January BIRTHDAYS . . . and Reese Witherspoon’s CORN & CHERRY TOMATO SALAD

Happy January Birthdays, Everyone!

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Reese Witherspoon’s CORN & CHERRY TOMATO SALAD

6 cups fresh corn kernels: I thawed frozen corn kernels.  Another option is to grill the corn until lightly charred before cutting it off the cobs.

4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved (2 pints)

1 bunch scallions: white & green parts: thinly sliced

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves

(I halved the 4 ingredients above but made the full amount of dressing.  There was enough salad to serve four people)

Dressing:

¼ cup white-wine vinegar

2 tbsp fresh lime juice (all the juice from one lime)

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp coarse Kosher salt

½ tsp liquid honey

¼ tsp black pepper

1 shallot, finely chopped

½ cup olive oil

1.     Prepare Dressing: Combine vinegar, lime juice, mustard, salt, honey, pepper, and shallot in a small jar with a lid.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Add oil.  Shake for 30 seconds.

2.     Combine corn, tomatoes, scallions, and cilantro in a large bowl or covered dish.  Sprinkle salad with more coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. 

3.     Serve or chill in fridge until later.  

KATOWICE, Poland . . . and the TATIANA restaurant

Lonely Planet remarks that Katowice is “a major commercial and cultural centre and holds sufficient attractions to make it worth a stopover.”

 Katowice was on our itinerary because this city is a major railway hub. 

                              Cathedral of Christ the King: note the "wheel" crucifix

                           Lunch at The Patio, ul Stawowa 3, a restaurant near our hotel:

I put The Garrison Church of St. Casimir on the itinerary because Lonely Planet said it has “lovely Art Deco interiors”.  Unfortunately, we could see very little of the interior because it is barred.  The square opposite the church, however, was a lovely place to just sit and people watch.   

On the Rynek, a young woman was selling what looked like hot pancakes with jam but are actually fried cheese called oscypek.  Delicious!   

                                               27th Floor 

Bryan's Journal continues:  

Monday September 10

The next morning we had to take two taxis (There is a limit of four to a taxi.) to the train station where Eleanor  lined up for tickets while Bryan and Nestor waited with the luggage. Fortunately, the ticket agent was most helpful and tickets were purchased for both Katowice and Zakopane.

After negotiating our way to Platform Z, Track 4 we found ourselves boarding a train and settling into a compartment for a smooth, fast ride through the countryside with a few announced stops along the way. When we arrived in Katowice about 3 hours later, we only had a 5 minute walk to the Hotel Diament.

After lunch, Nestor and Bryan walked to Kosciuszko Park to see a parachute jump tower that had not been used since the Second World War.

We all gathered for cocktails on the top (27^th) floor of the Marriott Hotel which provided a grand view of the city. We walked back toward our hotel but stopped to eat at Tatiana’s for one of the best meals of our trip.

   

This restaurant in Katowice is so outstanding that our evening glows in my memory. 

Our expressions of delight with the wonderful food were rewarded by on-the-house plum vodkas!

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Polish cuisine is certainly not simple to prepare.

If you EVER see Jaja Faszerowane na Goraco (Hot Stuffed Eggs Polonaise)  on a menu, ORDER it immediately.  They are delicious, but so much work that I will not be making them again.

For starters, you have to CAREFULLY cut through hard-boiled eggs; then CAREFULLY scoop out the insides and pick off any shell fragments!

Jaja Faszerowane na Goraco (Hot Stuffed Eggs Polonaise)  

recipe on page 41 of EAT SMART IN POLAND

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Set in Poland in December, 1945

When ANASTASIA came to Saskatoon for CHRISTMAS . . . and super Ukrainian VARENIKI

1985:

In September, Granny bought Care Bears for the girls and put them away, but, suddenly, Rainbow Brite dolls were more the thing.  Then, “Megan and Sundance” and the “Princess of Power” were added to the girls’ Christmas wish lists.  Back went the Care Bears.  On Christmas morning, it was worth it!

Then, “Oh, Auntie Stasia!”

 Anastasia had made a doll’s cradle for each of the girls . . .  complete with a mattress, pillow, and patchwork quilt; all wrapped separately.

The girls' joy thrilled Anastasia.  “My heart is just going pit-a-pat,” she said. 

The girls never forgot this wonderful Christmas and how their aunt made baked Christmas ornaments with them out of flour, salt, and lots of green food colouring. . . it was the only colour I had in the pantry.  I think they even made green lambs!

Dec. 26 is Anastasia's birthday.  

Wishing you the loveliest day, Anastasia!

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VARENIKI with POTATO & MUSHROOMS

            From UKRAINIAN CUISINE, published in Kiev, 1975

FILLING:

1 ¼  pounds potatoes

½ pound onion

½ pound mushrooms

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

*Boil unpeeled potatoes in salted water until well done.   Peel and put through ricer into a large bowl.

*Finely chop onion in food processor and set aside.

*Finely chop mushrooms in a food processor and set aside on a separate dish. 

*Heat oil and brown the onion lightly: 7 minutes on a low heat.

*Add the mushrooms and stir for 3 more minutes.

*Stir in salt and pepper.

*Mix the onions and mushrooms into the potatoes.

Use Mary Stadnyk’s method to prepare the dough and the vareniki.

http://eleanorstadnyk.blogspot.ca/2012/06/perogiesvarenikipyrohi.html

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Note from a Russian regarding perogies/vareniki:

Tatiana : 

It was interesting for me to learn when I moved to the US from Moscow, that you call this dish “pirogi” when we in Russia (and Ukraine) call this dish “vareniki”. Pirogi are the yeast dough pies, that can be stuffed with apples, cabbage and eggs, rice and meat etc and baked in the oven.

Beautiful WROCLAW, Poland . . . and Polish CHICKEN with MUSHROOMS

We were all enchanted by the fairy-tale loveliness of  the square in Wroclaw.

Bryan's journal:  

Thursday September 6

From Frankfurt, we boarded a CJR (a Bombardier regional jet) for the flight to Wroclaw, Poland. What a surprise to have a free beer if we wanted one.

After we landed around 2:00 pm and retrieved our bags we were fortunate to hire a taxi-van for 50 Polish zlotys to take us to our Airbnb accommodation located in the old town (Stare Miasto) near the market square (Rynek). Our suite was situated on the top floor of an apartment building. There was no elevator. There were three bedrooms and one bathroom with a temperamental gas water heater.

After we settled in we walked over to the Rynek and eventually had our first of many pleasant Polish suppers at Karczma Lwowska.

Friday September 7

After a leisurely outdoor breakfast at a bistro off the main square, Eleanor set off to purchase bus tickets for our next leg of the trip. Bryan and Nestor went in search of the Panorama of Raclawice and the National Museum but not before walking in the wrong direction. Thank heavens for large street maps on billboards. They eventually found the Panorama, purchased tickets and waited for our group to walk up the circular ramp to see what was a 360ᵒ mural/diorama depicting the April 1794 battle of Raclawice. They were given special little translators to listen to the narrator tell the story in English.  A short walk across the street took them to the National Museum where they walked through rooms of triptychs that were taken from Polish churches. Needless to say their visit was brief. Bryan managed to forget his glasses in a washroom but they were waiting for him at the entrance kiosk. Such Polish efficiency! They walked along the Oder River past the Polish Hill (Ceglarski Citadel) and Cathedral Island before turning toward the old town square (Rynek).

The city is full of grand old churches; there are nuns everywhere. It truly is a Catholic country.

There are lots of bicycles in use including rented ones and there are electric trams criss-crossing the city.

Around the old city square you can find tiny bronze gnomes engaged in some form of activity often outrageous and always humorous. The square is dominated by the Town Hall and its art museum.

Around the square itself there are rows of restaurants with indoor and outdoor tables.

 In the open areas there is a wide variety of street performers: buskers, jugglers, portrait artists, bubble blowers. That evening we dined in the outdoor area of Restauracja Krolewski located in the Dwor Polski Hotel on the Rynek.

Perogies, with an amazing variety of stuffings, seem to be on almost every restaurant menu, and I had them everywhere we went.  

One thing that really surprised me is that a variety of sauces accompanied the perogies instead of sour cream!

In Wroclaw, dumplings were offered alongside meat.  Thinking these would be perogies, I ordered this but the dumplings turned out to be Silesian dumplings which appear on p. 100 of a beautiful Polish cookbook called ROSE PETAL JAM.

   

Saturday September 8

The slats holding up Bryan’s bed separated last night and he fell through so he spent the rest of the night sleeping on a couch in the living room. 

It rained overnight and it was quite cloudy in the morning.

We had a good breakfast in a small bakery nearby around the corner.

     

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POTRAWKA z KURCZAKA POLSKA

                        From Jeff Smith’s THE FRUGAL GOURMET on OUR IMMIGRANT ANCESTORS, page 371

I serve the chicken with Kopytki (just like Italian gnocchi): p. 54 in EAT SMART in POLAND by Joan & David Peterson, 

 but Silesian dumplings also would be a great side dish.  

And to round off the evening, a video about Chopin!