Polish Feast

I've been a bad blogger lately, so sorry it has been awhile since I last posted something. I've been cooking...but been kind of lazy about posting. I also had a little bout with food poisoning (not my food!) which set me back a day...it was a horrible 24 hours. Anyways, onto the Polish Feast! Lee's mom came to visit from Fort Wayne, IN not too long ago. It was also right after her birthday and she requested polish food for her meal. I've never really dabbled with polish food much, except for eating it....so I figured this would be a great opportunity to make some polish food! Enjoy :)

Homemade Galumpkis w/ Sweet & Sour Tomato Sauce

Sauce Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 quarts crushed tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Galumpkis Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• Splash dry red wine
• 2 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cup cooked white rice
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Coat a 3-quart saucepan with the oil and place over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and sugar; simmer, until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.

Place a skillet over medium heat and coat with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Sauté the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes, until soft. Stir in the tomato paste, a splash of wine, parsley, and 1/2 cup of the prepared sweet and sour tomato sauce, mix to incorporate and then take it off the heat. Combine the ground meat in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg, the cooked rice, and the sauteed onion mixture. Toss the filling together with your hands to combine, season with a generous amount of salt and pepper.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Remove the large, damaged outer leaves from the cabbages and discard. Cut out the cores of the cabbages with a sharp knife and carefully pull off all the rest of the leaves, keeping them whole and as undamaged as possible, (get rid of all the small leaves and use them for coleslaw or whatever.) Blanch the cabbage leaves in the pot of boiling water for 5 minutes, or until pliable. Run the leaves under cool water then lay them out so you can assess just how many blankets you have to wrap up the filling. Next, carefully cut out the center vein from the leaves so they will be easier to roll up. Put about 1/2 cup of the meat filling in the center of the cabbage and starting at what was the stem-end, fold the sides in and roll up the cabbage to enclose the filling (like a burrito). Cover the bottom of the casserole pan with sauce. Then place the cabbage rolls side by side in rows, seam-side down, in the casserole pan.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Pour the remaining sweet and sour tomato sauce over the cabbage rolls. Bake for 1 hour until the meat is cooked.

Homemade Pierogies

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour, plus extra for kneading and rolling dough
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup butter, softened and cut into small pieces
• 5 large red potatoes 
• 1 large onion 
• 8 oz. grated cheddar cheese

Directions

In a food processor, combine the flour and salt, pulse to incorporate. Beat the egg and add it to the flour and salt mixture, pulse again to incorporate. Add the sour cream and the butter pieces and mix until the dough loses most of it's stickiness. Remove the dough and give it a few quick kneeds, form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight (the dough can be kept in the fridge for 2 days). 

For the filling, peel and boil 5 large potatoes until soft. Red potatoes are especially good for this. While the potatoes are boiling, finely chop 1 large onion and saute in butter until soft and translucent. Mash the potatoes with the sauted onions and 4-8oz of grated cheddar cheese (depending on how cheesy you want your pierogies), adding salt and pepper to taste. You can also add some fresh parsley, bacon bits, chives, or other enhancements if you desire. Let the potato mixture cool and then form into 1" balls.

Roll the pierogi dough on a floured board or countertop until 1/8" thick. Cut circles of dough (2" for small pierogies and 3-3 1/2" for large pierogies) with a cookie cutter or drinking glass. Place a small ball of filling (about a tablespoon) on each dough round and fold the dough over, forming a semi-circle. Press the edges together with the tines of a fork.

Boil the perogies a few at a time in a large pot of water. They are done when they float to the top (about 8-10 minutes). Rinse in cool water and let dry.

Saute chopped onions in butter in a large pan until onions are soft. Then add pierogies and pan fry until lightly crispy. 

Nothing says Pittsburgh like polish food! Since the Pirates are playing so well and this is a polish food post...I figured I'd share this nice little blast by Andrew McCLUTCHen!

Fish n' Chips

This is the fish course that I made for the grand dinner event last month. I wasn't pleased with how it turned out at the actual event (you would understand if you saw the kitchen I had to work out of) so I decided to try it again at home to try to get it perfect. This time it definitely didn't disappoint! This is a recipe I adapted from Thomas Keller's The French Laundry Cookbook. This dish features Rainbow trout, a parsley coulis, garlic palette, a potato chip (yes it's there!) topped with a parsley and shallot salad. Bon Appétit!

Ingredients

For Palette's:

• 6 medium heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled
• 10 hard-boiled egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons butter
• Kosher Salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

 For Parsley Coulis:

• 2/3 cup chicken stock
• 2 bunch of parsley, stems removed
• 1/4 cup cooking white wine 
• Salt and Pepper to taste 

Parsley Salad:

• 1/4 cup Italian parsley leaves
• 1 tsp finely minced shallots
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Pinch of kosher salt

 Potato Chip:

• 2 Large Idaho potatoes, peeled
• Peanut oil, for frying
• Kosher Salt

 Fish:

• 6 large trout filets, separated
• Salt & Pepper
• Canola oil 

Directions

 

For Garlic Palettes: Place the garlic cloves in a small sauce pan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Drain the garlic through a fine mesh sieve and run under cold water. Return to small sauce pan and repeat process twice. The third time, let garlic boil until easily pierced with a knife. Drain the garlic cloves and place them in a small food processor and slightly puree. Measure out 1/2 cup of the garlic puree for the garlic palettes. 

 

Place the garlic puree, egg yolks, butter and salt in a food processor and blend until smooth. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. Place a 1 1/2" circular mold on the baking sheet and add enough of the garlic mixture into the mold to come 1/2" up the sides. Carefully remove the mold and make 5 more disks with the garlic mixture. Cover and freeze for several hours, until mixture is solid, or up to a few days.

 

After mixture is solid, place the flour, cream and crumbs in three separate bowls. Dip each disk into the flour, patting off any excess, then completely coat with cream and dredge in the crumbs, being careful to coat each round completely. Re-dip a second time in the cream and crumbs and return the palettes to the freezer. I recommend making these the day before you want to make this dish, that way the are nice and solid before you pan fry them.

 

For Parsley Coulis: In a sauce pan, bring the chicken stock up to a boil. Remove from the heat. Pour into a blender along with the parsley and white wine. Puree until smooth. Remove and keep warm.

 

For the Parsley Salad: Toss the parsley leaves and shallots with a light coating of olive oil and the salt. 

  

To Complete: Heat about 1/2 inch of canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat (there should be enough oil to come about halfway up the sides of the fish). Season the trout with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the fillets skin side down and saute, pressing down on the pieces of fish with a narrow spatula or small skillet to keep them flat. When the fish is almost cooked, after about 1 minute, turn the pieces to "kiss" or briefly cook, the second side. The total cooking time will be about 1 1/2 minutes. Remove the fillets to paper towels. Add the frozen palettes to the pan and brown for about 1 minute on each side, until crisp and warmed through. Be careful for two reasons 1) turning the palettes because they will be very fragile and 2) There will be a lot of bubbling with the heavy cream reacting with the hot oil. Just keep an eye on it and don't let it boil over cause it will cause one heck of a mess. 

 

Cut each filet in half, it will be one filet per plate. Place a spoonful of the parsley coulis on each serving plate. Center a palette on the sauce and crisscross the cut trout filet on top. Top with a potato chip and parsley salad. The potato chip and parsley salad is intended to be eaten in one bite, almost like a built in amuse-bouche.

 

Kitchen Word of the Day 

 

Amuse-bouche is a single, bite-sized hors d’œuvre. Amuse-bouches are different from appetizers in that they are not ordered from a menu by patrons, but, when served, are done so according to the chef's selection alone. These, often accompanied by a complementing wine, are served as a little tingler for the taste buds both to prepare the guest for the meal and to offer a glimpse into the chef's approach to cooking.

The term is French, literally translated to "mouth amuser". The plural form is amuse-bouche or amuse-bouches. The French word amuse-gueule is also employed in France, although amuse-bouche is more often used on menus in fine dining restaurants, as the word gueule is an impolite way of saying bouche.

 

 

Cajun Sweet Potato Soup

I have been in a soup kind of mood lately, as you can tell with my back to back soup posts. Since I didn't have time to celebrate Mardi Gras last weekend, I decided to honor it this past weekend with this delicious Cajun Sweet Potato soup. It's creamy, sweet and has a nice kick of heat at the end with the hot sauce and sausage (in my case chorizo). Then for the side I made a Charred Cajun Bruschetta. Bon Appétit!

Ingredients

• 1 Lbs Andouille or Chorizo sausage
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour 
• 1 large onion; diced
• 1/2 red pepper; diced
• 4-5 ribs celery; diced
• 3 cloves of garlic; minced
• 1.5 quarts chicken stock
• 2 large sweet potatoes; diced
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup spinach; chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley; chopped
• 1/4 cup chives; chopped
• Hot Sauce; to taste
• Salt & Pepper; to taste

Directions

In a large stock pot, brown sausage links until cooked through. Remove, wrap in tin foil and reserve.

Add butter to the pot and melt, add flour in with butter and whisk to make a roux. Add in onions, celery, red pepper and garlic, saute until soft. Once vegetables are soft, add in warm stock and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add in sweet potatoes, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender.

Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. Return soup to the stock pot and mix in cream, chives, parsley, spinach and hot sauce (to taste). Dice sausage links into large chunks and mix into the soup. season with salt and pepper (to taste) and serve warm.