Zosia's Reviews
3 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 3Sort by: Title 
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The Art Of Polish Cooking
By Alina Zeranska
Pelican Publishing - 2003
Cabbage Soup/Kapusniak : page 115
This soup has great flavour and is very quick and easy to make.
It has just a few ingredients – onion, fresh cabbage, tomatoes, broth – but because of its simplicity, relies on a richly flavoured broth to be successful. The recipe calls for beef but I used homemade vegetable so vegetarian daughter could enjoy. Veal stock is a good choice but my favourite is the variation my mother makes with broth made from a ham bone.
This was a very comforting soup to have on a wet and extremely windy (remnants of hurricane Sandy) fall day.
useful (0)
Easter Baba : page 313
It’s not my mother’s recipe but it’s close.
Babka is a brioche-type yeast dough that’s rich in butter, sugar and egg yolks. Its texture is more cake-like than bread-like; it’s even flavoured like a cake with the addition of vanilla and almond extracts and lemon rind.
It’s made somewhat like a brioche as well, with all of the ingredients except butter and raisins kneaded for several minutes before the butter is incorporated into the dough. The raisins are kneaded in at the very end.
I’ve made many egg breads and babkas over the years and this one is still the tastiest …..something to look forward to again next year.
useful (2)
Paczki/Polish Doughnuts : page 306
Today is Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Lent and the day Poles are supposed to empty their larders of goodies by making these jelly doughnuts.
The yeast dough is very rich in eggs, yolks in particular, giving the doughnut its characteristic yellow colour. Milk, oil and sugar – but only a small amount as the doughnut depends on the filling and powdered sugar finish for most of its sweetness – are included in this sticky dough that’s flavoured with vanilla and lemon zest. Vodka or spiritus is also added, presumably to help inhibit gluten formation and keep the doughnut tender.
And tender, light and airy is just what these doughnuts are…far better than anything I’ve had from even the best Polish bakeries. I filled them with raspberry instead of the more traditional prune jam.
Fabulous though these pastries are, I’m deducting a star from the rating because the recipe instructions are quite poor, omitting crucial information about rising and cooking times and a description of the dough when it’s been kneaded enough; I relied on my brioche-making experience for this. (8 minutes by machine or when the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl).
A half recipe makes 30 smallish doughnuts.
useful (1)