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419 recipes

Zupa mlecznaMilk soup with noodles

Ask anyone who grew up in Poland about zupa mleczna and you will hear about winter mornings before school, or about the steaming bowls ladled out at breakfast in Warsaw milk bars long before cafés served porridge. It is simply warm milk with small noodles or rice, sweetened lightly and sometimes finished with a knob of butter or cinnamon. Kids like it with lane kluski, egg drops poured straight into the milk. A common mistake is boiling the noodles in the milk over a high heat, so it catches and tastes scorched; cook them in water first. Chef's tip: warm the milk with a strip of lemon peel and a pinch of salt, which makes it taste rounder without adding more sugar.

15 minPolishBreakfast & Brunch
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Makaron z truskawkamiPasta with strawberries

When the first Kashubian and Mazovian strawberries flood the stalls in June, Polish children get makaron z truskawkami for lunch: warm pasta tossed with crushed sweetened strawberries and cream. Milk bars in Kraków and Łódź put it on the summer board too, and it surprises visitors who expect pasta to be savoury. The berries are mashed with sugar until they turn into a loose pink sauce, then folded through hot ribbon pasta or bow ties with soured cream or yoghurt. A common mistake is crushing the strawberries too far ahead, so they turn dull and syrupy; mash them while the pasta cooks. Chef's tip: let the drained pasta cool for a minute before adding the cream, so it coats the pasta instead of splitting into thin streaks.

20 minPolishPasta & Noodles
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kotlet jajecznyBreaded egg cutlets

Kotlet jajeczny was born of thrift, a meat-free Friday cutlet that milk bars in Warsaw and Poznań could make from eggs, stale bread and dill, and it is still a Lent and weekday favourite at home. Chopped hard-boiled eggs are bound with soaked bread roll, raw egg and lots of dill, shaped into patties, breaded and fried until crisp outside and soft inside. They go on the plate with boiled potatoes, a spoon of soured cream and mizeria, the cucumber salad. A common mistake is a mixture that is too wet; squeeze the soaked roll hard so the cutlets hold together in the pan. Chef's tip: chill the shaped cutlets for 15 minutes before breading and they won't crack when you turn them.

40 minPolishVegetarian
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Krokiety z kapustą i grzybamiCabbage and mushroom croquettes

In Kraków's milk bars krokiety are ordered with a mug of hot clear barszcz to dip them in, and at Christmas Eve tables across Lesser Poland the same rolls sit beside the beetroot soup. Thin pancakes are wrapped around a filling of chopped sauerkraut, fried onion and dried and fresh mushrooms, then dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and fried until crunchy. If you use wild mushrooms, buy from a reliable source only. A common mistake is leaving the sauerkraut wet, which steams the rolls from inside and makes the crumb soggy. Chef's tip: make the pancakes a little thicker than for sweet naleśniki and fold the ends in firmly so no filling leaks into the oil.

80 minPolishSnacks & Starters
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ErdäpfelstrudelSavoury potato strudel

Austrians, especially in the Mühlviertel of Upper Austria and the Waldviertel, make savoury strudels as often as sweet ones, and Erdäpfelstrudel is a farmhouse favourite for a meatless Friday or a cold evening. Thin pastry wraps a filling of potatoes, fried onion, sour cream, marjoram and parsley, baked until crisp and golden and sliced with a green salad or a dill and sour-cream dip. Bought filo makes it easy at home. The mistake to avoid is a wet filling, which turns the pastry soggy underneath. Chef's tip: cool the filling completely before rolling; warm filling makes the layers stick and tear.

90 minAustrianVegetarian
by KrazyBadal 0 views

FasolówkaWhite bean soup

Fasolówka warms up Podhale farmhouses and Lublin kitchens through the cold months: dried white beans cooked until creamy with smoked pork ribs or smoked bacon, potatoes, carrot and a big pinch of marjoram. It is a meal in a bowl for a winter Saturday, served with rye bread. For a vegetarian pot, leave out the pork, use vegetable stock and add 1 tsp smoked paprika and a little more oil. A common mistake is salting the beans at the start, which keeps the skins tough. Chef's tip: mash a ladle of the cooked beans against the side of the pot; it thickens the soup naturally without flour.

120 minPolishSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Zupa jarzynowaMixed vegetable soup

Zupa jarzynowa is what a Polish kitchen makes when the vegetable drawer needs clearing: carrots, parsley root, celeriac, potatoes, cauliflower, green beans and peas, all diced small and simmered in one pot. From Białystok to Szczecin it is the Monday soup, the canteen soup and the soup for anyone off their food, and it is eaten with bread and a swirl of soured cream. A common mistake is putting everything in at once, so the beans and peas turn khaki and soft. Chef's tip: add the vegetables in stages, roots first, green things last, and every spoonful has a bit of bite.

50 minPolishSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

RosółChicken broth

Sunday lunch in Poland, from Gdańsk tenements to Silesian family houses, still starts with rosół: a golden, crystal-clear chicken broth served with fine egg noodles, sliced carrot and parsley. It cooks for hours at the barest simmer with a charred onion, parsley root, celeriac and leek, and the leftover meat goes into pierogi or a salad. It is also the soup for colds and new mothers. A common mistake is letting it boil, which clouds the broth and makes it greasy. Chef's tip: start the chicken in cold water and skim carefully as it comes up to heat; the clearer the first 20 minutes, the clearer the finished rosół.

195 minPolishSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Naleśniki z seremSweet cheese crêpes

Order naleśniki z serem at a bar mleczny on Warsaw's Nowy Świat and they arrive two to a plate, folded into tight parcels, browned in butter and finished with a spoon of soured cream and a dusting of sugar. Students, pensioners and office workers have eaten them this way since the 1950s, and at home they are a Friday supper or an after-school treat. The filling is twaróg, Polish curd cheese, beaten with egg yolk, sugar and vanilla, so it stays soft and a little tangy inside the thin pancake. A common mistake is a thick, rubbery batter: it should pour like single cream and coat the pan in one thin swirl. Chef's tip: rest the batter for 20 minutes so the flour softens and the first pancake doesn't tear.

45 minPolishBreakfast & Brunch
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kaszanka z cebuląFried buckwheat blood sausage

Kaszanka is Polish black pudding, a pork sausage of buckwheat groats, pork blood, liver and fat seasoned with marjoram, and fried with onions it is the classic grill-night, pub and milk-bar snack from Podkarpacie to Warsaw. It comes ready-cooked from the butcher, so all you do is fry it until the outside crisps and the inside turns soft and spoonable. Serve with rye bread, mustard and sour dill pickles. A common mistake is frying it in its skin over a high heat, which bursts the casing and burns the outside before the middle is hot. Chef's tip: slice it thickly, fry gently, and don't stir; turn each slice once so it keeps a crust.

20 minPolishMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Zupa nicVanilla milk with meringue

Zupa nic means 'nothing soup', and Polish grandmothers in Silesia and Greater Poland made it from almost nothing: milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla. Spoonfuls of whipped egg white are poached in the milk like little clouds, then the milk is thickened with the yolks into a thin custard and poured round them. It is eaten warm on a winter evening or chilled in summer, and children love it. A common mistake is boiling the custard after the yolks go in, which scrambles them. Chef's tip: poach the clouds for only a minute on each side; any longer and they puff up, then shrink and turn rubbery.

30 minPolishDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pierogi z mięsemMeat dumplings

Pierogi z mięsem are the thrifty heart of Polish cooking: the meat left from Sunday rosół or a pot roast is minced with fried onion and folded into soft dough. In Lublin and Podlasie families make a hundred at once for Christmas week or a name day and freeze the rest, and milk bars serve them topped with onion fried in butter or crisp skwarki. This version uses pork shoulder and beef, cooked first, then minced. A common mistake is a dry, crumbly filling; moisten it with a few spoons of broth so it holds together. Chef's tip: pinch the edges twice, once to seal and once to crimp, and the pierogi won't burst in the pot.

150 minPolishMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Zupa owocowaFruit soup with pasta

On a hot July afternoon in a Mazurian village or a Warsaw allotment, a pot of zupa owocowa sits cooling on the windowsill: sour cherries or strawberries simmered with sugar, lightly thickened, and served cold over little pasta shells or bow ties. Polish children often get it as the first course of a summer lunch, and it tastes like a drinkable fruit compote. A common mistake is thickening it too much, so it sets into jelly in the fridge; it should stay pourable. Chef's tip: stir a spoon of soured cream into each bowl, not the pot, so the colour stays bright.

30 minPolishSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pulpety w sosie koperkowymMeatballs in dill sauce

Soft, poached and bathed in pale green dill sauce, pulpety are the meatballs Polish mothers in Toruń and Bydgoszcz give small children and anyone feeling poorly, and milk bars serve them on ordinary weekdays with boiled potatoes and grated beetroot. They are made from minced pork (or a pork and veal mix) bound with soaked roll and egg and simmered in broth, which then becomes the sauce. A common mistake is boiling them hard, which makes them tough and splits them; the water should barely tremble. Chef's tip: add the dill right at the end, off the heat, so it stays bright and fresh.

50 minPolishMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BudyńMilk pudding

Budyń is the pudding every Polish grandmother can make without a recipe, a soft spoonable milk custard thickened with potato starch or cornflour and set in glasses. Milk bars in Gdynia and Katowice sell it warm in winter and chilled in summer, often with a spoon of raspberry or cherry syrup on top, and children eat it after school. A common mistake is pouring the starch into hot milk without whisking it first in cold milk, which gives lumps. Chef's tip: once it bubbles, keep whisking for one more full minute; undercooked budyń tastes floury and goes thin as it cools.

13 minPolishDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Surówka z marchewkiCarrot and apple salad

That little mound of orange on the side of every milk-bar plate in Łódź or Wrocław is surówka z marchewki, raw carrot and apple grated together and sharpened with lemon. Polish families make it beside Sunday chops, Friday fish and plain potatoes all year round, because carrots and apples keep through the winter. It takes ten minutes and is crisp, sweet and tart. A common mistake is grating the apple long before serving, so it browns and the salad turns watery. Chef's tip: grate the carrots on the fine side of the grater and the apple on the coarse side, so the apple stays juicy and the carrot soaks up the dressing.

10 minPolishSaladsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Zupa koperkowaDill and potato soup

In early summer, when bunches of dill tied with string pile up at Kraków's Stary Kleparz market, Polish cooks make zupa koperkowa: a light broth of potato, carrot and parsley root that gets almost a whole bunch of chopped dill at the end. It is a weekday lunch soup, often with a hard-boiled egg or a spoon of soured cream, and it tastes clean and green. A common mistake is cooking the dill with the vegetables, which turns it dull and grassy. Chef's tip: stir half the dill stalks in during simmering for depth, then add all the feathery leaves only once the pot is off the heat.

40 minPolishSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Zupa kalafiorowaCauliflower soup

Late-summer cauliflowers from the market gardens around Kalisz and Poznań end up in zupa kalafiorowa, a chunky, comforting soup that Polish families eat on a September weekday with fresh bread. Small florets, potato and carrot simmer in broth, and soured cream and dill turn it creamy and fresh at the end. It is not blended: the pleasure is in the soft florets. A common mistake is adding the cauliflower with the potatoes, so it falls apart into mush. Chef's tip: simmer the cauliflower stalk with the potatoes for flavour and add the florets for only the last 8–10 minutes.

40 minPolishSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ryż z jabłkamiBaked rice with apples

Every Polish school canteen and milk bar from Gdańsk to Rzeszów has served ryż z jabłkami, and many grown-ups still bake it on a cold Sunday afternoon when autumn apples fill the market. Rice is cooked slowly in milk until creamy, layered in a dish with grated sharp apples, sugar and cinnamon, then baked until the top turns golden and the apple juices soak into the rice. It is eaten warm with soured cream or cold the next day from the fridge. A common mistake is using sweet dessert apples, which go mushy and bland; tart apples like Antonówka, Bramley or Granny Smith keep their bite. Chef's tip: squeeze a little of the juice out of the grated apples, or the bottom layer turns watery.

60 minPolishDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pla neung manao (steamed fish in lime and chilli)Steamed fish with lime and chilli

Restaurants all over Bangkok bring this dish to the table in a fish-shaped steamer with a flame underneath, the fish swimming in a broth of garlic, chilli, lime and fish sauce that keeps bubbling as you eat. Sea bass (pla kapong) is the usual choice. It is clean, sour and very garlicky, ideal for a light dinner with rice and a plate of greens. A whole fish is traditional; two thick fillets work just as well and steam faster. Chef's tip: pour the sauce over at the end, not before steaming; lime cooked for 15 minutes loses its freshness and turns bitter.

35 minThaiFishGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tom kha gai (chicken in coconut-galangal soup)

Central Thai home cooks make tom kha as one of the dishes at a shared dinner, spooned over rice rather than drunk as a starter, and Bangkok restaurants serve it in a bubbling fire pot. Galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf are simmered in coconut milk with chicken and mushrooms, then seasoned at the end with fish sauce and lime, so the soup is creamy, sour, salty and only gently hot. For a vegetarian version (tom kha het), use 400 g mixed mushrooms and firm tofu, vegetable stock and light soy sauce instead of fish sauce. Chef's tip: add the lime juice off the heat; boiling lime turns bitter and dulls the whole pot.

30 minThaiSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Oliang (Thai black iced coffee)

Old Bangkok coffee shops in Chinatown and Bang Rak still brew oliang through a long cotton sock, using a dark blend of coffee roasted with corn, soybeans, rice and sesame that gives it a toasty, almost cocoa-like flavour. It is served black, heavily sweetened and poured over crushed ice in tall glasses, a mid-morning pick-me-up for market traders. Look for any Thai 'oliang powder' blend in Asian shops, or mix dark coffee with roasted grains as below. It contains caffeine, so it is not one for children. Chef's tip: adding sugar after chilling is the mistake; dissolve it while the coffee is hot, or it stays gritty.

15 minThaiDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Look chupMung bean fruit sweets

Once made in the palace kitchens of Ayutthaya, these miniature chillies, mangosteens and mangoes now fill gift boxes in Bangkok bakeries for weddings, merit-making and Mother's Day. The inside is a smooth, sweet paste of mung beans and coconut milk; the outside is a thin, shiny skin of jelly, so each one tastes a little like marzipan in a glass coat. Making them is an afternoon project best shared. Chef's tip: a paste that is too wet won't hold a shape and slides off the stick; cook it until it pulls away from the pan in one soft ball.

150 minThaiDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Yam som o (pomelo salad)

Pomelos from Nakhon Chai Si, west of Bangkok, are prized for their dry, juicy segments, and when they come into season in late summer this salad appears on restaurant menus across the central plains. The segments are broken into bursting sacs and tossed with toasted coconut, crisp shallots and peanuts in a dressing of lime, palm sugar and nam prik pao, so it eats sweet, sour, nutty and only mildly hot. Restaurants usually add poached prawns, fish sauce and a chilli jam made with dried shrimp; this version uses tamari and a vegan nam prik pao so it suits everyone. Chef's tip: dress the pomelo just before serving and toss with your fingertips; stirring hard with a spoon bursts the sacs and leaves a watery bowl.

25 minThaiSaladsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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