In this installment of The Chef You and I, Kathryn Raaker prepares Polish Dishes from her family from years ago. In addition, Kathryn makes an excellent Roasted Grapes and Olive Bruschetta with Goat cheese. Watch as Kathryn makes her Grandmother Bochenek’s Polish Potato Salad, a classic Polish Beet soup, and finishes the meal with a Plum Polish Cake.
Polish Plum Cake
Adapted from a Recipe from my grandmother Stella Bochenek recipe & Barbara Rolek recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1/2 cup 4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup milk
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 10 small to medium fresh plums I used Purple small Plums halved pitted
Streusel Topping
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp ground Cinnamon
- 3 Tbsp cold unsalted butter cut into pieces
- ½ cup crushed walnuts or almonds
Instructions
Cake
- Lightly coat a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. I used Cornhuskers Gourmet Duck Fat Spray.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and 1 to ½ cup of sugar
- Add the room-temperature butter, milk, and eggs. Beat with a hand mixer at medium speed for 4 minutes or until all of the ingredients combine. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Position the plum halves on top, cut side up, pushing them down slightly into the batter.
Streusel Topping:
- Cut the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and the cloves into 3 tablespoons of cold butter until crumbs form. Sprinkle it over the plums. Bake the cake on the center oven rack for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in several places comes out clean.
- After it cools Sprinkle Confectionary Sugar on the whole cake and cut into squares.
Roasted Green Grapes and Olive Bruschetta
Recipe provided by Costco Farm to Table
Ingredients
- 2 cups Seedless Green Grapes stems removed
- 1 cup I Green Olives -pitted
- 1 cup of Black Olives – Pitted
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 Teaspoon 1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- ½ cup olive oil divided – ¼ for each part of the recipe
- 1/3 cup of fresh basil leaves roughly chopped
- 10.5 oz soft goat cheese
- 10 slices baguette lightly toasted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F.
- Combine and stir grapes, olives, salt, thyme and1/4 cup olive oil in a medium baking dish. Roast 35 to 45 minutes, until grapes have softened and wrinkled.
- While grapes are roasting, combine basil and remaining olive oil in a blender. Blend 1 to 2 minutes until almost smooth.
- To assemble the bruschetta, spread about 1 Tbsp goat cheese onto each toast Top with 1 to 2 Tbsp of the grape-olive mixture. Drizzle bruschetta with basil oil and serve. Makes 16 servings
Easy Polish Beet Soup (Barszcz Czysty Czerwony)
Ingredients
- 4 whole beets about 1 pound, (or 2 cups sliced canned or jarred beets)
- 4 cups stock chicken, beef, mushroom, or vegetable
- 1 shallot chopped fine
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium pot, bring beef or vegetable stock to a boil. Add the cut beets, shallot lemon juice, sugar, salt, and pepper. Simmer 8 minutes.
Polish Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 2-3 White Potatoes skins scrubbed, boiled in jackets
- 2 ribs of Celery
- 2 Tbsp Sweet pickle relish
- 1/2 Sweet Onion
- 2 Sour Apples
- 1 can 15 oz Sweet Peas drained
- 3 hardboiled Eggs peeled
- 1/4 cup Mayonnaise Replace part or all of the Mayonnaise with Sour Cream or Plain Yogurt (more, if desired)
- 1/2 lb diced Ham
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh chopped Dill
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel and dice the potatoes in 1/4 inch cubes.
- Dice all other vegetables (except peas) to about the same size as the peas, smaller than the potatoes.
- Mix all together.
- Garnish with another hardboiled egg