted and finished with orange juice)

Serves 2

4-5 medium beets, washed and unpeeled
1 tbsp sunflower oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper
juice of one fresh orange 
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 
1 tbsp butter

Heat the oven to 180 C. Place beets onto a baking tray lined with some kitchen foil, drizzle with sunflower oil, sprinkle with salt and roast until soft. Remove from the oven, leave it to cool down slightly, then peel and grate on a coarse grater.

Heat the orange juice in a pan and boil until slightly reduced. Add the grated beets, butter, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and cook for about 3 minutes.

Serve dumplings with goulash and beets on the side sprinkled with some chopped fresh parsley. To reheat the dumplings next day simply add them to the gravy and simmer for 5 minutes, or slice and fry in a pan with some butter.

There is a city

Pork ribs braised in mead & sauerkraut

I am one leg in our old house and one leg in the new one. We still have plenty of things to pack and move, some cleaning to do in both places before we definitely change the address. Not much time to cook anything decent, but we cannot survive all week on the bowl of pasta with pesto (well, I can… My well built man seems to struggle on this kind of diet), so I try to cook one pot dishes that are suitable for reheating and keep us going in this busy time.

This is one of the Polish dishes that join two very popular in Poland ingredients: cabbage (in this case sauerkraut) and pork. I am sure there is quite a lot of different ways to make this dish, but this is my own and favourite way to cook ribs in sauerkraut – with a hit of sweetness from mead (honey wine) and prunes.  Also the fennel loves pork as much as the cabbage. This time I did not use the caraway seeds, typical for Polish cuisine. Hope you will enjoy it.

I hope to be back on the track soon, when everything gets sorted with the new home (end of February hopefully!).   

Serves 4-6

1.5kg pork ribs

4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

3 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tsp smoked paprika

freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp goose or duck fat

1 large onion, peeled and diced

1 tsp fennel seeds, slightly crushed

¾ cup of mead (honey wine - I used Polish dwójniak variety)

6 prunes, sliced into thin strips

2 bay leaves

2 all spice  

few whole black peppercorns

1.2kg sauerkraut, drained, about cup of fluid reserved

salt

First marinate the ribs, preferably overnight, or at least for 2 hours. Mix the soy sauce with chopped garlic, smoked paprika and pepper and rub into the ribs, cover and leave in a fridge.

When ribs are marinated, season them with little salt, heat the duck or goose fat in large heave bottom pan and fry the ribs on both sides until browned. Do it in batches, do not overcrowd the pan, so they actually fry not cook. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the onions to the pan and fry for few minutes until slightly softened, then add fennel seeds and fry for about a minute, stirring all the time. Next add the mead and leave it to reduce slightly, using a spatula or wooden spoon scrap all the bits from the bottom of the pan – they have lots of flavour.

Next add the drained sauerkraut to the pan, as well as the marinate used for rinbs (if any left) prunes, bay leaves, peppercorns, some salt and all spice. Mix well; add the ribs and any juices they released during the resting, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. If it seems a bit dry and starts to catch at the bottom of the pan during the cooking, add some fluid reserved from the sauerkraut.

Serve with some mash potatoes or a generous slice of good bread. It definitely tastes better when reheated and cooled down several times.

Duel & two dinners - flashbacks from Poland

I dedicate this post to my friends thanks to whom I am never bored in Poland. Thank you very much!

***

This was a dinner, in a fact, two dinners the same night cooked by my friends Guzik and Staszek (remember his name as he might be famous poet one day). They had an argument in a club one night, in the front of me, who can cook better. So they decided they are going to cook a dinner for me and I will decide which one of them is better cook. We agreed to meet on Friday night and my best friend Ela and I were judges in this culinary duel.

Ela (my friend for last 25 years) is brilliant judge as she works in food business and she tasted many, many things in her life, as she does it for living. She has excellent taste buds. She came especially to see me, as she lives far away from my Mum's place at the moment. Therefore I asked her to join my judging panel. We got some alcohol and went to Guzik’s flat.

He was already busy in his tiny kitchen, preparing chips. Handmade, homemade, oven baked – I love them. His girlfriend was taking care of music; his friend was wandering around the flat. I have to mention two cats: Cinnamon and Behemoth, they were quite interested of what was happening in the kitchen. We had lovely, relaxing time, waiting for Staszek, who soon joined us.

First dinner cooked by Guzik was: baked salmon (he has done something to it before pan frying and baking, he used some secret marinade), steamed broccoli, oven baked chunky chips and homemade pesto of rosemary, anchovies and some other tasty ingredients. It was light, tasty, well presented. I was impressed, however happy I am not full yet and I could enjoy second dinner, cooked by other lad.

When he starter with peeling the potatoes we thought the dinner will be served around 1 am, and we weren’t much wrong. Never mind, tasty food is worth waiting for. He was busy! Washing, chopping all the ingredients, typically Polish: potatoes, cabbage, bacon, sausages. Finally he layered them in a big pan lined with cabbage leaves, covered and braised for about 1 hour. He was carefully listening what noises it makes, the pan was alive! It remains me something very tasty and made over an open fire on picnics or camping in a cast iron pan – it is very popular in Poland along the BBQ. 

Dinner was served! Very filling, tasty, very aromatic one pot dish. Perhaps not as good looking as the first one, but what the hell – it was so tasty! And then we had to choose a winner. You can imagine it was very difficult. They both done very well, and quite honestly they have cooked dishes that were completely different and we simply could not judge them in the same competition. Therefore we decided to go for a draw and have another round when I am next time in Poland. Second round will be different – they will have to cook dinners from a list of ingredients chosen by me.  I cannot wait! 

 

Thanks very much lads for this lovely nigh and great food. I genuinely enjoyed it. Also great thanks to Ela who came despite all the kilometres and rushing to the other part of Poland to see her parents.

Where to eat? "Kuchnia i Wino", Pszczyna

I realise that for some of you Poland may sound as rather exotic holiday destination, but I am sure some of you will visit this country one day. And perhaps some of my recommendations you will find handy.

During my last visit in Poland I hade the opportunity to visit one restaurant recommended by my Mum. It is called "Kuchnia i Wino" ("Cuisine and Wine") and I would recommended to anybody who likes to try Polish cuisine.

I was told this restaurant took part in a TV show similar to "Kitchen Nightmares" by Gordon Ramsay and it use to be French style restaurant - too expensive and lacking of customers. It was converted to a place serving mainly Polish cuisine, however you will still see remains of the old menu - there are few French classic bits.

Unfortunately the menu is in Polish, however I believe that if they get some foreign customers they should be able to explain what is on the menu, or hopefully in a future they will have menu in English too. The things is that Pszczyna where the restaurant is located is not very popular for tourism. It is small, historic town intertwined with the history of the famous Polish dynasty (Piast) and their local residence, the 12th century palace, now a site of the Castle Museum (Muzeum Zamkowe) on the main town square. It is also know for its Bison Centre. So there are few things to do!

This restaurant welcomes its guest by nice, warm interior, many candles and fresh flowers. Owner and one of the chefs walks around the restaurant so you can always have a chat with him. Also steak tartare (Polish or French way) is prepared in the front of you by the owner.

For the starters we have ordered traditional Silesian pork gelly (galert śląski), I believe made from slow cooked bacon joint and pig trotters. Very delicate, lean meat, extremely tasty, a good old fashion one. Also we had a duo of Polish herrings. Again very tasty, tender, but little bit too salty for me. Starters were served with very good, real sourdough bread and butter (soft! too cold, hard to spread butter is quite common mistake in restaurants). Both starters were very, very tasty.

For the main dishes we had chef’s speciality: roasted goose (gęś) served with buckwheat and warm beetroot relish. Goose was very tender, meat was melting in my mouth, however to my taste the skin should be crispier. Buckwheat was mixed with some fat and lardons - very aromatic! Beets - to die for. The same dish you can order for one or four people - in this case they serve whole stuffed goose. Also one of us had a boneless pork chop (kotlet z prosięcia), pan fried in bread crumbs and served with Silesian salad (szałot) made with potatoes, onion, bacon lardons and cucumbers in brine.

Unfortunately we did not manage to have a dessert, portions were rather large and I could not manage to eat all of my main. And believe me - I can eat a lot! I have to admit I forgot to check out their wine list, as we decided to have non alcoholic drinks to sympathise with one of us that was driving back home.

I will definitely go back there for more delicious Polish food such as traditional Silesian dumplings served with beef olives and red cabbage (rolada śląska z kluskami i zasmażaną modrą kapustą, btw: soooo my Granny’s like), or something that I did not have before: cold herring soup (chłodnik ze śledzia).

Also, what is worth mentioning, the bill did not leave me speechless. For three starters, three mains and three mineral waters we have paid 145 PLN (exclusive of the tip), which is around £32. Not bad at all! Especially considering that goose is one of the most expensive dishes on the menu. Simply you get good value for money.

I definitely recommend this place!

Kuchnia i Wino
43-200 Pszczyna
ul. Zdrojowa 4

Fermented rye starter for soup

Some time ago I showed you how to make a typical Polish rolled oats sour soup. It is based on a naturally fermented starter – very tasty and healthy. Also I mentioned that my favourite one is starter made from rye flour and this is the one I am going to show you today.

You will need big jar, clay or glass jug or a bottle, clean cloth/tea towel and rubber band to secure the towel.


Makes about 1l starter (depends on its sourness I use it to cook about 2-3l of soup)

7 heaped tbsp of rye flour (not the white one, it should be wholemeal, quite rough preferably organic)
1-2 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly squished with a knife
1-2 bay leaves
1-2 allspice
few whole black peppercorns
about 900ml good quality water, lukewarm (if you do not have good water, used boiled tap water)
tsp of died marjoram (optional)

Mix water with flour thoroughly so there are no lumps left. Add rest of the ingredients, cover with the cloth, secure with elastic band and leave it in warm place.

Once a day (or every two days) mix the starter thoroughly. It should be ready within 7-14 days, depends on the temperature, type of water, flour, humidity etc.

Some people use only this sour water from the top of the starter; I think it is a waste and use all of it, together with flour and bits.

Use in exactly the same way as the rolled oats one. To find out more about this delicious soup please visit my friend's blog.

Cabbage & mushroom pasties

Few weeks ago I have received an invitation to join a competition for Best Cabbage Recipe and I thought I will just ignore it. The prize is very tempting, but at that time I did not feel like cooking a cabbage dish at all.

Last week I had this light bulb moment when I saw Polish sauerkraut in Tesco, something that I do not eat very often. I love the taste of it; however it is not widely available where I live. I had this overwhelming feeling that I have to buy it and cook it as soon as possible. Also we had an appetite for traditional Polish beetroot soup (clear version, not with chunky vegetables, like this one), and we had this homemade sour vegetable juice in the fridge which is a perfect addition to beetroot soup and it makes it more interesting.

Therefore I have made those lovely pasties (not the nipples covers though!) filled with mix of green cabbage, sauerkraut and wild mushrooms. Something very Polish, very exciting and easy to turn into a version for meat lovers by adding some fried, cubed, smoked bacon (pancetta is perfect). You can have it as a snack, or perhaps a starter, traditionally it is served with clear hot soups such as beetroot soup or clear broth. We had lots of them for a dinner; we love them so much, we did not need anything else but a cup of hot beetroot soup.

I did not want to accept the competition invitation first, but then realised that who would cook cabbage better than Polish girl?

Hope you enjoy it! If you would like to vote for this or other recipes, please click HERE.




Makes 10-15


For the dough:

250g strong white bread flour
150g rye flour
7g dry yeast
about 250ml lukewarm milk (or more/less, depends on flour)
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp melted butter



For the filling:

about 300g sauerkraut, drained and roughly chopped (you can buy it in any Central or Eastern Europe delicatessen)
1/2 small white cabbage, chopped
handful of dried wild mushrooms, soaked, drained and roughly chopped
1 onion, peeled and diced
large garlic clove, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp tomato pure
salt
freshly ground black pepper
few drops of lemon juice (or more to your taste)
pinch of sugar
2 bay leaves
few whole all spice



To finish off:

1 egg, beaten
some black onion seeds
some fennel seeds



First prepare the filling: boil the cabbage and the sauerkraut separately in salted water, with some allspice and bay leaves, until soft. Drain and mix together in one pan.

Fry the onion and mushrooms in a pan in the mixture of butter and oil until soft. Next add the garlic and fry for another minute. Add the garlic, onions and mushrooms to the cabbage, add the tomato pure and mix well. Season with the salt, pepper, some sugar and lemon juice accordingly to your taste.

I prepared the filling day ahead and reheated it 2-3 times, so all the excess of moisture evaporated and the flavours matured.

Next prepare the dough. I used bread machine. Put all of the ingredients in the bread machine and use “dough” programme. If using your hands mix all the wet ingredients and add to the mixed dry ingredients and start to mix the dough and knead it for about 10 minutes, until firm and elastic. Then place the dough in a bowl, cover and leave it in warm place until doubled in size.

When dough is ready, punch all the air out and roll on lightly floured surface, until about 2mm thick. Then cut the squares (length of the edge about 15cm), and place some filling on one half of each, making sure you have some dough left on the edges to seal. Brush the edges with little water. Cover with time remaining half, overlapping the half with filling. Press the edges tightly. To make the edges look nice use the top of the knife blade and press it to the edges lightly.

Place the pasties on a baking tray lined with some baking paper, cover with clean kitchen towel and leave them for about 1.5 hour. They will rest and puff slightly.

Heat the oven to 180 C. Brush the pasties with beaten egg, sprinkle half with onion seeds and rest with the fennel seeds (it helps to digest the cabbage). Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until golden and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Serve hot or cold. These are suitable to reheat in a microwave.

Fermented vegetable juice

Since I saw snowdrops and other bulbs very gently trying to stick out of the soil last week, I was hoping that the weather will pick up. Perhaps I did not expect proper warm Spring soon but I hoped that at least I will not see more snow this winter.

To prepare myself for the Spring I have made fermented vegetables juice. In Central and Eastern Europe fermented vegetables are very common, everyday diet ingredients. In Poland we eat sauerkraut (fermented white cabbage), gherkins in brine, or fermented beetroot juice. Our diet contains a natural lactic acid that is good for your body and it comes from those fermented vegetables or naturally fermented milk products. Also quite popular is kvas (RUS) or kwas (PL) also called a bread drink.

Vegetable juices processed by natural way of lactic acid fermentation contain high amount of beneficial substances such as vitamins, mineral compounds, dietary fibre and anticancer compounds. When I suffered from anaemia few years ago it was not the medication but fermented beets juice made by my Mum that helped me stand back on my feet. It not only is very healthy but tastes great and chilled is perfect drink on a hot day or just something nice to have your dinner with. My mates who live outside Poland said that such naturally fermented juices are available in wholefood stores, but they can be extremely expensive.

So I had this juice ready and how was the weather? Unfortunately we had snow this morning. It is dull, cold and wet. I couldn't even have my Saturday morning ritual and watch BBC Saturday Kitchen due as I was told by Sky TV customer service - extreme weather conditions, how they call 1 inch of snow and temperature at around 0C.

Never mind. At least I have my juice.

Makes about 1.2l

5 medium beetroots, peeled and sliced
half pf large celeriac, peeled and sliced
quarter of medium white cabbage, shredded
4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly crushed
piece of fresh ginger, about 1 inch, peeled and halved
2 level tsp of salt
about 1.2l lukewarm boiled water

Place all the ingredients except from water and salt in large, glass jar or clay jug. I place it in few layers of each vegetable and top it up with garlic and ginger. Next add slated water, enough to cover vegetables. If the vegetables float to the top and remain exposed to air, they are likely to develop mould.

Cover with piece of paper kitchen towel or cheesecloth, secure with elastic band and leave in warm, dark place for about 4 days. Sometimes grey foam can develop on the top, but do not worry - just remove it and drain the juice, saving the vegetables for later.

You can use these vegetables to make a second round. Just cover them again with salted water and leave it in the same way, but for little bit longer (about 6-7 days). The second round will give you little less intensive flavour but it still be tasty.

Store it in a fridge, covered because the smell is quite strong. You can add it to beetroot soup to enhance it's flavour, however you not allowed to boil it, because it will turn soup cloudy and brownish. One glass a day should improve your digestion and health.

Na zdrowie! Good health!

Polish dumplings (pierogi) with lamb

I hate to waste any food, especially meat. I have written about it few months ago. It is no good for the environment but also from an economical point of view it is something unforgivable. It is like taking a note out of my wallet and putting into a shredder.

Therefore I try to cook some of our meals using products that are not at their best, but can be used in soup or stews – like wrinkly vegetables, or cheese that seems to be bit dry on the edges. Also I am not panicking about products that have passed the best before date – they are still OK to eat!

When we have a roast lamb, shoulder or leg that weights about 2 kg it is always too much for two of us, and after two days of eating the roast, we always have some leftovers. So I put them in a plastic bags and place in the freezer. This is how I ended up with 500g of meat that I used to make a filling for Polish speciality – pierogi.

It is quite common to stuff them with meat, seasonal fruit or mix of mashed potatoes and curd cheese. This is my recipe and I would not call this filling a traditional Polish stuff, as lamb is not the most popular meat in Poland, although pierogi are typically Polish and were incorporated to Polish cuisine from the Far East through the Kievian Rus. This is something that is very popular in most of the Polish homes and places serving food and there are numbers of different fillings used. In Poland you can get them in most shops, usually frozen.

There are different ways to make the dough. One, very traditional mix flour with egg and some water and the other which I prefer to use mix flour with buttermilk. The dough made from buttermilk is easy to roll, very flexible and pleasant to work with. However I will post both recipes, so you can use whichever you prefer.





Makes about 40 dumplings

For the dough:

300g plain flour (you have to have some more flour handy to work the dough and roll it out as it can be quite sticky)
half tsp salt
1 egg
about 100ml warm water
1 tbsp oil (optional)

Like making pasta dough sieve the flour onto a worktop and make well in the centre. Place the egg, salt and oil in the well and mix all the ingredients. Next add little bit water at a time and mix the dough with your hands until you have got a ball. You can use a planetary mixer instead. The dough should not be too sticky, so when making it you may have to add some extra flour.

Alternatively mix the following:

500g plain flour
about 300ml buttermilk

Again, you have to have some more flour and buttermilk handy, so you can adjust the recipe if needed. Again, the dough should be flexible and not too sticky. I prefer this one, as it is easier to assemble and the dough is very good to work with.

Either way you prepare the dough, divide it into 2-3 pieces and cover with cloth before rolling out.


For the filling:

about 500g roast or boiled meat leftovers (I used parts of lamb leg and shoulder and also small piece of beef boiled to make a broth on previous day)
140g cubed pancetta
large white onion, peeled and diced
3-4 tbsp butter
handful dried porcini mushrooms
2 springs of rosemary
cup of vegetarian or beef stock (optional)
salt
freshly ground black pepper


Soak the mushrooms in a cup of water for 10 minutes, drain and squeeze the excess of water, save the water for later.

In a dry pan fry the pancetta until brown, place in the bowl and set aside.

In the same pan melt the butter and fry the onions and rosemary springs. Remove the rosemary and discard when the onions are soft.

Mince the meat, pancetta, mushrooms and onions using a meat mincer. Add the water from soaking the mushrooms and mix well. The filling should be firm and quite sticky, so add more stock if needed. You should be able to form a firm ball without any problems. Season with salt and pepper.

Start to roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. If you use first type of dough you can use a pasta maker to roll it out, unfortunately the buttermilk dough is not suitable for rolling out in the machine. Although it is really easy and pleasant to roll out with ordinary rolling pin.

When dough is rolled out, cut disks using a pastry cutter or glass or tea cup. Any scraps of leftover dough put together and knead to form a ball that you will roll out later. If you use the first type of dough it could become too dry to seal the edges, so you will have to brush them lightly with little water.

Place a generous spoon of the filling into a middle of each disk. The edges must stay clean as it will not seal properly with any filling between edges. Fold disk in half and pinch the edges together with you fingers, pressing lightly. Place it on floured surface and repeat with other disks.

At this stage you can freeze uncooked dumplings and boil them from the frozen next time. I prefer to cook them all and reheat next day – either fry in butter or steam them.

In the large pan (I use 5l) boil the water with some salt. Add few dumplings at a time, about 6-8 and bring them to the boil. They should rise to the surface and boil for about 3-4 minutes. Drain one with slotted spoon and check if the dough is cooked. If so, drain all of the dumplings with slotted spoon and serve.

We had it with some onions, which I have fried in butter and then cooked in some homemade beef stock and then sprinkled with fresh chopped parsley. You can also serve it with melted butter only, or fried pancetta cubes, or fried onions.



(source lovefoodhatewaste.com)

Plum & almond cake

End of the summer and beginning of warm autumn always remind me dinners at my Granny's house - in September she always makes a kind of dough and wrap the prunes in it (knedle ze śliwkami in Polish - it is little bit like Italian gnocchi but filled with fruits, clik here to see what it looks like). It tastes great, but I can get hold of this particular type of plums she uses. It is similar to damson, but bigger and sweeter. Although I love plums I do not fancy making my Granny's dish as I think it would not be as good as that one back home... Instead I indulge myself with plum cake, especially that my boss gave me some plums from his garden.

It is easy and quick to make and it makes a great treat for your afternoon tea.

Makes 25cm round tin

250g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar ( I used golden)
5 eggs
tsp vanilla extract
250g plain flour
level tsp baking powder
handful of almond flakes
about 600g plums, halved, weight after removing stones

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Mix sugar with butter until fluffy. Next add eggs - one by one mixing all the time. Add vanilla extract, sieved flour with baking powder and mix. Place the mixture in round cake tin lined with baking paper.

Sprinkle half of the almonds on the top, place halved plums and sprinkle with the remaining almond flakes. Bake for about 30 minutes, remove from the oven and let it cool down in the tin.