Ingredients

Cauliflower:

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1/2 cup sunflower oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/4 tsp. Hungarian paprika

Farmer’s Cheese Dipping Sauce:

• 4 tbsp. sour cream
• 4 tbsp. farmer’s cheese (twaróg)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. fresh chopped parsley
• 1 tsp. fresh chopped dill

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Polonaise is the French word for Polish. It refers to a traditional dance, music played in the rhythm of a polonaise (including Chopin’s masterpiece (Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53 [Polonaise héroïque]), and dishes garnished with breadcrumbs! Coincidentally, it takes about as long as that video to make this dish, bringing me to proclaim it as the soundtrack to cooking green beans polonaise!

I always have Italian breadcrumbs on hand, which usually have some seasoning and dried parsley. I find that they work best for this. Continue reading →

I know people in the US associate Polish cuisine with a lot of meat, and don’t get me wrong, the Poles make great kiełbasa and roasts BUT there are A LOT more vegetable dishes than people realize. There is a wide variety of raw starter salads (surówki) and vegetable side dishes, including this one. Culinary stereotypes be damned.

Hey, cabbage is also apparently very good for you, so eat it!

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You can’t have too many mushroom recipes. So here’s another one.

Ingredients

• 24 oz. cremini / baby bells mushrooms
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• 1.5 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp. honey
• 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary (thyme could be used instead)
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp. oil (vegetable or olive)
• 1/2 tsp. butter
• chopped parsley for garnish (optional)
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This is just about the fastest thing you can whip together and is perfect on a toasted piece of rye bread!

It was one of my favorite after school treats…but I was a bit of an odd one, so no promises that any other children will appreciate this.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 scallion finely, finely chopped (about 2 tbsp)
• 1 small handful fresh dill, chopped (about 2 tbsp)
• 2 pinches onion powder
• 1 pinch fresh ground black pepper
• 2 pinches salt
• toasted bread of choice

Directions:

In a bowl, add cottage cheese, scallions, dill, onion powder, salt and pepper. Mix until evenly distributed.

Toast bread and spread a thin layer of cottage cheese mix on bread.

Eat and enjoy!

Living in New York, you come across bialys in many supermarkets. Now, as you may know, bialys are essentially baked flat bagels with an onion center, and they originate in Białystok, Poland (hence the name). Many of these bialys have about 2 pieces of onion on them, which is a bit disappointing.

There is a similar regional pastry from Lublin called lubelskie cebularze, or onion pastries from Lublin. These have a slightly more yeasty and airy dough, and are topped with onion and poppy seeds. This recipe is more similar to that of lubelskie cebularze, however, there are discussions on the internet as to whether truly traditional cebularze would contain egg and butter. It seems as though the answer is no, and this recipe contains both, so there are probably more traditional recipes out there.

Additionally, there are different approaches to preparing the onions. One approach calls for mixing raw onions with salt, poppy seeds and oil and letting the mixture sit for a while so the salt softens the onions. Another approach calls for boiling the chopped onions for about 2 minutes and then combining with the other ingredients. Finally, you can cook the chopped onion on a pan for a few minutes with oil and then add the poppy seeds. I like sauteing on the pan because I like the way it sweetens the onions. Whatever approach you choose, the mix of onion, poppy seeds, and dough will be great combination. 😀

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This might not be shocking to hear, but beets show up quite a bit in Slavic cooking. Most famously, they are the star ingredient of various borscht/barszcz recipes accoss the region, and ćwikła, a grated beet and horseradish condiment that is almost always served on Easter and many Passover meals. Continue reading →