lundi 7 janvier 2013

a Polish inspired holidays


For Christmas day, we wanted to share a good meal that would remind us both of our Polish origins.
My mum being born & raised in Warsaw I spent quite a few holidays there, mostly in the kitchen with my grandma and other relatives who would get together to cook meals.




Often for Christmas supper the menu would look like this:

  • Polish Barscz, served with thin mushroom ravioli
  • Trout, or some kind of fish
  • Poppy seeds rolled cake
  • Dried Fruits in juice (re-hydrated in water and seasoned with spice)


We made the first 3 courses. But next year I'll try to add the 4th.

The barscz here is very different from the russian borsch which is very well known here in B.C. thanks to the Doukhobors heritage. And whenever I pronounce it the way I'm used to, people hear "barf"...oh well.

The polish version is made with lacto-fermented beet juice, vegetable & bone broth and garlic.

The lacto-fermentation is started 3-4 days in advance (with sourdough bread) but if you don't have time you can use fresh beets and just add lemon juice in order to make it sour.

Dale was in charge of the whole ravioli operation and I helped with the mushroom filling (which Dale seasoned to perfection).
The ravioli we used to make with my grandma were done all by hand, no pasta machine in her kitchen! 


She managed to get them so thin that often a few of them would tear while cooking.



Our good friends from Howser gave us a bull trout caught in Kootenay Lake. We served it stuffed with dill & butter croutons. It was such a fantastic fish!

The rolled poppy seed cakes turned out a bit dry but very tasty. The proportions in my grandma's recipe (sent to me  via my mum) were enough for 4 loaves so I had plenty to slice and give away.
I'm looking forward to make french toast with the left over in my fridge.


It was so awesome to be able to share that with our good friends, they have the funniest & cutest little girl who loves all sort of food (she loved the garlic barscz) and who is fascinated by airplanes (especially when they're made out of cardboard).

Can you spot the rolled poppy seed cake on the stove?