Simply Cookbooks

I did not grow up with Polish food around me. I grew up in a small Pennsylvania town made up of largely Italian, Irish population. Polish food was very foreign to me. It wasn’t served in the local restaurant and most assuredly not in our home.

So when in 1970 I married into a Polish family, my culinary education began. My first dinner with my in-laws included a delicacy called “Czernina”. For those of you who don’t know what it is here is an short history.

Czernina is a Polish soup made of duck blood and clear poultry broth. In English it is referred to as Duck Blood Soup.

Generally the sweet and sour taste of the soup comes from the addition of sugar and vinegar. However, there are hundreds of recipes popular in different parts of Poland and Lithuania. Among the ingredients used are plum or pear syrup, dried pears, plums or cherries, apple vinegar and honey. Like most Polish soups, czernina is usually served with fine noodles, macaroni or boiled potatoes.

Until the 19th century czernina was also a symbol in Polish culture. It was served to young men applying for the hand of their beloved ones after the parents rejected their proposal.

And before you ask, I couldn’t eat it. My husband loved it! I just couldn’t do it, then or now. Luckily I had wonderful understanding in-laws who were not hurt. I guess it is something you have to be brought up with to appreciate.

The also served stuffed cabbage and pierogi. I became an instant fan of polish cooking. It is very hardy, tasty and very nutritious.

The following recipes come from my husbands side of the family. My husband is making them this weekend and we will store most in the freezer for the upcoming holiday season.

Pierogi Dough
2 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water
Mound flour on a bread board and make a well in the center
Drop eggs and salt into well. Add water; working from the center to the outside of the flour mound, mix flour into liquid in center with one hand and keep flour mounded with the other hand. Knead until dough is firm and well mixed. This cannot be done with a mixer!
Cover dough with a warm bowl; let rest on bread board at least 10 minutes.
Divide dough into halves. On floured surface, using half of dough at a time, roll dough as thin as possible.
Cut out 3 inch round with a large biscuit cutter
Place a small spoonful of filling a little to one side of each round of dough. Moisten edge with water, fold over and press edges firmly. Be sure they are well sealed to prevent filling from leaking out.
Drop pierogi into boiling salted water. Cook gently 3-5 minutes or until pierogi float.
Do not over fill pot.

Fillings:
Sauerkraut Filling
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon butter or magarine
1 ½ cups finely chopped sourkraut (out of a jar is all right)
2 tablespoon dairy sour cream
Stir fry the onions in butter 3 minutes until transparent
Rinse and drain sauerkraut. Add to onions and cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat
and stir in sour cream.

Potato Filling
½ cup chopped onion
½ tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
2 cups mashed potatoes
Saute onions until transparent, about 5 minutes. Stir in salt and peper. Combine
potatoes with onion. Blend well

Sauerkraut and Mushroom Filling
2 ½ cups of sauerkraut
Boiling water
2 tablespoon of fat (any fat off of any meat that you have cooked works or a good
oil)
½ chopped onion
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 hard-cooked egg-chopped fine
2 tablespoon sour cream
Rinse and drain sauerkraut, Put it into a saucepan. Cover with a small amount of
boiling water. Cook 20 minutes and drain.
Heat fat or oil in skillet. Add onion and fry until golden. Add mushrooms and fry 3
minutes Stir in sauerkraut, salt and pepper . Fry until sauerkraut becomes golden,
about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, Add chopped egg and sour cream, mix well.

Savory Cheese Filling (My favorite)
1 1/2 cups of farmers cheese. (if you can’t find use a cottage cheese or ricotta)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
¼ teaspoon salt
Combine all ingredients. If using cottage cheese you will need to put it through
cheescloth before adding to mixture to remove the moisture, also break some of the
clumps to smaller pieces.

Sweet Cheese Filling
1 ½ ricotta or farmers cheese
1 egg beaten
3 tablespoon sugar
¼ cup raisins or currants
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Press cheese throughly through the cheesecloth into a bowl. Add remaining
ingredients mixing well

Cooked Fruit Filling (A favorite with the kids)
2 cups pitted cherries, apples, or blueberries
¾ cup water
1/3 cup sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)
2-4 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs.
Combine fruit, water, and sugar in saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until fruit
is tender and water is almost gone. Remove from heat. Mash fruit slightly with
potato masher (this is where a food processor does come in handy) Add cinnamon
and lemon juice. Cook and stir over low heat just until fruit mixture is thick. Stir in
enough bread crumbs to make filling very thick.
(The kids always liked these fresh with a sprinkle of powedered sugar on top)

Cabbage Rolls (Golabki)
1 whole head of cabbage (about 3 pounds)
Boiling water
1 pound ground beef
½ pound ground veal
½ pound ground pork
¾ cup chopped onion
½ cup packaged precooked rice
1 egg beaten
1/3 cup bouillon or meat broth
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1-2 cans of tomato sauce
5 cans of tomato soup
1 cup of brown sugar

Remove core from cabbage. Place whole head in a large kettle filled with boiling water Cover; cook until cabbage is tender ( about 3 minutes) Remove outer leaves as they soften. Repeat until all large leaves are removed. Once cooled cut the thick center stem from each slice.
In large bowl combine meat, onion, rice, egg, salt, pepper, and ½ brown sugar, mix well.
Place a small amount of the mixture in the cabbage leaves and roll so that the mixture is completely covered. Secure each cabbage leaf with a toothpicks.
Mix tomato sauce, soup, remaining brown sugar, bouillon in a large bowl. Pour a small amount into the bottom of a large kettle. Also put in the bottom a layer of cabbage that you have left over, this helps to prevent any burning of the cabbages.
Place your cabbages in layers in the kettle, cover completely with the tomato mixture. Cover and cook over low heat at least 2 hours, or until the meat is fully cooked.

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