Polish

Every year when I go to the veggie market around this time, I feel like all the pumpkins are STARING at me and SCREAMING to BUY them. Something like that 😉 :

I am not a big fan of pumpkin, but when they all look at me like that, I feel bad and end up buying at least one every year. When I bring it home, I usually use it as a decoration. It looks so cute to me. I like the small pumpkins especially. They’re like little babies looking at me and I just can’t say NO to them. Last year, my daughter was using a pumpkin as her new toy. She was dragging it around a house and it was THE BEST TOY EVER. It kept her busy for hours. Until one day, she dropped it….I mean ……. she dropped it pretty hard….I think you can imagine the mess. Well, as much as I hated cleaning it, I was kind of relieved that I don’t have to make anything out of it. I did make a pumpkin pie, for my husband’s coworkers, for a Thanksgiving Day at work last year. He said that everyone liked it. But, I will be honest. I used a store bought pumpkin puree. ( sorry…)

This year I bought a pumpkin AGAIN. But this time, I decided I will not waste it and make something with it. I hate wasting food. Especially, knowing that there are so many poor kids around the world who go to sleep hungry every day 😦

I decided to make lecho with my cute little pumpkin. Lecho is a Hungarian dish, which is very popular in Poland. It is a vegetable stew. Traditionally, it is made with onions, peppers, zucchini, tomatoes and sausage. There are many varieties of lecho and anyone can adjust it to his or her individual taste. You can add any vegetables you like. I made lecho before, but never with pumpkin. The pumpkin in this recipe is definitely not a STAR ingredient. It’s more a SECRET ingredient. It kind of gets dissolved into a gravy and you don’t even know that it’s there. It does give a gravy a nice texture though and it works as a thickening ingredient. I like it that way because like I said before, I’m not a big pumpkin fan. If you’re like me and have some pumpkins lying around collecting dust, please try this recipe. I cooked lecho with pumpkin for the first time, and I have to say it turned out pretty tasty. I might be bias though 😉 so try it yourself.

To make it I used:

1 onion
2 tbsp. of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
2 small green chili peppers (finely chopped, you can omit this if you don’t like spicy food)
½ of a small pumpkin
1 tomato
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. marjoram
1 bay leaf
1 cup chicken stock
2 cooked chicken legs
2 tsp. of salt or to taste
pepper to taste
chopped cilantro for garnish

1. I cut all the vegetables into a bite size pieces. I like bigger chunks because when you cook they will become mushy if they’re too small. I only use half of the pumpkin. So I cut it in half and then scoop out all the seeds and the ‘hairy’ flush. Please DO NOT THROW THE SEEDS. Pumpkin seeds are very nutritious and make a great snack. I will show you how to roast them in the next post.

2. Heat up the olive oil in the pan and fry the onions for 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Heads up…use a LARGE POT. It is a lot of vegetables. I started with a small pan and had to transfer to a larger one. I guess I should have realized that I will need something larger for so many different veggies but I’m a little absent-minded those days 😉

3. Add chopped garlic and chilies (if using). Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fry for a minute

4. Add the pumpkin, tomatoes, tomato paste and 1/2 cup of a chicken stock. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. ( You can also use water instead of chicken stock). I cooked the pumpkin for 4-5 minutes before I added the other vegetables. Honestly, I thought that pumpkin will require longer cooking time than the other veggies but it really didn’t. Because I cooked it longer, it actually became mushy and dissolved into the gravy. I didn’t mind it, and actually liked it, since I don’t really care about pumpkin taste that much. However, if you want big chunks of pumpkin, add all the remaining vegetables at this time. (plus salt and pepper to taste)

5. Add marjoram, bay leaf and paprika. Stir in the remaining chicken stock. Cover and cook on the medium low heat for approximately 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender but not falling apart. Keep stirring from time to time to prevent burning.

6. After the 15-20 minutes add the chicken and mix everything together. Turn the heat of. At this point you can check if you need any more salt according to your taste. You can also add more water if you want more gravy.

6. Sprinkle chopped cilantro on top and serve HOT with some bread for dipping !!!

This is a simple ONE POT recipe. As I said in my ABOUT page, I don’t think I’m a great cook. I DO LOVE to cook though. (and EAT !!! ). I cook food that everyone can make at home. You don’t need to be a master chef to know how to cook. My husband is pretty happy with my cooking so I guess I’m not that bad. I think cooking is all about trying and experimenting. Few years ago I was burning French fries and now I like to take risks and try different recipes 🙂

ENJOY !!!!

Thanks for reading!!!!! I appreciate any comments or feedback so feel free to leave one 🙂

Oh….I still have half the pumpkin left……I have some yummy recipes in mind so keep checking the web….I am also open to your suggestions on what you like to do with your pumpkins?

Next, I’m going to post my roasted pumpkin seed recipe. Please stay tuned for that 🙂

Last week there was a Pulaski Day Parade in New York City, which is a celebration of Polish culture in America. Polish culture is not very well known in the United States of America. Even though there is a big Polish community in the US. The biggest Polish community is probably in NYC and NJ area as well as Chicago. (Chicago is a famous Polish city because that’s where the first Polish immigrants settled).

Many people don’t realize that there is a Polish parade in New York City every year. The parade is not as popular as other parades but it is a great way to celebrate and show Polish culture in America. Unfortunately, I could not attend the parade this year due to the inclement weather but it has inspired me to make some Polish dishes.

Before we go into the recipe I want to share with you some information about Poland.

Poland is a country located in Eastern Europe, bordering with Germany from the west side ; Lithuania , Belarus , Ukraine from the east side and Czech Republic and Slovakia (which used to be one country called Czechoslovakia) from the south. Northern part of Poland is bordering with Baltic Sea. The capital of Poland is Warsaw.

In America people don’t know too much about Polish culture and history. Many people make a mistake and when I tell them that I’m from Poland they think I said Holland. Others think that Poland and Russia are the same thing. Once, one of my friends told me, that someone asked him where he was from and when he said Poland, the person replied : “Yeah, I know Poland. It’s next to Texas”. 🙂

There are many Polish people that influenced American culture and were a part of the history making, however, many of us don’t even know that they are Polish. One of the most famous Polish people known all over the world was pope John Paul II. His real name was Karol Wojtyla and he was born in Krakow, Poland.

Everybody also heard at some point of their life’s, most likely in school, about Marie Curie. But did you know that her maiden name was Sklodowska and she was born in Poland? She married French man and acquired dual citizenship, Polish and French, but she is originally from Poland.

Finally, famous Pulaski skyway in Jersey City, NJ was named after polish general Kazimierz Pulaski. General Pulaski was a part of the U.S. military and was a big contributor to the American Revolution.* The Polish day parade celebrated every year in NYC is named after the famous Polish – American general.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casimir_Pulaski

Whenever I tell people that I’m Polish, they ask me if I like Pierogi or Kielbasa 🙂 (By the way, people make a common mistake by saying Pierogis instead of Pierogi. Pierogi is a plural version of Pierog so there is no need to add ‘s’ at the end). I think Pierogi and Kielbasa are two most popular dishes in USA. Many people, even Polish, feel intimidated when it comes to making pierogi. They think it is very difficult and takes a really long time. While it does require some time to make, it is not difficult at all. With a little good will and some practice anyone can make it.

To make approximately 20-25 pierogi you will need:

2 cups of flour
1 cup of lukewarm water or as needed to make a firm dough (you might need a little less)

Filling

1 package of farmer’s cheese (213 gram)
5-6 small potatoes
1 onion
Salt and pepper

How to prepare:

First, I peel and boil the potatoes in the salted water. In the meantime I prepare the dough for pierogi. The dough is a simple flour and water. Some people add an egg to make it richer but I think flour and water is enough to make it taste great. I add the water a little bit of the time to make a firm, not too watery, dough. Once the dough comes together I knead it for 3-4 minutes and then wrap it in the plastic wrap and set aside.

In the meantime I prepare the filling. Pierogi can be made with all kinds of different fillings. In my house we usually had piergi with sour kraut and mushrooms, or with sweet farmer’s cheese, or with fruits like strawberries, blueberries. You could also make pierogi with meat or any other filling you like. I like pierogi with cheese and potatoes and that’s what I will be preparing today. Those pierogi are not very traditional in Poland, they are known as Russian pierogi. However, I think they are the most popular in USA. I ate them here for the first time as well.

To make the filling we will need :

1 package of farmer’s cheese (213 gram)
5-6 small potatoes
½ onion, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Once the potatoes are boiled I mash them with the potato masher and set aside to cool. I fry finely chopped onion, in 1 tbsp. of canola oil, until golden brown. Don’t forget to add a little bit of salt and pepper. Once the onions and potatoes are cooled I mix them with farmer’s cheese.

The filling is ready so now we can work on the dough. I take a small piece of the dough (approx. 1/4 ) and start rolling it out. The dough has to be pretty thin. If it’s too thick the pierogi will be chewy.

I have a special cutter that I use to cut out circles and fold the pierogi. You probably won’t be able to find it in any store in the USA. If you need it send me a message I can try to get it for you. But you can also make pierogi without it. Just use the glass to cut the circles and fold it with your hands.

If you don’t have a cutter use the glass to cut the circles and fork to fold pierogi:

Once the pierogi are all done, the last thing you need to do is to boil them. Bring a salted water to a boil in the large pot and add the pierogi. They will boil for 4-5 minutes. Once they start floating to the top, let them boil for a minute and take them out. Make sure to brush them with a little butter or cooking oil once you take them out otherwise they will stick to each other.

Pierogi freeze very well so if you’re not going to eat all of them you can just freeze it.

You can eat the pierogi just like that or you can take a step further and fry them. I like to fry them in a tablespoon of canola oil until golden brown. Sometime I also make some fried onion to go with it. I like to dip my potato and cheese pierogi in a little sour cream.

I hope you like the recipe and you find the instructions helpful. Making piergi does not need to be boring or difficult. If you get your children or family members involved it can be a lot of fun. As a small girl I loved helping my mom make pierogi.