Doughnuts

I have never made doughnuts in my life before. But lately, I had some yeast left and decided to use it. I don’t really like throwing food (or ingredients) away. So I decided to make some doughnuts. And it worked.

Ingredients:
500 grams of flour (I give a bit more, let’s say half a cup more)
60 grams of fresh yeast
60 grams of sugar
4 yolks
125 grams of butter
200 mills of milk
A pinch of salt
Icing sugar
Jam
Oil for frying (I use pure oil, some use lard, some use butter)

Preparation:

Dissolve yeast in half a cup of warm water, add a table spoon of sugar and a table spoon of four.

Leave it for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, mix yolks with the rest of sugar (I use an electric mixer), add your yeast mixture, the rest of the milk, MELTED butter and flour with a pinch of salt.

I added a few drops of orange flavouring.

Mix it all together for a few minutes. Then, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for about half an hour.

The dough/mixture should be gluey.

Now, you’ll need some help.

Put a tea towel in a warm place and cover it with flour (quite a lot, so that your doughnuts don’t stick to it).

Cover your hands with flour, scoop some dough with a table spoon, place it on your hand, cover it with flour and make it flat. Add some jam to the middle and seal the edges. If necessary, add flour.

Gently form balls and place them on your tea towel. They will be very fragile, still gluey so handle with care.

Leave your doughnuts for about half an hour and let them “grow”.

Heat oil in a pan, in which your doughnuts will be “swimming” and fried. Remember, that they will be still growing in the pan while frying.

When oil is hot (I always sprinkle w few drops of water to make sure the oil is hot enough), gently place 1 doughnut at a time and fry for a few minutes on each side. When brown, then ready. Remove from your pot, place on a paper towel to get rid of oil and let it cool down.

Add nearly a cup of icing sugar to a deep plate (or a bowl), juice from half a lemon and a splash of water. Use a whisk to combine all together. The icing should be NEARLY thick.

Grab a doughnut, dip it in the icing, turn upside down (so that the icing is on top) and place it on a rack (I used a roasting rack) with some paper underneath.

When the excessive amount of icing drips down and the rest sets, your doughnuts are ready.

Mine literally melted in our mouths.

Yum! Enjoy.

Pancakes with cottage cheese

As you might have already found out, we celebrate Fat Thursday – the last Thursday before the Easter Lent. A few days later, here you celebrate something one might call a Fat Tuesday, which of course is a Shrove Tuesday. We don’t have this tradition, but it doesn’t mean we can’t offer something different.

Ingredients:
2 medium size onions
3 medium size potatoes
Salt
Pepper
1 block of Polish cottage cheese (available in blocks in Polish shops as twaróg tłusty)
A few slices of fresh, unsmoked bacon
1 tub of double cream
1 egg for brushing

Preparation:

Boil potatoes and peel them when cooled. Chop onions finely and fry them. When ready place in a deep bowl.

Mince the potatoes and add to your onions. Mince the cottage cheese or just “part” it finely with your fingers and add to potatoes. Add salt and pepper.

Cut bacon into stripes and fry. Add to the bowl.

Mix it all together WITH YOUR HAND. It’s the best spoon and whisk you’ll ever find. The mixture has to be firm but moist. If too fry, add some oil and mix it all together again.

Fry pancakes.

Place each on a flat surface. Place a handful of the stuffing mixture on each pancake and roll it.

Place on a baking tray, covered with baking foil. Brush with a beaten egg and place in the oven for approx 30 minutes in 150 degrees.

Serve hot drizzled with a few spoons of cream. They look and taste good on a bed of salad.

Beetroots and Peppers in vinegar

We, the Poles love beetroots. Pickled or served hot are our most favourite. The next 2 recipes will show you how to prepare an easy and simple side dish which will accompany any of your mains. Let’s start with beetroots and peppers in vinegar.

Ingredients:

Beetroots 1 kg
Red peppers 0,3 kg
Onions 2
Sugar ¼ glass
Water 1/3 glass
Vinegar (10 % from any Polish shop) 1/3 glass
Oil half a tablespoon
Salt 1 teaspoon

Preparation:

Boil beetroots till soft, remove them from then pan, peel when cooled. It is better to use a toothpick to check if they are boiled as you won’t rip their skin and lose let their juices.

Once peeled, grate them into strips.

Chop peppers and onions in small cubes.

Boil water and vinegar with sugar, salt and oil. When the mixture starts boiling, add chopped peppers and onions.

Boil for about 5 minutes.

Add grated beetroots.

Keep boiling for about 10 minutes from the moment they start boiling.

Place hot salad into clean jars and tighten the lid.

Serve cold, as a side dish.

Ribs with sour cabbage

I can’t even remember when I had this meal for the first time. All I remember is that it was delicious. Now, it’s like our Polish Christmas dishes. You can make them every day, but they taste “right” only by the end of December. Ribs with sour cabbage taste “right” when served from time to time. Like... for example... today.

Ingredients:
1 kilo of pork ribs (or baby lamb, or any other)
2 jars of sauerkraut (available in most shops, especially Polish ones as kapusta kiszona)
4-5 bay leaves
3-4 onions
Lard or oil for frying
Seasoning

The recipe serves 2 (very hungry) people.

Preparation:
Drain the cabbage (leave on the sieve) till you get rid of most of the juices.
Cut ribs into portions, season well and fry on both sides just to seal the meat. Place on a plate to cool down.

Season and fry the cabbage.

Place half of the cabbage at the bottom of an oven proof dish, add ribs and bay leaves and cover everything with the rest of the cabbage.

Chop onions half and slice them, fry, add to the dish and cover it.

Preheat the oven (to about 180 degrees). Roast for about 1,5 hours. Serve hot with roasted potatoes.

Enjoy.

Cottage cheese mini cakes with apples

These cakes are very easy and very fast to prepare. They also bake quickly so within an hour you might have some nice treats for yourselves or your guests. First, you need to prepare the stuffing for your cakes.

Ingredients:

1 kilo of soft apples
A few drops of lemon essence

Peel and grate your apples. Place them in a pot and slowly bring to boil. Leave on a low heat for about 15 minutes till soft.

Remove from the stove and let the mixture cool down. Then, sieve the mixture in order to get rid of the juices.

Place in a bowl and add a few drops of lemon essence. Stir well.

Now you’re ready to prepare your dough.

Ingredients:

300 grams of plain flour
1 packet of baking powder (available in all Polish shops as “proszek do pieczenia”)
1 packet of vanilla sugar (available in all Polish shops as “cukier waniliowy”)
150 grams of full fat cottage cheese (available in Polish shops as “twaróg”)
6 table spoons of milk
6 table spoons of oil
75 grams of sugar
A little bit of salt

Place all products in a bowl and use your mixer to combine them. Once your mixture resembles granules, put it on your table and nee the dough.

Sprinkle some flour on the table surface, flour the rolling pin and roll the dough till about 1 centimetre thick.

Cut reasonably big circles. Place some on your apple stuffing in the middle and seal the edges.

Place cakes on the baking tray, covered with geese proof paper.

Bake in preheated oven (165 degrees) for about 15 minutes.

Once baked, remove from the oven, put on a plate and cover with icing. The cakes must be hot.

Ingredients:

1 cup of icing sugar
Juice from half a lemon
Hot water

Put icing sugar into a bowl. Squeeze lemon juice and add a little bit of hot water. Use whisk to mix it. Make sure the consistency is quite dense.

Once ready, pour it over your cakes and let it set.

Fresh cabbage with sour cream

Each meal in every Polish household is always accompanied by a side dish, or salad. At least that’s the way it should be. Of course, a salad does not need a recipe. All depends on your imagination. However, there are some side dishes you might have not even thought about making.

Ingredients:
1 small fresh white cabbage
Half a tub of Polish sour cream (12 percent)
Half a cup of salt
Pepper

Preparation:
Chop cabbage into thin strips. Place in a bowl and add salt. Mix it finely with your hand and leave for about half an hour so that cabbage loses its juices.

Stir it from time to time for a better effect.

When ready, take a handful of mixture and squeeze firmly over the sink to get rid of the juices and moisture.

Place squeezed cabbage back in the bowl and add sour cream and pepper. Stir and serve cold.

Easy fruit cake

If you know that someone is coming over tonight and you don’t want to open just a pack of biscuits, you can always make some effort and bake something really easy, yet yummy. It’s quick, it’s rich and so filling.

Ingredients:
3 apples (or half a kilo of Victoria plums, or any other soft, but not too juicy fruit)
2 glasses of plain flour
200 grams of melted (but not hot butter)
4-5 eggs
1 glass of icing sugar
2 tea spoons of baking powder
Vanilla extract

Preparation:

If you’re using apples, peel them, cut in 4, remove pips and cut each piece in 4 again. If you’re using plums, wash them, cut in half and remove the stones.

Prepare your baking tray: grease it with butter and dredge with bread crumbs.

Separate yolks from the egg whites. All egg whites place in a bowl, but yolks place separately into small cups.

Beat the egg whites till thick, add icing sugar and beat again till smooth and shiny. Keep beating, adding yolks one at a time.

Slowly start adding flour mixed with baking powder: 2-3 spoons of flour and then 2-3 spoons of melted butter.

Add vanilla extract and mix all together for a few minutes.

Pour the mixture onto your baking tray. I use a medium size, round one. On top of the mixture place apples or plums (skin down) or other fruit you’re using.

Place in a preheated oven and bake in 180 degrees for 50 minutes.

To make sure your cake is baked, use a wooden skewer. If it comes out of the cake dry, your cake is ready.

When cold, slice and sprinkle with icing sugar.