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Kasia

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Posts posted by Kasia

  1. EXQUISITE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE SOUP

     

    Jerusalem artichoke, also called sunchoke or earth apple, has been known in Poland since the first half of the XVIII century. It is a vegetable especially recommended for diabetics because it reduces the amount of blood glucose. Those who would like to lose weight should also reach for it. Jerusalem artichoke contains a lot of potassium so it reduces blood pressure, and inulin which reduces high cholesterol.


    I have looked suspiciously at the packaging of Jerusalem artichoke a few times. Only the soup I ate in a Warsaw restaurant convinced me to buy it. I prepared my own version of cream of Jerusalem artichoke. I found the recipe at the Polish page zakochanewzupach. However, I used my own spices. I served this soup with mushroom crisps and parsley olive oil. It was really excellent.


    Ingredients (for 4 people):
    500g of Jerusalem artichoke
    200g of potatoes
    1 big onion
    2 tablespoons of oil
    500ml of vegetable stock
    400ml of coconut milk
    2 mushrooms
    fistful of parsley
    2 tablespoons of olive oil
    salt and white pepper


    Dice the onion and fry lightly in oil. Peel the Jerusalem artichokes and potatoes and cube them. Add the vegetables to the onion and fry for a while on a low heat. Don't brown them. Put everything into a pot, add the vegetable stock and boil until the vegetables are soft. Add the coconut milk, spice it up with the salt and white pepper and boil for a while. Blend the soup thoroughly. If it is too thick, add more vegetable stock. Cut the mushrooms into thin slices. Fry the slices in oil until they are gold and crunchy. Grind the parsley in a mortar with a pinch of salt. Add the olive oil while grinding constantly. Serve the hot soup with mushrooms crisps and parsley oil.


    Enjoy your meal!

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    • Like 1
  2. 1 hour ago, rotuts said:

    @Kasia

     

    your JAS soup looks extremely inviting.

     

    Im not much on special presentations

     

    and that's my loss.

     

    everything I see above looks outstanding.

     

    I lovev the saute'd possibly, a tiny bit crispy mushroom slices.

     

    many Kudos your way !

     

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    @rotuts thank you :) yes the mushrooms are saute'd

  3. BANOFFE - MY DAUGHTER'S BIRTHDAY CAKE

     

    This year, mischievous nature tried to upset my daughter's birthday plans. Spending your birthday in bed with a thermometer isn't an excellent idea ¬– even for an adult. For a teenager it is a drama comparable to cancelled holidays. My daughter told me that you are thirteen only once. And she was right. Literally and figuratively.


    I wanted to sugar the pill for her on this day and cheer her up for a bit, so I prepared a caramel cake with bananas – banoffee in the form of a small birthday cake. My sweet magic and the dinner from her favourite restaurant worked, and in the end her birthday was quite nice.


    Ingredients (17cm cake tin):
    150g of biscuits
    75g of butter
    200ml of 30% sweet cream
    250g of mascarpone cheese
    2 tablespoons of caster sugar
    2 bananas
    300g of fudge
    1 teaspoon of dark cocoa


    Break the biscuits into very small pieces or blend them. Melt the butter and mix it up with the biscuits until you have dough like wet sand. Put it into a cake tin and form the base. It is worth rolling it flat with a glass. Leave it in the fridge for one hour. Spread the biscuit layer with fudge and arrange the sliced bananas on top. Whisk the chilled sweet cream with the caster sugar. Add the mascarpone cheese and mix it in. Put the mixture onto the bananas and make it even. Sprinkle with the dark cocoa and decorate as you like. Leave it in the fridge for a few hours (best for the whole night).


    Enjoy your meal!

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    • Like 3
  4. ON THE CHRISTMAS TABLE - ŁAZANKI - NOODLES WITH CABBAGE AND MUSHROOMS

     

    Traditionally, during the Polish Christmas Eve supper we don't eat any meat. Instead we have twelve dishes with fish, mushrooms, vegetables and cabbage. In my home everybody waits for their favourite meal: my husband and daughter for the herring dishes and vegetable salad, my son for the fried fish, while I wait for dumplings and jellied carp.


    One of the traditional dishes in many Polish homes is łazanki with cabbage and mushrooms. Łazanki are small, square noodles. The best dish is made with noble porcini mushrooms. I sometimes mix these forest mushrooms with sliced champignons, which look beautiful among the noodles. Łazanki are a Christmas Eve dish, but sometimes when my children ask me I prepare it during the rest of the year too.


    Ingredients:
    500g of sauerkraut
    1 onion
    60g of dried porcini
    6-7 champignons
    1 tablespoon of caraway seeds
    2 bay leaves
    2 tablespoons of butter
    300g of łazanki
    salt and pepper


    Soak the dried porcini in water for 4-5 hours. Cook them until they are soft. Cut them into smaller pieces. Dice the onion, slice the champignons and fry them in butter. Cut up the sauerkraut. If it is too sour, rinse it with water. Put the sauerkraut, onion, caraway seeds, bay leaves and cooked porcini and champignons in a pan with a heavy bottom. Spice it up with salt and pepper. Stew until the sauerkraut is soft (for 2-3 hours). Boil the Łazanki until it is al dente. Mix the noodles with the sauerkraut and mushrooms. Serve hot.


    Enjoy your meal!

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    • Like 3
  5. ON THE CHRISTMAS TABLE - CHRISTMAS EVE CRANBERRY KISSEL

     

    One of my friends from Ukraine told me about her traditional Christmas dishes. Except for stuffed cabbage with potatoes (which I have made already) I was surprised about cranberry kissel. I searched the Internet and I saw that in many Polish homes Christmas Eve supper ends with cranberry kissel. In my home we always drink compote with dried fruit, but maybe this year we will try a new dish on our Christmas menu.


    I wonder why cranberries are on the Christmas table. I didn't find any particular information about it (except the fact it is tradition). I think that a few years ago cranberries were treated as a natural cure which aids digestion, and this could be quite useful after a hefty Christmas meal!


    At my Ukrainian friends' home Christmas kissel is runny like a drink, but you can prepare it like a dessert with a more dense texture. I made the drink version, but you should choose which is better for you.


    Ingredients:
    500g of cranberries
    a piece of cinnamon and a couple of cloves
    6-8 tablespoons of sugar
    2-3 tablespoons of potato flour


    Wash the cranberries and put them with the cinnamon and cloves in a pan. Pour in 500ml of water and boil until the fruit is soft. Remove the cinnamon and cloves and blend the rest. Add the sugar and mix it until it has dissolved. Sieve the cranberry mousse to make a smooth texture. Mix the potato flour with a bit of cold water. Boil the cranberry mousse and add the mixed potato flour, stirring constantly so it is not lumpy. Boil for a while. Pour the kissel into some glasses.


    Enjoy your meal!

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    • Like 2
  6. COURGETTE MUFFINS WITH LEMON

     

    Since I found the recipe for courgette muffins with lemon on the Polish blog gotujzcukiereczkiem I decided to prepare them. My children looked at the ingredients with surprise. Courgette and cakes don't go together well. The argument that they add caster sugar to the courgette pancakes didn't convince them. The muffins reminded my husband of the lemon cake his grandma used to prepare many years ago. I just liked them. They were short lived, because they disappeared in no time, slightly lemony, moist and not too sweet. They were perfect.


    If I didn't know they had courgette in them, I would never believe it. Try it, because it is worth it.


    Ingredients (for 12 muffins)
    muffins
    200g of flour
    a pinch of salt
    half a teaspoon of baking soda
    half a teaspoon of baking powder
    150g of sugar
    peel from one lemon
    a tablespoon of lemon juice
    2 eggs
    150ml of oil
    a teaspoon of vanilla essence
    a teaspoon of lemon essence
    210g of grated courgette
    icing:
    3 tablespoons of milk
    10 tablespoons of caster sugar
    1 teaspoon of lemon essence


    Heat the oven up to 170C. Put some paper muffin moulds into the "dimples" of a baking pan for muffins.
    Mix together the dry ingredients of the muffins: flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Mix together the sugar and lemon peel in a separate bowl. Add the eggs, oil, lemon juice and both essences. Mix them in. Add the dry ingredients and mix them in. Grate the unpeeled courgette, don't squeeze and don't pour away the liquid. Add the courgette to the dough and mix it in. Put the dough into some paper muffin moulds. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Now prepare the icing. Mix the milk with the caster sugar and lemon essence. Decorate the muffins with the lemon icing.


    Enjoy your meal!

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    • Like 3
  7. MILLET GROATS CHOCOLATE CREME WITH CRANBERRY MOUSSE

     

    Today I would like to share with you the recipe for the best chocolate crème I have ever eaten. It is thick, smooth and very chocolaty in flavour and colour. Despite the chocolate, the dessert isn't too sweet. But if somebody thinks that it is, I recommend serving it with slightly sour fruit mousse. You can use cherries, currants or cranberries. You will make an unusually yummy arrangement and your dessert will look beautiful.


    My children were delighted with this dessert. I told them about the fact it had been made with millet groats after they had eaten it, and ... they didn't believe me. Next time I will prepare the millet groats crème with a double portion of ingredients.


    Ingredients (for 4 people)
    chocolate crème
    100g of millet groats
    200g of dark chocolate
    1 tablespoon of dark cocoa
    250ml of almond milk
    fruit mousse
    250g of fresh cranberries
    juice and peel of one orange
    half a teaspoon of grated ginger
    4 tablespoons of brown sugar


    Boil the millet groats in salty water and drain them. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. Blend the millet groats, chocolate, cocoa and milk very thoroughly until you have very smooth crème. Pour the milk in gradually to make the right consistency of your desert. Prepare the fruit mousse. Put the washed cranberries, ginger, juice orange peel and sugar into a pot. Boil until the fruits are soft. Blend. Put the chocolate crème into some small bowls. Put the fruit mousse on top. Decorate with peppermint leaves. Serve at once or chilled.


    Enjoy your meal!

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  8. COURGETTE_BUCKWHEAT PANCAKES

     

    When I ask my son what I should prepare for dinner, you can be sure as hell he wants pancakes or crepes. He isn't a typical guy. He doesn't like meat. He likes groats, rice, potatoes, vegetables and salads, and he leaves the meat to the end. When I was a child I was the opposite. First, I ate what I liked the least so that I could relish my favourite dish.


    Today I would like to share with you a recipe inspired by my son's taste. I recommend courgette-buckwheat pancakes, which I served with horseradish dip on a natural yoghurt base.


    The recipe comes from Lidl cookery book.


    Ingredients:
    100g of buckwheat groats
    1 onion
    300g of courgette
    2 cloves of garlic
    3 tablespoons of minced parsley
    150g of 18% cream
    1 teaspoon of baking powder
    4 tablespoons of flour
    2 eggs
    salt and pepper


    Wash the courgette, grate it, add salt, stir, leave for 15 minutes and then drain it. Boil the buckwheat groats until they are soft (not al dente). Dice the onion and crush the garlic. Mix the groats, eggs, parsley and onion. Add the drained courgette, cream, garlic and spice up the mixture with salt and pepper. Mix everything together. Fry the small pancakes in heated oil. Serve the hot pancakes with cold horseradish dip.

    Enjoy your meal!

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  9. ALMOND CUSCUS WITH CRANBERRIES AND PINEAPPLE

     

    I hate getting up in the morning. My household knows that before 8 o'clock I'm unbearable, and because almost every day I wake up much earlier, I tend to be unbearable more frequently than I want. Every extra five minutes of sleep is priceless, so I appreciate a good breakfast that is not too complicated and is quick to prepare.


    Recently, I have been preparing breakfast with groats and flakes. This time I chose cuscus. This product is a cross between pasta and groats, and it doesn't need long to prepare. It is enough to add hot water or milk and leave for a few minutes. I added some fresh pineapple, cranberries and banana. I spiced it up with some hot chili pepper .


    Ingredients (for 2 people)
    125g of cuscus
    400ml of almond milk
    1 tablespoon of honey
    1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
    2 slices of fresh pineapple
    1 teaspoon of minced chili pepper
    150g of fresh cranberries
    2 tablespoons of brown sugar
    1 banana
    4 tablespoons of flaked almonds


    Wash the cranberries and put them into a pot. Add two tablespoons of water and the brown sugar. Boil, stirring gently until the cranberries burst and the sauce has thickened. Boil the almond milk with the vanilla essence. Pour the milk onto the cuscus and leave for 5-7 minutes. Slice the banana and roast the almond flakes. Peel the pineapple and dice it. Mix the pineapple, chili pepper and honey. Add the pineapple to the cuscus and mix it in. Put the mixture into two bowls. Put the cranberries and banana on the top and sprinkle with the almond flakes.


    Enjoy your meal!

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    • Like 1
  10. SWIFT HOMEMADE NAPOLEON

     

    Sometimes we have days – may there be as few as possible – when nothing works out. I can even burn the water for tea. I have two ways of dealing with such days. The first is to sit in a corner and wait it out – maybe it will sort itself out. I can only do this when I'm alone. When I have a hungry family I have to look for another way. My second way is to use only well-known recipes and stick to them irregardless of how well I know them. Any experiments in this situation will end in failure.


    Last weekend was just difficult. My husband helped me prepare dinner, but the dessert was my problem alone. Following the rules, I used a recipe for napoleon that is so simple there is no way you could fail. I recommend it to anyone struggling with creative impotence or who likes glamourous results after not too much effort in the kitchen.

     


    Ingredients (for 9 napoleons)
    1 pack of chilled French pastry
    500ml of milk
    6 tablespoons of sugar
    1 packet of powdered blancmange
    50g of butter
    2 egg yolks
    1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
    1 tablespoons of potato flour
    2 tablespoons of flour
    caster sugar


    Heat the oven up to 180C. Cover a baking tray with some baking paper.
    Cut the French pastry in half. Bake one half for 20 minutes. Remove it from the tray. Cut the second part into 9 squares. A cake prepared in this way is easier to divide into portions. Put them on the paper and bake for 20 minutes.
    Now prepare the crème. Boil 400ml of the milk with the sugar, vanilla essence and butter. Mix the rest of the milk with the powdered blancmange, flour and potato flour and egg yolks. When the milk has boiled, take it off the heat and add it to the mixture, stirring constantly. Put it on the heat and boil, stirring until the mixture is coagulated. Take the pot off the heat. Put the warm mixture on the whole part of the French pasty and then cover it with the sliced part of the pastry. Cover the dessert with aluminium foil and leave in the fridge for a few hours. Cut and sprinkle with the caster sugar before serving.

     

     

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    • Like 1
  11. LUNCH FROM THE JAR, I.E. LAYERED SALAD IN THE OFFICE

     

    Most of us take lunch boxes to the office. Some lucky people can warm their food up at work The rest have to eat sandwiches. Sandwiches are great, but even if we absolutely love them we could get fed up with them in the end. Regardless of where we work we can save the situation with salads. Every day we can prepare a different one and we have an entirely new lunch. If we also take an attractive dish, we have something that is not only tasty but also glamorous.


    I would like to share with you the recipe for a salad which looks equally as beautiful as it is yummy. The chickpeas and groats make it a satisfying and balanced meal, after which we won't be hungry. I think that if you prepare your lunch in the morning and plan to eat it at lunchtime, we should keep the salad and the dip separately. Otherwise, after a few hours in the jar, we have an unappetising dish with squishy lettuce, which isn't what we want, is it?


    Ingredients (for 2 people)
    1 beetroot
    200g of tinned chickpeas
    100g of bulgur
    1 carrot
    1 fresh green pepper
    4 lettuce leaves
    200g of natural yoghurt
    handful of minced chives
    1 small chili pepper
    salt and pepper


    Clean the beetroot and bake or boil it. Grate the beetroot and carrot. Cut the pepper into thin strips. Boil the bulgur in salty water. Arrange in layers in a jar the beetroot, chickpeas, pepper, bulgur, carrot and lettuce. Dice the chili pepper. Mix the natural yoghurt with the chives and chili pepper. Spice it up with salt and pepper. Add the dip to the salad just before serving.

     

     

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    • Like 1
  12. 2 minutes ago, kayb said:

    It is a specific kind of sausage, in a long link, that has been smoked. I usually slice mine diagonally and brown it in a skillet, then put sauerkraut over it and simmer. 

     

    I think I have another package at home. I will look and take a picture for you.

     

    Thank you in advance @kayb - this is what we name as the kielbasa in Poland 

  13. 2 minutes ago, kayb said:

    Kielbasa is a popular sausage here in the US, @Kasia. I buy it frequently at the supermarket. I do not know if it really resembles the REAL kielbasa one finds in Poland.

     

    Many of the hog farmers in the Midwest were originally from Central Europe. It may be they brought the traditions of sausage making with them.

     

    In fact I just checked in the translator and for the kiełbasa one of the the answers is Polish sausage - funny :) Do you use it for a special kind of sausage or simply interchangeably for any sausage?

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