Polish Christmas Recipes

CLEAN BORSCH / BEETROOT SOUP

Ingredients

1 bottle borsch, 60 g dried plums, grated lemon rind, 2 cloves, 1 tablespoon honey, pepper, salt

Directions

Cook dried plums 5 minutes in 4 glasses of water together with a lemon rind and cloves, strain the brew, add honey and heat everything together, at the end add borsch soup and sliced plums, season with pepper and salt.

MUSHROOM RAVIOLI

Ingredients

1 clove of garlic, 300 g flour, 1 egg, 120 ml water, 300 g sauerkraut, 20 g dried mushrooms, 1 tablespoon butter, a pinch of nutmeg, pepper, salt

Directions

Prepare the dough of flour, egg and salt. Prepare the filling: cut the sauerkraut and cook with mushrooms (they should be soaked before), add crumbled garlic, nutmeg and pepper. Mix everything. Roll the dough, cut small circles with a glass. On the circle put the filling, cover with the second circle, join the rinds of both circles. Put the ravioli into boiling water and cook them 6-8 minutes. Serve with beetroot soup.

KUTIA

Ingredients

1 ½ glass wheat, 1 glass poppy seeds, raisins, almonds, honey, milk, powdered sugar

Directions

Wash the wheat and pour hot water into it. Next day cook the wheat 3 hours until it’s soft. Also poppy seeds cook until it’s soft, drain it and blend in a mixing bowl. Add to the strained wheat and mix with the honey heated with powdered sugar, add chopped raisins and almonds, add hot milk, mix and cool. Keep in the fridge.

MUSHROOM SOUPIngredients

2 l vegetable stock (instant or prepared at home), 50 g dried mushrooms, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 onion, 125 ml cream, 1 tablespoon wheat flour, salt, pepper, dill

Directions

Pour a part cold stock into the washed mushrooms and leave it for2 hours and next, boil the mushrooms in the stock until they are soft (20 – 30 minutes). Take out the cooked mushrooms, chop them and fry on butter, add chopped onion and fry everything together. Sprinkle flour onto the mushrooms and onion. Add the whole stock, cook stirring from time to time. Add cream and season with salt and pepper. Serve with little dumplings and dill.

FRIED CARP

Ingredients

1 carp, 50 g flour, 1 egg, 80 g breadcrumbs, a block of butter (250 g), salt, pepper, lemon

Directions

Wash the fish and take out its skin. Cut out the head and tail. Fillet out the portions of the fish. Wash the meat, season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Coat the fish in flour than in egg and at the end in breadcrumbs. Fry the pieces of the fish on the frying pan until the fish is gold. Before served put the fish into the oven for 10 minutes.

RYEMEAL SOUP

Ingredients

2 l water, 100 g dried mushrooms, a bottle of sour-rye soup, 2 tablespoons sour cream, 1 tablespoon flour, salt, pepper

Directions

Boil mushroom in a small amount of water for a very long time. When they are soft, add sour-rye soup from the bottle. Mix cream and flour, add the mixture to the soup, season with salt and pepper. Cook the soup slowly.

CARP IN ASPIC

Ingredients

½ big carp (about 1 kilo), 1 carrot, a piece of celery, 1 egg, green parsley, 1 lemon, 1 bay leaf, 2 grains allspice, 1 teaspoon colorful pepper, gelatin, salt

Directions

Clean and fillet the fish, rub with salt and leave in the fridge for 2 hours. Slice the lemon (leave a few slices and squeeze out the juice from the rest). Wash the fish again (to remove salt) and pour lemon juice onto it, wrap it into foil and put into the fridge for another 2 hours. Take the fish out of the fridge, warm in room temperature and put it into the pot together with vegetables, allspice, bay leaf and pepper. Pour hot water and cook about 40 minutes. Take the fish out of the pot carefully, put it on a plate. Clarify the vegetable and fish stock and dissolve gelatin in it. Boil the egg, slice it, slice also celery and carrot. Garnish the fish with egg, vegetables and lemon slices. Pour the jelly over the garnished fish, leave in the fridge.

DRIED FRUIT COMPOT

Ingredients

200 g mixed dried fruit, 2 glasses water, grated rind and juice of 1 lemon, 6 cloves, ½ glass sugar

Directions

Rinse and soak fruit in water overnight. Add sugar and heat till it is dissolved. Add lemon juice, rind and cloves. Refrigerate.

PIERNIKI (Polish Spice Cookies)

Ingredients:

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 3 tablespoons water

1 cup honey

3 cups all-purpose flour

Chocolate Glaze (optional):

4 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate

4 ounces butter

1 tablespoon water

PIERNIKI (Polish Spice Cookies)

Preparation:

In a large bowl, beat eggs with sugar until light and lemon-colored. Add the spices, baking soda-water mixture and honey. Mix well. Add flour gradually and mix until a stiff dough forms. Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. On parchment paper cut to fit your baking pans, roll the dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into whatever shape you desire. Lift the parchment paper by opposite corners and place on the baking pans. See these steps for rolling and cutting gingerbread.

Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly brown around the edges. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container. It's best to ice or glaze these cookies right before serving.

To make the glaze, combine all the ingredients in a microwaveable bowl and nuke for 20 seconds at a time until almost completely melted. Stir until smooth. Use immediately.

Christmas Moczka

Honey-cake soak in fruit juice with nuts and raisin and dried fruits. Dark cream create chill.

Very tasty!!!