Little radish and other sandwiches

I grew up eating slices of homemade bread and butter topped with all sorts of fresh veggies and salt.  Mostly we sliced radishes or green peppers to top the bread.  Occasionally we sliced our own homemade dill pickles as a topping.  Recently I've read that this is very "French."  I don't know the origin of these little sandwiches, but our home was Polish and German and all we knew was these were really good.  Radishes alone can be a little strong but the bread, butter and salt mellow them right out.  The green peppers are good with that fresh green pepper flavor that just needs just a little something to soften it a bit.

The bread must be homemade or some form of  robust white or sourdough bread.  I'm using sliced ciabatta  here.  I love ciabatta with all its holes and chewy texture.  The butter is cold from the fridge to make thin smooth bits on the bread.  I don't care for soft room-temperature butter. (My husband insists it has to be soft and "spreadable."  We fought about this until we decided to keep mine in the fridge and his on the counter.)
Don't use much butter.  It detracts from the veggies--we don't want this to be creamy. I tried fleur de sel on top but prefer smaller grind table salt.  The crunchy salt crystals were too much on these sandwiches for me.

I had some fresh red raspberries in the refrigerator that caught my attention. How about on lightly buttered bread with some confectioner's sugar on top?

YES that's lightly buttered bread, fresh raspberries and a dusting of powdered sugar!  Yummm. It's a creamy light dessert! I'm heading to the teapot to make another cup and have another one of these.

More Wild Mushrooms, Agaricus campestris

I found more today.  This time I'm adding some onion and thyme.

I start these by peeling off the caps and slicing them.  I add a little butter and olive oil to a pan and saute some chopped onion.  When it's translucent, I add the mushrooms along with some fresh thyme leaves.

When the liquid evaporates and the mushrooms are cooked, I finish them off with just about a tablespoon of cream to give a silky texture.  These mushrooms are not as firm as those from the store--they have thinner caps--but they have such a delicious woodsy mushroom flavor!  The first few times I had cultivated mushrooms I thought they were rubbery compared to these.

My absolute favorite way to eat these is just over boiled, fork-mashed, salted potatoes. And, today, I treated myself to some marinated herring in sour cream on the side.  (My husband said I just lost him there--he wants no part of the herring.)  My drink of choice for this meal is cold fresh buttermilk.

Field Mushrooms, Pieczarki

We've had several days of heavy rain and cool temperatures.  Today was a beautiful day with the definite feel of very early fall.  I walked behind the house to feel the fresh air and spotted a couple field mushrooms.  We usually find a couple in early fall but this time I kept finding more and more.  I didn't even have my apron on to gather them up in so I balanced as many as I could on one hand but had to give up and go for the basket--and a knife.

We always gathered these mushrooms when I was young and always heard the stories of the beautiful mushrooms that Mama and her sisters gathered in the woods in Poland.  They were of all colors and would look so pretty in a pan together she would tell me.  She didn't know the wild mushrooms here so these were the only ones we gathered.  The Polish name for these is pieczarki.  We had a black iron wood stove in our kitchen at that time and we liked to lay a couple mushrooms right on the stove itself and let them sizzle with a little salt sprinkled on top and ate them right off the stove.  Mostly, Mama fried them gently in butter and added a little flour, cooked a little more, and then poured in some light cream to make the best mushroom sauce.  The only seasonings she used were salt and pepper. 

Since they have soil and grass over their caps, we just peeled the thin skin off each one. 

I sliced them and prepared them just like my mother did.  These mushrooms are more delicate than the cultivated ones in the grocery store and have a little deeper flavor.  If they were from the store I might add onion or thyme, but I want these plain with just a little thickened cream and salt and pepper and I'm having them over plain bread, toasted.

  The only thing I wanted with this fall lunch was an icy cold glass of fresh, sweet apple cider from the farmer's market.  

Note:  There are white wild mushrooms that are quite poisonous--don't even taste a mushroom that you don't know for absolutely certain is edible. 

Plum Pierogi

Italian prune plums always remind me of my mother's plum pierogi.  I loved them and am craving that taste again.

I made the pierogi dough the same as in the earlier post.  I only made a half recipe since I didn't plan to make too many pierogi.  I cut the circles out with a cutter that was a little over 3" across.  I washed 16 plums, cut them open on one side only, removed the pit and replaced it with a sugar cube.  I then wrapped a round of dough around each plum and sealed it according to the directions in my pierogi post.  If you find the dough is a little dry and wants to tear, wet your fingers with water and smooth the whole surface of the round with the water while stretching it gently before putting the plum into it.  Also, wet the inside edge before you seal it to make a tighter seal.   Follow directions to cook the pierogi, about half of them at a time.  At home, we just ate them as they came out of the water, but I thought my husband might prefer some sort of topping.  The usual topping would be bread crumbs browned in butter with some cinnamon and sugar added.  I decided to try these with plum sauce instead since I had so many plums.

Plum Sauce

1-1/2 lbs. prune plums, pitted and chopped

1/4 cup sugar

A little water--2 or 3 tablespoons

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon butter

Simmer the first 4 ingredients until the plums become soft and the water cooks out a little.  Add the butter and simmer a couple more minutes to make a thickened sauce.

Serve the pierogi with the plum sauce.  Sprinkle with a little more cinnamon.

 

I like these warmed up a day later with some sauce--the flavors are better blended by then.   This is one of my nostalgia--from home--treats that I really make just for myself. 

Kopytka: Polish Potato Dumplings

These dumplings were always served with Pork and Sauerkraut at home:

Once again, I don't have an exact recipe for amounts from home as Mama didn't measure anything, but the following proportions make really good, tender Kopytka that taste just like hers.  Kopytka means "little hooves" in Polish and that's the shape of these dumplings.  I cooked about 2-1/2 lbs. of russet potatoes in salted water to get the amount I needed for this recipe.  After I boiled and drained them, I shook them dry to get them fluffy. I used a potato masher but they could also be riced.  Taste for salt and add more, if needed.

KOPYTKA

1 cup flour

3 cups mashed potatoes

1 tsp. salt

1 lightly beaten egg

Start a pot of salted water boiling.  Place the flour on a dough board.  Add the potatoes, 1 tsp. salt and the egg and mix right on the board.  Keep mixing and kneading lightly until the mixture forms a clean, soft dough.  Cut the dough in half and set 1/2 aside.  Take the piece and roll it with your hands into a cylinder--then keep rolling it by putting both hands over the middle and smoothing it out to the ends, while rolling it,  to make it longer and longer and  smaller and smaller in  diameter (like a rope) until it's about 1 inch in diameter.   Flatten the top lightly to make it about 1-1/2 inches across.  Cut with a thin knife into diagonal pieces and set them aside on the board. Repeat with the other 1/2 of dough.

 

This recipe makes about 4 dozen dumplings.  Drop the dumplings into gently boiling water (Use about 1/2 the dumplings at a time).  Stir once lightly to prevent dumplings sticking to the bottom of the pot.  After the dumplings float to the top, cook them another minute or two.  Lift them out of the water carefully and allow to drain in a colander.  Put drained dumplings on a buttered plate to prevent sticking until all are cooked.

Kopytka are ready to serve if you like them just boiled.  We always add them to a pan in which pork has been cooked to brown them lightly and to absorb the flavor from the pork.  Then we serve sauerkraut and the pork with them. We like to cover everything with coarsely-ground fresh pepper.

These are country-style spareribs that had been browned and braised until tender enough to fall off the bone.  Usually we prepare braised pork chops, instead, but either are good.  The sauerkraut was cooked separately and flavored with the pork drippings.

Notes:

If you like dumplings more chewy, you can cut the amount of potatoes to 2-1/2 cups.

 Leftover kopytka can be refrigerated and reheated and browned in butter or in a pan of lightly-fried onions, etc., the next day.

Poppy Seed Roll Makowiec

I grew up eating poppy seed rolls for Christmas and Easter.  I could never get enough of the filling.  Mama ground her poppy seeds, soaked them in hot milk and ran them through the grinder again after they had softened.  All she added was sugar and egg white.  That was my favorite.  She never iced her rolls--it would have taken away from the poppy seed taste.  I've bought poppy seed rolls when I've found them in bakeries in Pennsylvania, but they're often flavored with lemon and honey.  I can't find them at all in local bakeries here.  It's also impossible to buy poppy seeds in bulk here so I've used canned filling this time and decided to add some cream cheese icing and walnuts to make them look more festive.

Makowiec

4 cups flour

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

3 Tblsp. granulated sugar

3 eggs, separated

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1 cup warm water, 115 deg.

14 oz. (approximately) poppy seed filling or make your own

Mix flour, butter and sugar with a pastry blender.  Add egg yolks and mix well. 

Dissolve yeast in warm water and add to dough.  Mix well.  Chill overnight in covered bowl.

Next day, whip room temperature egg whites until stiff.

Roll out half of dough to 13-inch circle.  Spread 1/2 of the filling over the dough.  Spread half the egg white over the filling.  Roll up like a jelly roll.  Place on one side of lightly greased large cookie sheet (or parchment-lined sheet pan).  Repeat with the other half of the dough.  Cover with towel and let rise for 1 hour.

Bake at 350 deg. 35 to 40 minutes.  Cool.

Icing (optional)

3-oz cream cheese, room temperature

2 Tblsp. melted butter

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Beat everything together, except walnuts.  Spread over cooled loaves.  Sprinkle with walnuts.

Wesolych Swiat!

Pierogi

My mother made pierogi filled with potatoes, saurkraut, sweet cheese, meat, or plums.  My daughter-in-law and I made potato cheese and potato mushroom pierogi tonight.  This recipe is similar to how Mama made them but has sour cream added to the dough, which makes the dough easier to work with and more tender when they're cooked.
Notice the method of pinching the edge shut involves using your thumb and the first two fingers.
The filling on the picture is potato/mushroom.  Watch for recipes for other fillings in future blogs.


   Potato/Mushroom Pierogi

Dough:

4 eggs
1/2 c. melted and cooled butter
1/2 c. sour cream
1 tsp. salt
5 c. all-purpose flour

Put the flour on a dough board and make a well in the center.  Whisk eggs, butter, sour cream and salt in a bowl.  Pour into the center of the flour.  Use a fork to work the flour gradually into the liquid, working in from the edges to form soft dough.  If the dough is too sticky, add a little flour.  If it's too dry, add just a bit of water.  Knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.  Form a ball and cover with plastic and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

On a floured board, roll out 1/2 the dough at a time to about 1/8 inch thick.  Cut out circles with a 3-inch cookie cutter or drinking glass.  Place about a Tablespoon of filling into the center of each circle.  A little water brushed on the edges will help the dough stick.  Fold the dough over to form a semicircle.  Pinch shut with your fingers.  This should make about 3 dozen pierogi.  They may be cooked right away or frozen.

To cook boil a few at a time in a large pot of boiling water for about 8-10 minutes until they float.  They may be served plain, topped with butter, or rinsed and allowed to dry a few minutes and then fried in butter in which chopped onions have been sauteed, if you prefer them a little crisped.  If you like, you may serve sour cream along with them.

Potato Mushroom Filling:

1 lb. peeled and cubed potatoes
2 Tblsp. butter
1 onion, chopped
10 ozs. finely chopped mushrooms
salt and pepper
1 c. heavy cream

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until tender.  Drain and mash and set aside to cool.   Melt 2 Tblsp. butter over medium-low heat.  Add mushrooms.  Saute a few minutes and add salt and pepper.  Continue to cook until most of the moisture has cooked out.  Add cream and stir.  Remove from heat and add the mushroom mixture into the mashed potatoes, mixing well.  Allow the filling to cool somewhat before forming balls to place onto the dough.