Holidays are a time filled with love, lively conversations at the table and guilt-free snacking. According to tradition, on most Polish tables on Christmas Eve evening there will be pierogi, bigos, borscht with dumplings and carp. But why not get creative and prepare one dish just as the best chefs do? We asked four Pomeranian chefs to share with us some tested recipes that can be recreated at home.
Porcini consommé with egg batter noodles – Kubicki Restaurant in Gdańsk
Porcini consommé is essentially a flavourful broth with aromatic mushrooms as its base. Damian Mazurowski, the head chef at “Kubicki“, Gdańsk’s oldest restaurant, shared with us the recipe for perfect consommé with egg batter noodles flavoured with truffle.
Ingredients:
1 litre of beef-chicken broth (prepare according to your own recipe)
150g porcini mushrooms (fresh or frozen)
3 juniper seeds
1 small sprig of rosemary
100 g wheat flour
1 large egg
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of truffle-flavoured olive oil
Preparation:
Prepare the beef-chicken broth. Simmer on low heat for 6 hours. Strain. Cook mushrooms, rosemary and juniper in the broth. Prepare the egg batter noodles mixing flour, eggs and olive oil. Pour the noodles in a thin stream into boiling, salted water. Boil, stirring for about 1 minute.
Herring in sour cream sauce – Fisherman restaurant in Sopot
Herring on the Christmas Eve table is a tradition without which many of us cannot imagine the holidays. But what if we made it a bit differently this time? Rafał Koziorzemski, the head chef at Fisherman restaurant in Sopot, shares the recipe for the best herring in sour cream sauce. Please reserve 2 days for this recipe.
Ingredients for marinade:
1,5 litre water
1 cup of white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of oil
1 onion
1 tablespoon of salt
60 g sugar
1 teaspoon of burnt tomato puree
Preparation:
Let the herring marinade for 2 days. Char the herring on the fat side until it turns black. Cut it into smaller pieces and arrange on a platter.
Ingredients for the cream sauce:
100 g creme fraiche
100 g mayonnaise
1 onion
1 apple
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon of chopped dill
20g sugar
Preparation:
Slice the onion into thin wedges. Grate the apple thickly. Chop the garlic. Add sour cream, sugar, mayonnaise and dill. Mix everything well and spread over the sliced herring. Sprinkle with dill.
Duck with chestnuts in orange sauce – Zamek Łeba
This dish might reign as the queen of this year’s holidays and make you eagerly await Christmas dinner. Dawid Balana, the head chef at Neptun Restaurant in Zamek Łeba, combines classic flavours with the holiday aroma of oranges and roasted chestnuts. Start preparing the duck 24 hours before putting it in the oven.
Ingredients:
1 duck about 1.8 kg
1 orange
1 large apple
1 pot of marjoram (optional: dried)
Salt
Meat tenderiser
Preparation:
Clean the duck. Trim the wings and remove all the fat around the tail. 24 hours before roasting, put the duck in a tall container and cover it with 2 litres of water mixed with 100g salt and 10g meat tenderiser. After 12 hours, remove the duck and rinse well. Wash the apple and orange in hot water, cut into large cubes and mix with chopped marjoram. Stuff the duck with the fruit mixture. Leave the duck uncovered in the refrigerator for 12 hours. Roast covered at 150 degrees Celsius for 2 hours, then uncovered at 200 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. Cool well before carving.
Ingredients for orange sauce:
1 orange
0.5 litre of freshly squeezed orange juice
40g sugar
40 ml sherry vinegar
500 ml demi-glace or meat stock
1 lemon
Preparation:
Wash the orange and lemon. Peel them to remove all the pith. Cut in half and squeeze out the juice. In a saucepan, dissolve sugar with 2 tablespoons of water to make caramel. Add vinegar and citrus juice. Be careful not to let the caramel stick to the pot and burn. Reduce by 80%, then add demi-glace with 100ml water. In a separate pot, add citrus zest to cold water and bring to a boil. Pour over icy water. Repeat the process 3 times, then add to the sauce.
Ingredients for roasted chestnuts:
300g cooked chestnuts
2 tablespoons of honey
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 sprig of rosemary
Preparation:
Heat the honey for 20 seconds until liquid, then mix with cinnamon. Pour the liquid over the chestnuts. Roast in the oven preheated to 200 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped rosemary 5 minutes before the end.
Cut the duck in half, remove all the fruity stuffing and backbone. Grill the skin side up for 15 minutes in an oven preheated to 180 degrees Celsius, basting with cooking fat several times. Transfer to a plate, garnish with chestnuts, drizzle with hot sauce, and decorate with orange slices and rosemary.
Crucian in gingerbread sour cream – Las i Woda Restaurant in Notera Hotel SPA
It’s hard to imagine holidays without good fish and aromatic gingerbread. And what if we combined both ingredients? Maciej Hippler, the head chef at Las i Woda Restaurant in Notera Hotel Spa in Bory Tucholskie has shared with us his magical recipe for the gingerbread-flavoured crucian. It involves a multi-stage process of salting and marinating the fish – allow 5 days for this recipe.
Basic ingredients:
4 crucian fillets
100g salt
10g sugar
Preparation:
Fillet the fish, let it sit in salt for 72 hours. Rinse twice to remove the excess salt in 1 litre of cold water.
Ingredients for the sour brine:
100g onion
100g carrot
150g apple cider vinegar
400g water
70g sugar
Herbs: mustard seed, coriander seed, anise, allspice, bay leaf
Preparation:
Boil the brine ingredients, let it cool down, pour over the fish and let it sit for 24 hours.
Ingredients for the gingerbread sour cream:
200g double cream
5g lemon juice
Spices: cinnamon, cloves, anise, white pepper, honey
Preparation:
Add lemon juice and spices to the cream, let it sit for 3 hours. Pass the liquid through a sieve.
Ingredients for the vegetable bake:
200g apples
200g potatoes
Salt and sugar to taste
Preparation:
Alternate thinly sliced potatoes and apples in an oven-proof dish, sprinkle with leek-flavoured oil and bake for 20 minutes in 165 degrees. Serve with crucian and the gingerbread sour cream.
