• robm on July 22, 2020

  A lovely book that subtly updates and adapts Polish cooking for modern tables, lightening dishes and incorporating the occasional unexpected ingredient to give a dish a fresh taste or look.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Soft cheese with radishes and chives on rye (Twarożek śniadaniowy)

  • Lmocooks on May 11, 2018

    So simple and so incredibly delicious. It also got my toddler to eat radishes! I subbed cream cheese for the twarog and used the plain yogurt. I'm not a savory breakfast person so I had this for lunch with some fresh fruit and I feel so content. I, like the author's grandmother, also grow radishes and chives so I know what I'll be eating for a while.

• Scrambled eggs with Polish sausage (Jajecznica)

  • Zosia on March 23, 2018

    Delicious way to serve scrambled eggs. I did as my mother used to and served them with "fried" rye bread (ie brushed with olive oil and toasted on the griddle while the kielbasa and eggs cooked)

• White cabbage and carrot slaw (Surówka z białej kapusty z marchewka

  • Lepa on August 04, 2022

    This is an easy and delicious salad. We ate it with some pierogi and it was a great combination.

• Grated beetroot salad (Sałatka z buraków)

  • jenburkholder on February 20, 2022

    Nice, simple beet salad. Ate with sausages and boiled potatoes.

• Buckwheat and beetroot salad with feta, walnuts and honey (Gryczana sałatka z burakami, serem, orzechami i miodem)

  • Foodycat on February 14, 2019

    Very simple and quick to assemble and very delicious.

• Traditional beetroot soup (Barszcz)

  • Zosia on December 27, 2017

    I usually roast the beets to make this soup; this recipe used a stovetop cooking method that resulted in good beet flavour and beautiful, vibrant colour. I recommend including dried mushrooms - an optional ingredient not indexed by EYB - for extra flavour if you're making the meatless version for Christmas Eve as I did.

• Sour cucumber soup (Zupa ogórkowa)

  • Lepa on January 25, 2023

    This is a delicious, comforting soup! We are lucky to have an Eastern European grocery so I could buy Polish brined pickles (with no vinegar), which are key here.

  • QuinceHouse on November 16, 2025

    This is a great soup! Definitely add the pork ribs. Sour cream is a nice alternative to the heavy cream.

• Meatballs with mushroom sauce (Kotlety mielone z sosem pieczarkowym)

  • Zosia on December 06, 2017

    Delicious family-friendly fare. The meatballs took a little time - no more than usual for a meatball - but the sauce was particularly quick to make and very tasty. I did cook it for about 5 minutes after the cream was added to reduce and thicken it a little.

  • Foodycat on June 19, 2018

    I was so sceptical about mixing the cold beef broth into the meat mixture, but it worked well and made quite a light, un-stodgy meatball. The sauce was excellent - I am going to use that on other things.

• Polish gnocchi with bacon and mushrooms (Kopytka z boczkiem i grzybami)

  • Zosia on December 20, 2017

    I loved the topping and chilling the mashed potatoes made dough-making a breeze but these were very dense, possibly a result of using russet potatoes and Canadian flour (though I used 30g less). Also, I don't own a pan large enough to accommodate all of the components at once so had to cook in batches.

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on August 09, 2019

    Made this with store bought gnocchi, super fast, easy ingredients and delicious. Will definitely make this again for a very easy weekday dinner that’s ready in well under 20 minutes.

  • stef on December 07, 2024

    Used 700grms of russet potatoes and 250 grms of flour. The dough came together nicely and they were nice and light. Pan sauted after in butter. Served with sauted onions, bacon and sour cream. Family had seconds so it is a repeat.

• Roasted pork chops with baby carrots and caraway (Kotlet schabowy pieczony z marchewka i kminkiem)

  • Zosia on December 20, 2017

    This was an easy and tasty sheet pan meal. I served it with the Polish "gnocchi" from the same book so omitted the potatoes; I also excluded the asparagus as it's out of season. I look forward to repeating this in spring when asparagus will be plentiful.

• Pan-roasted cod with leeks and cream (Dorsz z porem i smietana)

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on November 15, 2019

    Easy, and delicious. Fast to make, very nice with boiled potatoes. We will probably make this again as a fast weeknight dinner.

• Plum and poppy seed tray bake (Ciasto ze śliwkami i makiem)

  • Zosia on November 30, 2017

    Light and moist and very fruity, like a delicious cross between a lemon poppyseed cake and plum kuchen. I adapted this recipe to Canadian ingredients using 200g granulated sugar, cake&pastry flour plus 2 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp sea salt in place of self-raising flour, and 400g red plums, cut into wedges. I also used lemon zest, a suggested alternative to orange.

• Apricot and almond cake (Ciasto morelowo migdałowe)

  • Zosia on July 27, 2020

    The flavour and texture of the cake were lovely but I was sad that the apricots sank to the bottom.

• Toffee and cherry cheesecake (Sernick z masa krókowa i czereśniami)

  • Zosia on April 03, 2018

    Amazingly good. The sweet shortbread and creamy toffee layers were nicely balanced by the light and tangy cheese layer studded with tart cherries. Though I had no problem sourcing the ingredients in a Polish deli, I did make some changes: my baking pan was slightly larger than recommended so the layers were a little thinner; I added an extra 54g of cheese because of the package size; I used jarred sour cherries in light syrup, drained, instead of fresh.

• Redcurrant vodka (Nalewka z czerwonej porzeczki)

  • jenburkholder on July 14, 2022

    Very tasty. Cut down sugar slightly.

• Eat Your Books

  If you buy one book on Polish cuisine, let it be Ren Behan's. Approachable, appealing and beautiful.

  Full review

• Kavey Eats

  Each recipe bears it’s Polish name as well as the English, along with a brief introduction. The recipe instructions are concise and simple, yet perfectly clear and easy to follow.

  Full review

• Ms Marmite Lover

  She talks of her childhood going to Polish church and visiting the Polish Ex-Combatants Club but the recipes in this book are modern, lighter than traditional Eastern European food.

  Full review

• Tin and Thyme

  ...not all of the recipes have photographs...Don’t let that put you off. This is a book that reveals the deliciousness of modern Polish food and it will get used time and time again.

  Full review