Oh man, I remember running home after school as a little girl to get my hands on some hot zapiekanki…ahhh memories. Zapiekanki are toasted open-face baguettes that are typically topped with mushrooms, onions, cheese, and ketchup. But really, they are communist food shortage pizzas from Poland. This poor man’s pizza is the product of hard times in 1970s Poland that saw an astronomical rise in basic Continue reading
Alright, so I wanted some blinis and smoked salmon the other day (how Russian — привет!). I went to the store to get some smoked salmon, which is already a bit indulgent, and saw there were some blinis as well. I was feeling lazy and I thought, what the heck, I’ll get store bought. Welllll, that’s before I looked at the price. Let’s just say they were a bit expensive for glorified mini pancakes, and, they weren’t even made of buckwheat flour! Homemade it is then.
This is as simple as a recipe can get. It is a summer staple and it is extremely refreshing on a hot day. Keep cool, and eat cucumbers!
Ingredients:
Paszteciki are baked, savory pastries that can be filled with ground meat or a mix of mushroom and cabbage. In my family, we eat mushroom and cabbage paszteciki by the dozens on Christmas Eve, along with red barszcz. This recipe is vegetarian friendly and makes between 30-40 paszteciki.
If you like mushrooms, I think you will enjoy this recipe! Continue reading
Buckwheat is the bomb. It tastes delicious and is incredibly healthy for you! It is prepared like many common grains, but it actually is a seed that isn’t from the grass family. Buckwheat is a good source of protein, fiber, iron, zinc, and manganese, but, it contains no gluten! Now you’re sold. Hooray!
Now, while buckwheat is not particularly popular in the U.S., it is a staple Poland and much of Eastern Europe. Continue reading
Remember what I said about mushrooms being important in Polish cuisine? Yeah, well, here comes another mushroom recipe! These mushroom stuffed eggs are really easy to make! We make these every Easter or when we just buy too many mushrooms and need to use them. My sister and I were in charge of making these last Easter and may have overstuffed just a bit as you can see in the picture…nahhhhh.
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Ahhh, sałatka. When I heard the word sałatka (salad) as a kid, I did not think of a plate of greens. Instead, my mouth would start watering at the thought of my mom’s delicious cubed vegetable salad. For someone who has never had this type of dish before, it might seem like some sort of a potato salad. Potatoes are a big component, but it shares space with other vegetables so it isn’t truly a potato salad.
In many countries, this type of dish is called Russian or Olivier salad. Its popularity extends from Eastern Europe all the way to Iran and Central Asia. This isn’t surprising when you consider the size and influence of Russia, and it shows just how cuisines around the world are influenced by one another. Continue reading
Batter Ingredients (makes about 12 pancakes):
Zofia's Kitchen 