Polish cuisine

Polish cuisine

Polish cuisine is a rich and hearty cuisine heavily influenced by traditional Slavic and European cuisines. It consists of a wide range of dishes and ingredients with meat, potatoes, and grains being the mainstays.
Some of the most popular Polish dishes include pierogi, a type of dumpling filled with a variety of fillings such as potato and cheese, sauerkraut, mushrooms, and meat; bigos, a stew made with sauerkraut, meat, and various vegetables; golabki, stuffed cabbage rolls; and kielbasa, a type of sausage.
Other popular Polish dishes include zurek, a soup made with rye flour and served with sausage, potatoes, and egg; barszcz, a beetroot soup; and pasztet, a type of pâte made with minced meat and liver.
Polish cuisine also features a variety of sweet dishes such as paczki, doughnuts filled with jam or custard; sernik, a type of cheesecake made with quark cheese; and makowiec, a poppy seed cake.
Overall, Polish cuisine is hearty, filling, and full of flavor, with a strong emphasis on meat, potatoes, and grains.

Dukkah

Dukkah

Dukkah is a famous Egyptian seasoning made of nuts, seeds, and spices.

Ingredients:
– 1/2 cup walnuts
– 1/3 cup almonds or hazelnuts
– 2 tbsp sesame seeds
– 1 tsp ground coriander
– 1 tsp ground cumin
– 1/8 tsp ground allspice
– Salt, pepper, to taste fine sea salt

Cooking Instructions:
1. In a large skillet over medium heat, roast walnuts and almonds, until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
2. Add sesame seeds to the nuts and continue cooking, stirring often, until sesame seeds are lightly golden.
3. Transfer the nut and seed mixture to a food processor.
4. Add the coriander, cumin, allspice, salt and pepper.
5. Run the food processor for a few seconds, just to break the nuts into a coarse, sand-like texture.
6. Transfer the dukkah to a bowl for serving, or store it in an air-tight container for 1 to 2 weeks.

Tom Kha Gai

Tom Kha Gai

Tom Kha Gai is a Thai coconut chicken soup.

Ingredients:
– 1 shallot, diced
– 1/4 cup ginger
– 1/4 cup galangal root
– 3 tbsp finely chopped lemongrass
– 8 kaffir lime leafs
– 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
– 500g boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or sub 500 crispy tofu)
– 200g mushrooms (oyster, shiitake, cremini, or straw mushrooms)
– 2-4 fresh Thai chilies
– 3 tbsp fish sauce
– 1 1/2 tsp salt
– 2 cans of coconut milk
– 3 tbsp lime juice
– 2 tsp coconut sugar

Cooking Instructions:
1. Slice the chicken into thin bitesized pieces. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
2. In large heavy bottom pot, sauté diced shallot with a little oil over medium heat. Add sliced ginger, lemongrass, lime leaves and galalagal.
3. Add 2 cups broth and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add the chicken (or tofu) and sliced mushrooms and simmering for 3-4 minutes or until chicken is just cooked through.
5. Stir in the coconut milk, fish sauce, chilies, and salt and bring to a gentle simmer.
6. Add the lime juice and sugar.

Mimosa Salad

Mimosa Salad

Mimosa Salad is a Russian layered tuna salad.

Ingredients:
– 1 can tuna in oil
– 4 large eggs
– 1 large carrot
– 1 small onion
– 2 medium potatoes
– 1 cup mayonnaise
– Salt and pepper, to taste

Cooking Instructions:
1. Boil whole unpeeled potatoes and carrots for about 30 minutes, or until knife pierces them smoothly. Let cool to room temp then refrigerate.
2. Peel veggies just before grating.
3. Boil eggs for 5 minutes. Once eggs are cooled, peel and separate egg whites from yolks.
4. Drain tuna. Add chopped onion and mix with a fork.
5. Spread tuna mixture over the bottom of a glass baking dish.
6. Drizzle a light layer of mayo over the tuna.
7. Finely grate the egg whites evenly over the tuna. Drizzle a light layer of mayo over the top.
8. Finely grate carrot evenly over the egg whites and drizzle on another thin layer of mayo.
9. Finely grate potatoes evenly over the carrot and drizzle on remaining mayo. Spread mayo gently and evenly over the top with a spatula.
10. Top with finely grated egg yolk.