Recipe Binder: The Polish Edition

Having just returned from my "around the world" cooking course I thought I'd share the meal we cooked today. As last week's was cancelled (courtesy of the snow) we simply did Polish week this week rather than skipping it altogether. I wasn't too sure what to expect and was a bit worried that the food would be really complicated and hard to recreate, but it wasn't at all!

We made a soup and a main dish, recipes for both are below, and I can assure you they are as simple to make as most meals.

Borscht soup

This is basically beetroot soup. Apparently you should only have a bit of it rather than the whole lot so I'd estimate this serves 4+ depending on how much. It says it's best served with sour cream or crumbled feta cheese.

• 1/4 onion
• 1 carrot
• 1/4 stick of celery
• 1/4 packet beetroot
• 1 small garlic clove (or puree if you prefer)
• 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
• bay leaves
• 1/2 beef stock cube

Add the chopped onion, garlic, beetroot, carrot, celery, seed and bayleaf to a pan and cover with beef stock. Simmer for 45 minutes then season and blend.

Kielbasa and cabbage

Kielbasa is a Polish sausage. If you can't get hold of any then you can substitute with normal sausages.

• 2 rashers bacon, chopped up
• 1 1/2 sausage, sliced
• 1/2 pint water
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 onion
• 1 tsp garlic puree
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
• cabbage (approx half of a big one) thinly slice

In a large pan, cook the sausage for approx 10 minutes, before adding the bacon and cooking until the sausage is browned. Remove the bacon and sausage. Add everything else to the pan and cook for 10-15 minutes (or until the water is virtually gone) and then add the meat back in for approx 10 minutes.

And there you have it, two Polish dishes for you!