Eating Around the World (From Home....And Gluten Free...): March 2022

Welcome to Poland! Since Poland has been in the news lately with their help to the Ukrainians, I thought it would be a good country to do next. Please continue to pray for the situation over in Eastern Europe. According to Google, the population of Poland is 38.38 million people and the capital is Warsaw. An interesting fact about Poland is that it is considered to be one of the most religious countries in Europe - more than 85% of the population identify as Roman Catholic. If you like rye, this is the place to go: Poland produces 25% of the world's rye. Funny - the national dish had nothing to do with rye! The national dish is...

Bigos!

Bigos is a hunter's stew, that is heavy in the sauerkraut department! There were so many other good things (well, what looked like good things!) to make, we actually split up Poland into two dinners! For the first dinner, we did Bigos and Paczk, which is a jelly-filled doughnut. For the second dinner, we did Golabki, which were cabbage rolls, and Pierogi, which was similar to a pot sticker. Let me tell you, I'm so glad we split these up - this would have taken so long to get everything done in time! Here's what I did:

BIGOS

6 C sauerkraut

1 1/2 C porcini mushrooms

1/4 green cabbage, shredded

1 large carrot, shredded

10 oz Baby Bella mushrooms, cut

1 C red wine

1/2 pitted prunes, roughly chopped

6 oz tomato paste

1 onion, chopped

2 C kielbasa, sliced in half-moons

2 bay leaves

1/4 tsp rosemary

1/4 tsp caraway seed

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp coriander

1/4 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Avocado oil, for frying

Rinse the sauerkraut and chop it
Place sauerkraut in a large pot, and submerge in water, and cook for about an hour. When it is fully cooked, let the water reduce by half.
In a frying pan, add 1 tbsp oil and fry onion until golden brown.
Remove the onions, and set aside. Add another tbsp of oil to the same pan and add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook until soft and cooked through.
Remove the mushrooms and set aside (you can put them with the onions). Add another tbsp of oil and add your kielbasa. Cook until golden brown, about five minutes.
When the sauerkraut is soft and the water is reduced by half, add the chopped cabbage and carrot. Cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the cooked onions, mushrooms, kielbasa, red wine, prunes, tomato paste, and all the seasonings.
Simmer for an hour, stirring often.
Adjust salt and pepper as needed, and enjoy!

(Source: Bigos and Bigos)

PACZKI

1 C whole milk

1 yeast package

1/4 C sugar, plus 1/2 tbsp, divided

3 1/4 C gluten free flour

1/4 C butter

1 egg

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

Oil, for frying

1 C raspberry preserves, for filling

1/2 C powdered sugar, for dusting

In a small saucepan, heat milk to 110 degrees.
Pour the milk into a large bowl, and add the yeast. Stir to help it dissolve.
Add 1/2 tbsp sugar and 1 C flour to the bowl, and mix until combined (it will resemble a wet pancake batter).
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and rest in a warm place for 30 minutes, until it is risen and very bubbly.
In a large bowl (or mixer fitted with a paddle attachment), cream together butter and remaining sugar until fluffy, about 4 minutes.
Add egg, egg yolks, vanilla, and salt, and beat until well combined.
Add remaining flour in 3-4 batches, alternating with the milk-yeast mixture.
When a "shaggy" dough begins to form, fit the mixer with a dough hook.
Mix for 5 more minutes, until a soft, smooth, sticky dough comes together.
Coat the inside of a large bowl with cooking spray, and transfer the dough to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, put it in a warm place, and let it double in size, about an hour.
Turn the dough onto a generously floured surface.
Dust the surface of the dough with flour, and then punch it down until it is about 1/2 inch high.
Using a glass, cut the dough into rounds, and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Cover the baking sheets loosely with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise for about 30 minutes.
Heat oil in a dutch oven or pot until it is 360 degrees.
Place the dough rounds into the oil and fry until golden on one side, about 2-3 minutes.
Flip the rounds and cook the other side until golden, about 2 minutes.
Remove the rounds from the oil and let drain on a paper towel-lined baking sheet.
Place a long straight piping tip in a pastry bag, and fill with raspberry preserves.
Using a butter knife, stick it into the side of each paczki and then pipe the filling into the rounds.
Dust with powder sugar, and eat immediately!

(Source: Paczki)

GOLABKI

1 cabbage head

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground Italian sausage

1/2 lb cooked and crumbled bacon

1 large onion, chopped

1 egg

1/2 C cooked brown rice

1 can tomato sauce

1/3 C heavy cream

3 oz tomato paste

A pinch of sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp pepper

3 C white vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place the cabbage head, whole, into a stock pot, add water to "cover" (the cabbage will float), and add vinegar to the water.
Place the pot on high heat, cover, and bring to boil.
Gently boil cabbage until the leaves soften and become pliable.
Remove from heat and pull the cabbage out of the pot. Set aside and allow to cool.
In a large mixing bowl, combine ground beef, Italian sausage, bacon, onion, egg, rice, salt, and pepper. It should be the consistency of meatloaf. If dry, add an egg (I didn't have to add the egg).
When cabbage has cooled, gently remove the leaves from the cabbage head.
Cut the lower part of the vein from the leaf. Continue until just the tiny leaves remain.
Lay a cabbage leaf down on a flat surface, and place a large meatball-worth of the meat mixture into the center of the cabbage leaf.
Wrap the cabbage leaf around the meat mixture, and place in a baking dish, wrapped side down.
Repeat this process until all the cabbage leaves are used.
Mix tomato sauce, tomato paste, cream, and sugar together in a bowl.
Pour this mixture over all the stuffed cabbages.
Bake, covered, for 1 and 1/2 hours.

(Source: Golabki)

PIEROGI

3 potatoes

8 oz goat cheese

1 tbsp blue cheese

2 tbsp cheddar cheese

1 onion, chopped

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder,

1 tbsp avocado oil

Salt and pepper to taste

For the dough:

3 C gluten free flour

1/2 C milk, warm

3/4 C warm water

1 tbsp butter, melted

Pinch of salt

Toppings:

Bacon, cooked and crumbled

Sour Cream

Avocado oil, for frying

For the filling

Peel potatoes and place in a pot, cover with water, and cook until fork-tender.
Heat up oil in a frying pan, add onions, and cook until golden brown.
Once potatoes are cooked, drain, and mash until there are no lumps.
Add goat cheese and mix to combine.
Add onions and spices, and mix well.

For the dough:

Put the flour and salt in a bowl, and make a hole in the middle of the flour.
Add the milk and the butter.
Add the water and work the dough until you can form a ball, and it is not incredibly sticky.
Place dough on a cutting board, and cover with the mixing bowl for 20 minutes.
Roll the dough until very thin.
Use a cup and cut circles out of the dough.
Place about 1 tsp of the meat mixture in the middle of the circle.
Wet one half of the circle and seal it together.

Putting it all together:

Boil a pot of water with salt.
Place the pierogi, 6-8 at a time, in the boiling water.
Cook the pierogi until they are floating, plus one minute.
Using a slotted spoon, take them out of the boiling water and place onto a plate.
Repeat until all the pierogi's are cooked.
Heat oil in frying pan.
Fry each pierogi until they are golden brown on each side.
Top with sour cream and bacon, and enjoy!

(Source:Pierogi)

The verdict? It was A LOT of work! Let's start with the Bigos. The Bigos was very thick and very fragrent. It had a very rich taste, but it was very delicious. Minus the mushrooms. I really, really don't like mushrooms, so the first half of the meal was me picking out all the mushrooms and giving them to Handsome Husband. The rest of the stew was good. I think it would be really good with some bread...The paczki was a jelly-filled doughnut. I don't think there was anything special about it. However, it was very tasty after the savory Bigos - I would recommend making these two things together. They complemented well! And Handsome Husband's church meeting members appreciated the leftover paczki's! The golabki was delicious. We both really enjoyed it. However, there was SO MUCH meat mixture leftover, that I baked a meat loaf out of the extra. If there is a way to cut that mixture in half, I would. Or buy a really big cabbage head! The flavors worked so well together, and the sauce on top was just right! I didn't care for the pierogi's, but Handsome Husband said he enjoyed them. They tasted bland to me. I loved the potato mixture, but put inside the bland dough wasn't great.

Taste of Bigos (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 7