Meat pierogies (pierogi mięsne)
DOUGH
3 cups (330 g) flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
FILLING
1 onion
1 lb (500 g) ground meat, like beef or veal
1 egg
salt and pepper
1 tbsp cooking oil
1. Prepare the dough: Sift the flour and mix with salt on a wooden surface. Make a hole in the middle and gradually pour in warm water and knead until a solid dough forms.
2. When the dough is smooth, roll it out into a thin sheet with a rolling pin. Cut out circles with the rim of a cup that is about 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) in diameter.
3. Chop the onion and fry in oil with the ground meat in a skillet until browned. Move the meat and onion to a bowl.
4. Beat the egg for a few minutes and add it to the meat, along with salt and pepper. If the filling is too dry, add a bit of water.
5. Place about a half-tablespoon of filling in one half of the circle, and fold over the other half to make a crescent shape. If the dough is not sticking well, moisten the edges with water before you seal them.
6. Bring a deep pot of salted water to a boil, reduce to medium heat, and put in the pierogies, about ten at a time. Stir once so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. When they come up to the surface (after about 4 minutes), wait one more minute and take them out, one by one, with a slotted spoon.
7. If you want to make the pierogies crispy, fry them in a bit of cooking oil after taking them out of the water.
Serve sprinkled with fried bacon bits, drizzled with oil, or with a side of sour cream.
Veal with apples (cilęcina z jabłkami)
1 lb (500 g) veal
2–3 sour apples, like Granny Smith
2 tbsp butter
¼ cup (30 g) flour
½ cup (125 ml) sour cream
salt
1. Rinse the veal and cook in water in a covered pot for about 30 minutes.
2. Peel and chop the apples and add them to the veal, cooking for about ten more minutes.
3. Take out the veal, pour out most of the water, and mash or blend the apples with a little bit of the remaining broth.
4. Fry the butter and flour in a skillet to make a golden roux, and add about a half-cup of water, stirring until there are no lumps. Add this to the applesauce, along with the sour cream and salt, and cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes.
5. Slice the veal into big or small pieces, and cook in the apple sauce until hot.
Serve this with groats, noodles, or kopytka (see recipe on page 82).
Walnut- and apple-stuffed pork loin (Schab nadziewany jabłkiem i orzechami)
1 onion
2 apples
1¼ cup (100 g) walnuts
¼ cup (20 g) cheese, like Parmesan
1 cup (90 g) breadcrumbs
1¾ lb (800 g) pork loin without bone
dried herbs: thyme, bay leaf, oregano
¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
½ cup (125 ml) white wine
salt and pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
2. Chop the onion and fry it in some cooking oil until lightly brown.
3. Cut the apples into cubes and dice the walnuts.
4. Mix the apples, walnuts, shredded cheese, and breadcrumbs in a bowl, stir it into the onion, and fry for a couple of minutes on low heat. Add some herbs to taste.
5. Cut the pork loin into thick slices. Make an incision along the side of each slice to make pockets.
6. Fill each pocket with the apple and walnut mix and fasten with a toothpick or two.
7. Place the stuffed pork into a baking dish and pour the wine and olive oil over it. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper.
8. Bake in the oven for 30–40 minutes.
Stuffed pot roast (pieczeń nadziewana)
2 lb (900 g) boneless beef
salt and pepper
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp salo (see recipe page 38), or butter
STUFFING
3 onions
1 tbsp butter
¼ cup (20 g) breadcrumbs
1 egg yolk
paprika
salt and pepper
2 tbsp flour
chopped parsley
1. Clean and lightly beat the beef then season with salt and pepper and cover with flour.
2. In a skillet with salo or butter, brown the meat on all sides then cook in a pot with 1 liter of water for 50 minutes, until the meat is tender. Don’t pour out the water.
3. Prepare the stuffing: chop and fry 2 onions in butter, then add breadcrumbs, egg yolk, paprika, salt, and pepper. You can add some of the water that the meat is cooking in.
4. Take out the cooked beef and thinly slice it without cutting through to the bottom. Place the stuffing in between each of the slices then fasten the meat with metal skewers.
5. Stir in 1 tablespoon of flour to the water that the beef was previously cooked in, along with the remaining chopped onion, salt and pepper, and parsley. Place the pot roast in the pot and cook for an additional 30 minutes. The water should just cover the bottom half of the roast.
In the last 20 minutes of cooking, you can add some chopped carrots and leeks to the sauce and serve the cooked vegetables on the side.
Chicken aspic (galaretka z kurczaka)
1 lb (500 g) cooked chicken, or turkey
2 cups (500 ml) broth
½ cup (120 g) green peas
2 hardboiled eggs
2 cooked carrots
1 gelatin packet (1 tbsp)
salt and pepper
1. Use cups or a muffin pan to hold the aspic.
2. On the bottom of the cups place peas, chopped eggs, chicken slices, and sliced carrots.
3. Dissolve the gelatin in a cup of cold water, and after ten minutes mix with the broth, then stir on low heat in a saucepan until well combined.
4. Fill the cups with gelatin, covering the contents. Let stand until they solidify, then pop them out and serve on a platter lined with lettuce leaves.
4 chicken breasts
4 tbsp butter
2 eggs
1½ cups (120 g) breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
1. Lightly pound the breast fillets with a mallet. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the thin chicken fillets.
2. Place 1 tablespoon of cold butter in the center of each fillet, fold the longer sides of the filet a quarter of the way to the center, then roll the fillet from top to bottom.
3. Lightly beat the two eggs and coat each rolled fillet in the eggs and then the breadcrumbs.
4. Heat a couple tablespoons of cooking oil on a skillet and fry the chicken de volaille until golden brown on all sides.
When you cut into the chicken roll, the butter will come gushing out. Serve with French fries and cooked vegetables.
Beef- and cabbage-stuffed croquettes (krokiety)
CREPE DOUGH
2 cups (500 ml) milk
2 eggs
4 cups (440 g) flour
salt and pepper
FILLING
1 cup (150 g) sauerkraut
1 lb (500 g) ground beef
1 onion
½ lb (250 g) mushrooms
chicken broth
salt and pepper
1. Prepare the crepe dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together milk and eggs. Gradually mix in flour, salt, and pepper. The batter should be runny; if it is too thick, add some more milk.
2. Melt 1 teaspoon of butter on a skillet on medium heat and pour in about a third cup of batter. Cook until lightly browned, and then turn over to cook the other side, until lightly browned.
3. Prepare the filling: Cook the sauerkraut in 2 cups of water for about 15 minutes until soft. For more taste, you can cook the sauerkraut in chicken broth. Drain it and put aside.
4. Peel, chop, and cook the mushrooms for about 20 minutes.
5. In a skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter on medium heat, add the chopped onion and ground beef, and fry until browned. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Mince the cooled sauerkraut and mix with cooked mushrooms, fried onion, and beef.
7. Place one crepe on a smooth surface and spread a third cup of the filling in the center of the crepe, leaving about a half-inch (1.3 cm) border along the edges.
8. To roll the crepe, fold two opposite corners once toward the middle, then, still pressing these corners, roll one of the two remaining corners toward the opposite end.
These stuffed crepes taste great when fried in breadcrumbs. Beat one egg in a medium bowl, dip the stuffed crepe into it, and then coat it with breadcrumbs. Heat a skillet with 4 tablespoons of cooking oil and fry on each side until golden brown.
You can leave out the ground beef and make this a vegetarian meal.
Beef- and rice-stuffed cabbage leaves (gołąbki)
1 head of white cabbage
½ lb (500 g) ground beef
1 onion
3 cups (750 g) cooked white rice
1 egg
salt and pepper
1 qt (1 l) of broth
1. Submerge the whole cabbage head in boiling water, and cook on low heat for about 5–10 minutes. Take the cabbage out, let it cool, then carefully peel off the cabbage leaves. Put aside a couple of the outermost leaves, they will be used to cover the baking dish.
2. Prepare the filling: Fry the ground beef and diced onion in cooking oil until browned. Cook the rice and mix well with the ground beef, onion, egg, salt, and pepper.
3. Place about a quarter cup of filling in the center of each cabbage leaf, then fold two opposite sides of the leaf about 1 inch (2.5 cm) towards the center, and roll the leaf from the third side to the opposite end.
4. Grease an ovenproof baking dish, and place some single cabbage leaves on the bottom. Put in the cabbage rolls tightly side by side and completely cover with the broth, which can be made from vegetables or a bouillon cube.
5. Cover the dish and bake in the oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. You can also cook the cabbage rolls in a deep frying pan on low heat for the same amount of time.
1. Lightly fry the oil and add in flour, mixing quickly to prevent lumps.
2. Add in the tomato paste, mixing quickly, and then the sour cream. If the sauce is too thick, add in some water or broth.
3. When you achieve a uniform color, add herbs, garlic, salt, pepper, or sugar to taste.
TOMATO SAUCE
¼ cup (60 ml) cooking oil
1 tbsp flour
1 can (8 oz/225 g) tomato paste
2 tbsp sour cream
water or broth
optional: salt, pepper, garlic, dried herbs, sugar
Meatballs in white sauce (klopsiki w białym sosie)
1 lb (450 g) ground veal
1 egg
½ onion
salt and pepper
1 bouillon cube
SAUCE
2 tbsp butter
¼ cup (30 g) flour
1 cup (250 ml) broth
1 egg yolk
lemon juice, or vinegar
salt
fresh parsley
1. Mix 1 egg with the ground veal, then mix in the finely diced onion, salt, and pepper. Shape into medium-size balls.
2. In a pot, bring about half a quart (½ l) of water (just enough to cover the meatballs) to a boil. Lower the heat, put the meatballs in, add a bouillon cube, and cook for about 20 minutes.
3. Prepare the sauce: On low heat melt the butter, add in flour, and sauté until lightly brown, then add in broth (either previously made or you can use the water used for cooking the meatballs). Stir in a raw egg yolk, lemon juice or vinegar, and salt.
4. Pour the sauce over the meatballs, garnish with some chopped parsley, and serve with rice or groats.
Risoni with ground beef (risoni z mieloną wołowiną)
4 cups (400 g) risoni pasta
1 lb (450 g) ground beef
1 onion
1 cup cooked corn
1 handful of cherry tomatoes
salt and pepper
basil
optional: 12 oz (340 g) tomato paste
1. Cook the risoni pasta according to directions on the package.
2. Dice the onion and fry in a skillet with the ground beef.
3. If using tomato paste, stir it in, then add the cooked risoni, halved cherry tomatoes, and then corn, and cook on low heat until warm. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with chopped basil.
Chicken with white sauce and rice (kurczak w białym sosie)
1 whole chicken
4 cups cooked (900 g) cooked rice
2 carrots
1 leek
parsley
SAUCE
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
3 tbsp sour cream
stock from the chicken
1. Cook rice according to directions on the package.
2. Cook the chicken, carrots, leek, and parsley in a pot with water until soft. Save the stock.
3. In a skillet, fry the butter and mix with flour to make a roux. Then add sour cream and a couple of tablespoons of the stock, depending on how thick you want the sauce to be.
4. Cut the cooked chicken into pieces and serve with rice and the white sauce. You can chop the cooked carrots and leek and mix with the rice.
Add some raisins or pineapple chunks to the white sauce for a more tart flavor.
Kielbasa shish kabobs (szaszłyk z kiełbasy)
13 oz (368 g) kielbasa
1 cup (125 g) white button mushrooms
1 cup (175 g) chopped red, green, and yellow bell peppers
1 onion
2 tbsp olive oil
lemon juice
pepper
1. Dice the kielbasa into half-inch (1.3 cm) thick slices.
2. Chop the bell peppers into small squares.
3. Chop the onion into small squares.
4. Mix olive oil with some lemon juice and pepper. Peel the skins off of the mushrooms, cut out the stems, and dip the mushroom caps in the oil and lemon mixture.
5. Alternate placing each ingredient on a metal skewer. Grill the kabobs for about 15 minutes, rotating every few minutes. Serve on a bed of white rice.
DOUGH
3 cups (330 g) flour
1 packet active dry yeast (¼ oz/7 g)
1 tsp (5 g) sugar
½ cup (125 ml) milk
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp butter
FILLING
1 lb (500 g) sauerkraut, or ½ cabbage head
1 oz (28 g) dried mushrooms
1 onion
2 hardboiled eggs
dried herbs: oregano, bay leaf, caraway
salt, pepper
1 egg white
1. Prepare the dough: Mix sugar with yeast and a quarter-cup of flour and stir in lukewarm milk. Set aside in a warm area to rise.
2. After the yeast has risen, gradually add in one egg and a lightly beaten egg yolk. Add in the rest of the flour and knead, later adding melted butter and kneading until the dough is smooth. Shape into a ball, cover with a paper towel, and set aside once again to rise.
3. Prepare the filling: Soak the dried mushrooms for several hours until soft, then cook in water for about 30 minutes. If using fresh cabbage, simmer in water or broth until soft. Finely dice the cooked cabbage or sauerkraut, the cooked mushrooms, onion, and hardboiled eggs, and mix together. Add in dried herbs, salt, and pepper.
4. Separate the dough into two balls and roll out each one to half an inch (1.3 cm) thick. Grease and flour a loaf pan and cover the bottom and sides with one sheet of dough, add the filling on top, and cover with the remaining dough, making sure all of the filling is wrapped. Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C) and set the dough aside to rise.
5. Glaze the top of the loaf with a whisked egg white and bake for about one hour.
1 lb (450 g) meat, like veal, beef, pork, or mutton
3 tbsp flour
½ onion
soup vegetables (carrots, onion, leek, parsley, peas)
dry herbs: bay leaf, oregano, thyme
salt and pepper
1. Clean the meat and chop into small pieces. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of flour and cook in 2 tablespoons of oil, along with the chopped onion, in a skillet until brown.
2. Place the fried meat and onion into a pot, and cook, covered, in half-cup (120 ml) of water.
3. Dice the soup vegetables and add them along with herbs, salt, and pepper to the cooking meat after about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally and add water if too much evaporates.
4. Add in the rest of the flour to thicken the stew and bring to a boil.
Serve with rice, groats, dumplings, or potatoes.
Chicken stew (gulasz z kurczaka)
1 whole chicken (2 lb/900 g)
1 onion
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 tbsp flour
paprika
1 lb (450 g) bell peppers
2 tomatoes
1 cup (250 ml) broth, or water
salt
1 tbsp minced parsley
1. Cut the chicken into several smaller pieces and fry on a skillet in a couple of tablespoons of cooking oil until browned. Set aside.
2. In the same skillet, fry chopped onion, sliced or diced carrot and celery, mixing in flour and paprika. Chop the bell peppers and slice the tomatoes, and add them to the skillet along with the chicken.
3. Mix in the broth (made from soup vegetables or with a bouillon cube), add salt, and cook on medium heat until the chicken is soft and tender.
Serve on a bed of rice or potatoes, sprinkled with diced parsley.
Zucchini with ground meat (cukinia faszerowana mięsem mielonym)
½ lb (250 g) ground meat, like beef or pork
2 zucchinis
2 carrots
2 potatoes
1 onion
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp butter
1 egg
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup (250 ml) broth
1. Clean, peel, and slice the zucchini into half-inch (1.3 cm) slices. Take out the seeds, coat with flour, and fry in butter until lightly browned on both sides.
2. Grate the carrots and potatoes on the rough grating slots, and dice the onion, mix with the ground meat, and fry in cooking oil until browned. Lightly beat the egg and mix with the fried meat and vegetables, adding salt and pepper to taste.
3. Grease an oven-proof baking dish, sprinkle the bottom with breadcrumbs, and fill with alternating layers of meat and zucchini, with a layer of zucchini on top.
4. Mix the tomato paste with broth and pour over the layers. Cook in the oven at 350°F (180°C) for about 25 minutes.
Meat- and rice-stuffed pepper (papryka faszerowana mięsem mielonym i ryżem)
10 bell peppers
2 cups (500 g) cooked rice, white or brown
1 onion
½ lb (450 g) ground beef or pork
dry herbs: marjoram, basil
parsley
salt and pepper
TOMATO SAUCE
12 oz (340 g) tomato paste
1 cup (250 ml) vegetable broth
2 tbsp flour
½ cup (120 ml) sour cream
1 tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
1. Cook the rice about half of the way through.
2. Dice and fry the onion adding the rice, ground beef or pork, marjoram, basil, parsley, salt, and pepper on the skillet.
3. Prepare the tomato sauce: In a saucepan on low heat, stir together tomato paste, vegetable broth, flour, sour cream, salt, and sugar. Let boil and take off the heat.
4. Wash the bell peppers, take out the seeds, and fill with the rice and meat mix.
5. Cover the bottom of a deep skillet with some of the tomato sauce, place the stuffed peppers on top, and cover with the rest of the sauce. Cook on medium heat until soft. If the sauce starts to become too thick, dilute with some water.
Beef stroganoff (befsrtoganof)
1 lb (450 g) beef tenderloin
1–2 tbsp cooking oil
½ onion
1 cup (125 g) white button mushrooms
3 pickles
parsley
paprika
salt and pepper
⅓ cup (80 ml) sour cream
1. Clean the beef tenderloin, chop into cubes, and sprinkle with paprika, salt, and pepper. Let it marinate for 1 hour.
2. Heat the cooking oil in a skillet and fry the diced onion for a few minutes before adding the beef tenderloin.
3. After a few minutes, chop the mushrooms and add to the skillet. When the meat has browned, add in diced pickles, parsley, salt, and pepper and fry for a few more minutes on low heat.
4. At the end, stir in sour cream to make the sauce creamier.
Serve with the kluski from page 83 and mizeria from page 31.
If you want to make the sauce thicker, you can add in a tablespoon of flour when the meat has browned and stir it with the rest of the ingredients. You can also add a bit of tomato paste to the dish.
Breaded pork cutlet (kotlet schabowy)
1 lb (450 g) pork tenderloin, or pork chop
2 eggs
½ cup (60 g) flour
1 cup (90 g) breadcrumbs
pepper
1. Clean the pork and lightly beat with a tenderizer.
2. Take out three wide bowls or plates. Pour the flour into the first dish, the beaten eggs mixed with pepper and any other spices in the second, and the breadcrumbs in the third.
3. First cover the cutlet in flour, then dredge in the egg, and lastly coat with breadcrumbs.
4. Heat oil on a skillet and fry the cutlets, turning over when golden on one side.
Enjoy with potatoes or French fries and cooked vegetables like chopped carrots and peas drizzled with melted butter.
Veal fillets in white wine (filety cieleçe w białym winie)
4 veal fillets
3 tbsp flour
4 garlic cloves
1 tbsp oil
paprika, rosemary, thyme
½ cup (125 ml) white wine
7 tbsp butter
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 onion
salt and pepper
1. Beat the veal fillets with a mallet until very thin and coat with flour.
2. Dice the garlic, mix with oil, paprika, rosemary, thyme, and a quarter of the white wine and coat the veal fillets with the mixture. Set aside to marinate for 1 hour.
3. In a skillet, heat up the butter, lemon juice, and the remaining white wine, and fry the diced onion, along with the veal fillets, until browned.
4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve with potatoes sprinkled with parsley.
Apple-stuffed duck (kaczka nadziewana jabłkami)
1 whole duck, deboned and thawed
lemon juice
salt and pepper
marjoram
6 apples
¼ cup (20 g) chopped walnuts
¼ cup (20 g) raisins
cooking oil
1. Sprinkle some lemon juice in the duck cavity and sprinkle salt, pepper, and marjoram on the duck.
2. Peel and chop 3 apples, mix with the walnuts and raisins, and stuff the duck. Sew the cavity with a thread or fasten with toothpicks.
3. Grease an ovenproof baking dish with cooking oil and place the duck in the oven for about 2 hours at 350°F (180°C). You will need to baste the duck with water and the melting fat to keep it from drying out.
4. In the last 20 minutes of cooking, peel and chop the remaining three apples and place them in the baking dish.
Serve with potatoes and cranberry sauce.
Sautéed liver (wątróbka smazona ż cebulą)
1 lb (450 g) beef or pork liver
1 cup (240 ml) milk
2 onions
4 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
2 tomatoes
salt and pepper
1. Rinse and clean the liver, cut into slices, and soak in milk for 2 hours.
2. In a skillet, fry the sliced onions in 2 tablespoons of butter until lightly brown, and set aside.
3. Add the remaining butter and fry the liver coated in flour, salt, and pepper, in the same skillet. Add the onion and sliced tomatoes at the end and sauté for a few more minutes. The liver should be brown on the outside and pink on the inside.
Serve the liver coated with the fried onion, along with potatoes and a fresh salad.
