Poland

We actually did Poland in the early part of December,  so I am now playing catch up on these posts.   There is a large Polish population in Mississauga with many small and large Polish grocers.   I have always tried to maintain cooking from scratch however sometimes it is just not possible.  A good example is Kielbasa a Polish sausage is relatively easy to make however the trouble, time and effort needed to make the sausage for a one time use is simply not worth it.   If I was doing a sausage run I would be more then happy to do so but sausages are one of those dishes where a large quality should be made to maximize your time and effort.

The Menu

Polish Kielbasa Appetizer

Apricot preserves, Dijon mustard, Ginger, Kielbasa and a minute or two too long in the over produced a charred result.   Simply put I messed up.  Not everything charred however this dish would not have been to my taste no matter how it turned out.   The effect of this dish is supposed to be sweet and sour and I personally feel the dish would have been better with Raspberry preserves rather then Apricots.

Corn beef Potato Perogies

These turned out great.  I cheated and used wonton wrappers as I was pressed for time but would make these again.  Topped with caramelized onions, bacon and served with a slight dill sour cream and we were happy.  The looks of homemade pirogies are not as perfect as machine made but the taste is far superior in all ways one can imagine.  This was a win for my first time making them and a loss for my waistline.

 

Karpatka

Custard slice,  a mess up that tasted yummy.   I made a choux pastry for this desert and actually went and got Budyn mix from a Polish grocer.   The choux pastry turned out quite alright however the budyn did not really set like I want and ended up with choux pastry dipped in vanilla flavoured budyn.  I believe the Budyn did not set as I made two batches and mixed a hot and cold one which made them both not set and stay runny.

I had a couple mess ups with the appetizer and desert when we did Poland however all tasted fine and was good in the end.  Sometimes you just have one of those days.