Polish Dinner - #2 of 12 Cultural Dinners

We had planned to have a Polish dinner in February, but the month got away from us, so we had our Polish dinner tonight.  I decided to keep it simple and we enjoyed kielbasa and saurekraut.

Bo made pierogies from scratch, using dairy free recipes. The dough was simply flour, water and egg.  The filling was also simple -- boiled russet potatoes and sauteed onions mashed together with salt and pepper.  We had never made them before, and while the recipe was simple, the execution was time-consuming.  The results were declared delicious, however!  After running the dough through a pasta maker, he cut the dough into circles and filled with the potatoes. The pierogies were crimped and then boiled.  Bo finished them with a quick saute in the fry pan.  Lydia had a good time sitting on the island and eating huge spoonfuls of the filling.

I searched for a Polish dessert and found that prunes are very popular.  I came across a recipe for Plesniak, or moldy cake, and after reviewing the recipe decided it would be our dessert.  The name "moldy cake" made me laugh.  The cake was a hit, and my siblings happily took home extra cake.  I made the cake with cherry filling.  The dough was more like a cookie dough vs. a cake batter, and the meringue was a unique touch that was interesting, and good.  It's a cake I will definitely make again in the future!

Russia is next on the list, and I've already been told not to bother serving borscht. I'm not sure what we'll serve, but I'll let you know as soon as we serve the meal!

Beggar's Chicken Recipe

Yesterday, I posted about our Chinese dinner.  One of the recipes that most liked was Beggar's Chicken -- which came from the International Cookbook for Kids. I think Nate appreciated the story behind the recipe more than anything, but he also enjoyed the finished product.

The legend is that a beggar stole a chicken from a farmer. The beggar built a fire and began to roast the chicken, but quickly heard the farmer coming on his horse.  So, he pulled the chicken off the fire, wrapped it in lotus leaves and buried it.  The farmer couldn't find his chicken, so he rode away.  The beggar dug up the chicken and found that the mud had created a shell around the hot chicken and cooked it perfectly.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk (I used coconut milk)
• 3 T canola oil
• extra flour for kneading
• 6 medium sized chicken breasts
• 1/2 lb ground pork
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped bamboo shoots
• 1 t salt
• 1 T hoisin sauce

1. Place flour in large bowl.  Combine milk & 1 T of oil, pour into flour and mix well into a soft dough. ( I needed to add about 1/2 cup more flour)
2. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until it is smooth.
3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, place in bowl, cover with towel and let rest for 30 - 40 minutes
4. Heat a wok on medium-high heat.  Add 1 T oil and heat for a few more seconds
5. Add ground pork and cook until browned (4 - 6 minutes)
6. Remove pork and add remaining 1T oil.  Add onions, celery & bamboo shoots.  Stir-fry for 2 minutes.
7. Return pork to pan and add salt and hoisin sauce.  Cook for another minute or 2, making sure all is well combined.
8. Put stuffing in a bowl and cool completely.  Refrigerate until ready to use (this is the stuffing to put on top of the chicken.
9. Preheat oven to 375
10. Unwrap the dough and divide into 6 equal pieces.  Roll out each piece to about 6 inches wide.
11. Lay 1 chicken breast in center of dough.  Top with 2 T pork stuffing.  Gently fold dough over the chicken and seal edges.
12. Place chicken in greased baking pan.
13. Repeat for all chicken breasts.
14. Bake for 40 - 50 minutes.  
15. Serve hot.

I don't have a picture of the final product, but it was a pretty dish.  It could be cut up with knife and fork, or even eaten out of hand.

Chinese Dinner - #1 of 12 Cultural Dinners

 Last night we enjoyed a Chinese dinner.  One of our family resolutions for 2011 was to explore more foods, and do so by planning a dinner from different countries one day each month.  Our first month was scheduled to be Chinese.

My sister researched and created these great pamphlets with facts about China (did you know it's an urban myth that you can see the Great Wall of China from space?) and also found each of our names written in Chinese characters.

The boys & I checked out a few cookbooks from the library to find new recipes to try out for this dinner.  We decided on a menu of egg drop soup, beggar's chicken, cold sesame noodles, Asian vegetables and rice coconut anise cake.  Colin picked out the soup and the rice cakes, Nate chose the beggar's chicken, and I chose the cold noodle dish.

We took a trip to Lee Lee Oriental Supermarket on Saturday to pick up some items that I thought would be difficult to find in our usual grocery store.  The rice cake called for glutinous rice, and the only glutinous rice I could find was a 5lb bag of black glutinous rice.  I will say that it was a beautiful purple color when soaking & cooking!  We picked up a jar of bamboo shoots and a few sauces and traditional candies.  And we couldn't skip decorations or chopsticks!  We found these beautiful paper vases that I hung on our picture wire in the kitchen.  We also picked some small soup bowls and traditional spoons -- I know we'll use the bowls but I probably should have skipped the spoons.

I downloaded some traditional Chinese New Year's music to enjoy during dinner.  Everyone liked the music!

On Sunday, I cooked.  and cooked.  and cooked.  I'm glad my sister helped me, as there was a lot of cooking going on.  The rice cake took the longest because not only did the rice have to be rinsed multiple times and then soaked overnight, but it took forever to cook.  And, then, I'll tell you that the results were awful.  Apparently, I did it right because my sister did some research later and it turned out as it should have -- but nobody liked it.

My sister, husband and Nate liked the beggar's chicken.  (The beggar's chicken was a chicken breast, topped with a ground pork stuffing and wrapped in bread dough.)  My sister liked the cold sesame noodles (and that was one dish she thought she wouldn't like!)  My sister liked the egg drop soup. (which she also made flawlessly.  I just don't like egg drop soup apparently.) Umm, the Asian vegetables were nothing special - - just a frozen mix I found at Fry's. As you can see, neither Colin nor I liked anything.

Overall I call it a success.  We tried some new things and learned more about China.  That is the whole purpose of this endeavor, so we succeeded.  And at least one of us really enjoyed the dinner!!

Next month?  Poland.  Hopefully I will like something that I cook!