Polish Christmas: Tofu á la Grec

One of the Traditional Christmas dishes in Poland is fish with vegetables in Greek style. I tried this receipt with other things besides fish and it works great.

The dish is very flexible in terms of vegetables; you can pretty much use any veggies you have on hand. Another advantage of this dish is that it can be made in advance even 2-3 days ahead. The flavours penetrate the tofu, beans, meat or fish and make it even more delicious.

Ingredients:
1 block of tofu (semi firm)
1 onion
1 large zucchini
1 red pepper
1 large carrot
1 parsnip
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp ground cumin seeds
4 large tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato paste
salt, pepper to taste
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Optional: veggie stock, oil



Steps:
1. Sauté onion and garlic for a few minutes
2. Julien all other vegetables (except tomatoes), then add them to the onion. Reduce gas mark to 2.2-2.6.
3. Add 1-2 tbsp of water (or veggie stock or oil). Cook for 10 minutes before proceeding with the next step.
4. Chop tomatoes, and add them to the vegetable. Add tomato paste and all remaining spices and vinegar. Continue cooking on a low gas mark.
5. Slice tofu and place on the baking sheet. Bake at 375F for 30 minutes.
6. Place baked tofu in a baking pan, cover with cooked veggies and its sauce. I like to keep it in the fridge for a day or two before reheating and serving for dinner.
7. Enjoy!

Pierogi Fillings - mushrooms, cabbage and mushrooms, potato and cheese

For Christmas I usually make 3 different fillings, mushrooms and cabbage and mushrooms are traditional filling at Christmas time. My son only likes the potato and cheese filling so I make this most common in Poland pierogi filling as well.

Mushroom filling
Ingredients:
1 cup of dried wild mushrooms, soak (water from soaking can be added to the cabbage stew, cabbage and mushroom filling, or barszcz)
2 cups of mixed mushrooms. Usually I opt for mushrooms like oysters, shittake, chanterelles, or any mushroom available locally
1 large onion
sea salt, pepper to taste

Steps:
Sauté finely chopped onion for a few minutes
Add finely chopped mushrooms (both soaked dried and fresh) to the pot
season with salt and pepper
Usually there is no need to add any water as salt will pull water from mushrooms so you will have enough juice for cooking.
Cook on a very low heat for several hours (gas mark 1.6-2.2 for 4-6 hours), stirring occasionally (once every 30 min or so).


Cabbage and mushrooms filling
Ingredients:
0.5 cup of sauerkraut (drained)
0.75 cup of fresh cabbage
1 large onion
1 cup of mushrooms (dry and fresh)
0.25 tsp caraway seeds
salt and pepper to taste
2 prunes (might be needed if your sauerkraut is very sour)

Steps:
Sauté finely chopped onion for a few minutes
Add finely chopped sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, and mushrooms
Add the spices - caraway seeds, salt, and pepper
Cook on a very low heat for several hours (gas mark 1.6-2.2 for 4-6 hours), stirring occasionally (once every 30 minutes or so).


Potato and cheese filling
Ingredients:
500 g of cooked potatoes (soft like for mashed potatoes)
500 g of quark or pressed cottage cheese (you can make your own with milk and yoghurt)
1 onion
1 tbsp ground cumin
salt, pepper to taste

Steps:
Sauté finely chopped onion for a few minute
Mash potatoes with cheese
Mix all ingredients together

Polish Christmas: Millet with Poppy seeds

Over the last couple of years I made another twist on my favourite Christmas Dish - Pasta with Poppy seeds. I decided to replace pasta with millet; and it turned out to be my favourite version!

Wheat berries that are often used instead on pasta in the traditional kutia, the Christmas dish very popular in the Eastern Poland close to the Ukrainian border, are very hard to find in my region of Canada.



Ingredients:
1.5 cup of cooked millet (I like to rinse it a couple of times before cooking, at times I soak it)
1.5 cup of poppy seeds (soaked in hot water for 2 days and rinsed 4 times)
0.5 cup of dried fruits - I use figs and dates, raising work well too
0.5 cup of nuts - I like the best pistachios and almonds in this recipe
1 lemon - juice and zest
4 tbsp of raw honey






Steps:
1. Place soaked and drained poppy seeds in the blender with honey and lemon juice. Blend until it is fairly smooth and poppy seeds are crushed. This is very important step and may require few minutes. Whole poppy seeds are quite bitter and you may need more honey to compensate if you do not crush them enough.
2. Add all remaining ingredients, and mix well.
3. Traditionally it is a Christmas dessert. I also enjoy it for breakfast after Christmas. It can be stored in the fridge for a week.
4. Enjoy!