So few cookbooks have been written in English about Polish cuisine that when one comes along, it’s a treat. That is, if you are a fan of Polish cooking. If you complain about the heavy pierogi and overcooked meats found in some Polish restaurants, then you may want to take a tour with chef Mike.
That’s Michael J. Baruch. And the tour can be followed at home in your armchair while you hold a copy of “The New Polish Cuisine,” his self-published cookbook (LBCM Publishing, $32, www.thenewpolishcuisine.com).
Baruch, a native Chicagoan who has trained at many of the city’s fine restaurants, is obviously one of those fans of Polish cooking. A sixth-generation Pole, Baruch owns a food-service company and divides his time between Chicago and San Diego. This is his first cookbook, and, he writes, it is just the beginning: “If your favorite recipes do not appear in the book, don’t be disappointed; I promise that it will show up in a subsequent volume in the near future.”
The goal of the book, he explains, is to show the art of Polish cooking.
“The dishes that are in this volume are those most familiar to me growing up on the Northwest Side of Chicago,” he writes. But taking his training into account, Baruch has tweaked the recipes, adding some classical French techniques and lightening the fat content of some of the peasant dishes “without losing the integrity of the original food.”
Some of the dishes may appear to be less Polish than “continental.” You will find grilled lobster with herbed garlic butter, orange duck, and veal with lemon and capers. And then there are the truly Polish dishes: wild mushroom, barley and dill soup, real Polish borscht, stuffed cabbage (golabki) and hunter’s stew (bigos). Appealing photographs and helpful tip boxes accompany many of the recipes.
The book begins with “a well-tooled kitchen” chapter, listing the basics needed for cooking. The bread chapter offers a glossary and tips on measuring, mixing and using different flours. There is a whole chapter on nalesniki, or stuffed crepes, and a nice section on how to do Polish buffets, with kanapkis (canapes) and zakaski (platters of hot and cold foods such as pates, smoked salmon roulade, pickled herring, marinated mushrooms and more).
In the chapter on pierogi, dumplings, noodles and potatoes, the book offers 10 fillings for pierogi.
We tested three recipes and all had good results. We especially liked the lemon babka and the Pulaski sandwich rye with caraway and dill. But we found the recipes a bit wordy. They and the text could have used tighter editing.
Beef tips with wild mushrooms and pickles
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 18 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
From “The New Polish Cuisine,” by Michael J. Baruch.
1 1/2 pounds beef tenderloin tips
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 medium sized dill pickle, diced
3/4 pound assorted wild mushrooms, cleaned and quartered (such as cepes, shiitakes, oyster or cremini)
Dash of Hungarian paprika
Dash of sea salt
Dash of freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup dry red wine
1 1/2 cups veal or beef stock
2 tablespoons sour cream
Dash hot red pepper sauce
1. Place the tenderloin tips between 2 sheets of parchment paper and slightly flatten with a meat mallet.
2. Using a large heavy-duty non-stick skillet, heat the butter over high heat until smoking hot, then quickly saute the beef tips for about 1 to 2 minutes until both sides are lightly browned. Using a kitchen tong, remove the meat to a platter.
3. To the reserved cooking juices in the pan, add the onion, garlic, dill pickle and mushrooms and saute for about 2 minutes until the mushrooms start to give off some of their liquid. Reduce the liquid to a syrup-like consistency, then sprinkle on the paprika, salt, and pepper and then add the red wine and let that reduce by half. Now add the veal stock and simmer until the stock is reduced by half.
4. Return the meat to the skillet to re-warm, then add the sour cream and red pepper sauce, and swirl the pan until the sauce is slightly thickened and smooth.
Tribune test kitchen notes: The recipe made enough to serve 6, especially with noodles. We used canned beef broth in place of veal stock and it worked fine.
Nutrition information per serving
(calculated by the Tribune):
355 calories, 52% calories from fat, 20 g fat, 9 g saturated fat, 125 mg cholesterol, 360 mg sodium, 3.2 g carbohydrate, 39 g protein, 0.5 g fiber
Lemon babka
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Rising time: 3 hours
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Yield: One cake, 14 servings
From “The New Polish Cuisine,” by Michael J. Baruch.
10 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
3 whole large eggs
1 cup half and half (about 110 degrees)
2 1/4 cups bread flour
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons (2 packets) active dry yeast
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
1. Thoroughly combine the flours and yeast in a medium sized mixing bowl, and then set aside.
2. To mix the dough in a heavy-duty mixer, place the sugar, salt, butter, lemon and vanilla extracts, and grated zest in the mixer bowl, attach the paddle and mix on low speed for 1 minute to blend the ingredients. Add the eggs, one by one, until they are absorbed, then add the half and half and mix briefly.
3. Now slowly add all of the flour until the dough forms a mass around the paddle. Turn the machine off, remove the paddle and replace with the dough hook. Knead the dough on medium-low speed for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. If the dough is excessively soft and sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons more flour, one at a time, and knead a little longer.
4. Place the dough into a large bowl, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise in the refrigerator for at least 2 to 4 hours. (This chilling time is imperative so that the butter doesn’t seep out of the dough.)
5. After a couple of hours or overnight, turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and gently punch it down. Using floured hands, roll the dough into a fat cigar shape about 12 to 14 inches long. Now form the dough into a small tire, and pinch together the open ends. Place the dough into a non-stick bundt pan, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise slowly in a warm place until doubled.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and when the babka is risen, place into the hot oven and cook for 35 to 45 minutes until golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven, and carefully remove the babka to a cooling rack. When completely cool, heavily dust with confectioners’ sugar.
Tribune test kitchen note: We let the dough rise overnight with very good results.
Nutrition information per serving
(calculated by the Tribune):
345 calories, 43% calories from fat, 16 g fat, 10 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 185 mg sodium, 41g carbohydrate, 7 g protein, 1.3 g fiber
