Sto lat, friends! Let’s Make Some Polish Cuisine

Quick spoiler alert slash disclaimer before we get started — despite my name, I’m not Polish. At least, not by birth. My maiden name is Jamieson. Before I got married and chose to change my name, I was, that’s right Shannon Jamieson. So my given name is a combination of a town in Ireland and an Irish whiskey. Oh, and I’m from Boston. For many, many generations. No joke, I had relatives that literally sailed over here on The Mayflower and never left the area. My point is that my family history is very American. That’s really cool in its own way, but I have long wished that I had more to contribute to a cultural melting pot.

Lucky for me, I met a wonderful man who happens to be first-generation American. My husband’s parents immigrated to the US in their 20s and thankfully brought their heritage with them. My mother-in-law has taught me how to make delicious Polish cuisine that has become true comfort food in my family’s life. A homemade pierogi is like a hug because my MIL taught me how to make them, and I know the love that goes into them (and they ARE a lot of work, if you want to do them right).

What I especially love about Polish cuisine is that it makes full use of simple ingredients many of us in first world countries take for granted. Meat, potatoes, the most modest of vegetables (I’m looking at you, beets and cabbage, I got your back!), yet any babçia manages to turn it into something both comforting and delicious. It’s truly both a miracle of science and a testament to the human spirit. I sincerely do not think I am overstating this. Food is love, and making meals out of what you have really brings out the best in people. I found that in Polish food.

I have quite a few Polish food staples under my belt, and I’m excited to share them all with you. But I’m going to start with barszcz (pronounced “bahsh”, or buraczki — boo-RAHJ-ski if you wanna get fancy) for several reasons.

Beets are totally awesome, you guys!

First and foremost, the beet is underrated. I feel bad for the beet. Because it’s DELICIOUS. It’s a shining star in the world of produce. It’s packed with antioxidants and minerals, but it needs some help speaking up for itself. It’s the dark horse of vegetables. Even in Polish cuisine, the beet ends up being the bridesmaid and never the bride. But it’s not the fault or flavor of the beet that’s to blame. It’s that most people don’t know how to prepare it. This is not an ingredient you can just slap on a plate and expect people to get jazzed about. A buffalo wing, it is not. But it’s really such an awesome piece of food if you just unlock its potential.

I’m guessing that most people’s experience of beets probably involve canned versions being forced upon them as a kids, and not prepared in an interesting way. If I’ve learned one thing about preparing so-called “healthy” food, it’s that it needs to be prepared and presented in a fun way. Because if the ingredient is delicious, we will WANT to eat it after trying it. But we have to be convinced to try it in the first place. So the beet just needs a little help — but not much!! — for a lot of folks to buy what I’m selling here.

Second, it can be used in almost any form — raw, boiled, roasted, pureed, served hot or cold. This recipe can be served hot or cold! It’s amazing in salads, dips, sweet and savory dishes. It’s so versatile!

Third, it turns everything PURPLE. It’s a perfect sneaky ingredient in things like smoothies and pancakes because kids LOVE EATING WEIRD COLORS. And don’t lie, you probably find it fun, too.

Ok, I probably need to calm down my enthusiasm about the beet. It’s the lawyer in me trying to build a strong argument in favor of my position.

But there is another reason I want to share this recipe. This “authentic” recipe involves a dried, instant packet of soup.

I swear by these packets because my mother-in-law would spend more than she spent on the actual packets in order to send them to me in the mail from Massachusetts. That is serious commitment to using what is available to you when you relocate thousands of miles from your homeland. And when I found a legit Polish store here in Seattle, they sold the same packets, but only seasonally, as a found out the first year when I was scolded by a babçia on the phone when I called to ask if they were in stock during the wrong time of year. Because red barczsz is for Christmas, and white barczsz is for Easter. These are the lessons you learn when embracing a different culture! (So now I just stock up on the packets and cook barczsz when I want it — don’t tell the babçias!) It’s a shortcut, but it’s a secret that makes sure my barszcz tastes like my MIL’s, which to mean is dark purplish-red and FULL of flavor.

Ingredients:

6 beets, medium-large in size

2 TBSP olive oil

3 TBSP kosher salt, divided

1 cup dried mushrooms (porcini if you can find them)

2 carrots, medium

1 leek

1/2 apple, skin on

1/2 of a celery root

2 TBSP garlic, minced

2 bay leaves

1.5 tsp allspice, ground

2 TBSP parsley, dried

1/4 tsp of marjoram*

10 CUPS chicken broth

2 tsp sugar

2 TBSP salt, more if needed

2 TBSP white vinegar

1 TBSP lemon juice

2 packages of Adamba Red Borsch

OPTIONAL: cheese or mushroom tortillini

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut greens off beets, and wash beets. (You can save your beet greens to sauté later if you want! They are an awesome sub for cooked spinach.) Place the beets on aluminum foil or a nonstick silicone mat on a baking sheet. Drench beets in olive oil and 1 TBSP of kosher salt, and massage into beets. Cook beets for 45 minutes, rotating @ least once halfway through. They should be fork tender when done.

2) While beets are roasting, add dried mushrooms to a small mixing bowl and add enough boiling water to just cover mushrooms, let soak for 15 minutes.

3) Wash and cut carrots, celery root, and leek into large chunks, then place in a large soup pot along with garlic, bay leaves, allspice, parsley, marjoram, sugar, and the rest of the salt.

4) Then add the mushrooms and their broth into the same large pot, along with 10 cups of chicken broth and packets of Adamba. Allow soup to simmer, partially covered, for about 30 minutes.

5) While soup is simmering, your beets should finish up in the oven then be placed on a rack to cool. Once cooled, it’s time to dye your hands purple by skinning the beets! EMBRACE THE MESS. Chop beets into large chunks and add to soup along with the apple, lemon juice, and vinegar. The addition of acid at this point helps preserve the dark color of the beets and the apple for rich broth. Allow soup to simmer for about another 30 minutes.

6) Finally, adjust spices as needed, then use a strainer to discard all the solids and leave a gorgeous, clean broth.

7) Serve plain, with sour cream, fresh parsley, and/or tortellini.

*If you don’t have marjoram you can sub an Italian Seasoning herb blend or straight up oregano, but there’s something special, IMO, about the… zing? of marjoram? So pick some up if you can, it’s really useful in lots of recipes, esp Italian cuisine.