Notes about Recipes in this book

• White cheese spread with radishes (Gzik)

  • Lepa on August 09, 2021

    I made this for lunch and ate it on Mestermacher rye bread with some sliced radishes and a drizzle of olive oil. So delicious!

• Rye crumble with honey fruit (Miodowe owece pod żytnią kruszonką)

  • bwilcox on July 28, 2023

    Solid crumble, though I’m not sure you get much flavour from the rye flour

  • EmilyR on July 14, 2025

    I used dark rye flour, so it was a slightly more pronounced flavor. The crumble did not look like the image provided by the book, but it was good nonetheless. I don't know that this warrants a recipe as most crumbles tend to be rather similar, but I made it as written with perhaps slightly less honey.

• Creamy millet pudding with blueberries and lemon-vanilla honey (Budyń jaglany)

  • bwilcox on July 28, 2023

    The millet takes a loooong time to hydrate with the milk. Very very solid breakfast pudding that keeps you going a long time

• Onion-poppy seed buns (Cebularze)

  • bwilcox on July 28, 2023

    Family loved them, I found the dough perhaps a tad too salty

• Buttermilk pan buns (Proziaki)

  • bwilcox on July 28, 2023

    Dense and floury. Will try again with more bread know-how and by measuring things by weight

  • Yildiz100 on February 04, 2025

    Used runny yogurt instead of buttermilk and a half tsp (half recipe) table salt since I didn't have kosher salt. Can increase salt a bit next time. Good but roll a bit thinner than written. They puff a lot and take much longer to cook than he says.

• Tomato-apple soup with "poured noodles" (Pomidorówka z lanymi kluskami)

  • Yildiz100 on May 19, 2022

    I substituted a tsp of dried oregano for a tablespoon of dried marjoram. (A TBSP seems excessive and I wonder if it was converted from fresh to dry without adjusting amounts.) I also ran this through my foodmill after blending. Finally, I cooked my noodles (made with the minimum six tbsp flour so they could be poured and not scooped) directly into the soup. Everything was delicious. In the future if I am cooking the noodles directly in the soup I will add a bit more broth to the soup, though I plan to try cooking them separately as per the instructions at least once. Also note, the apple flavor is not noticeable, but worth having as it provides a tiny hint of natural sweetness.

  • bwilcox on July 28, 2023

    Very tasty.

  • London_Mummy on October 10, 2025

    I made this once and it was tasty but I feel quite lazy to put in the effort to make the noodles myself again.

• Sauerkraut fritters (Fuczki)

  • Apollonia on June 03, 2021

    Despite being fairly prolific veggie fritter eaters, it never occurred to me to do sauerkraut. These were maybe a bit on the bready side for us, but we enjoyed them anyway, and I'm sure I'll make again for a last minute lunch or supper.

  • Yildiz100 on February 01, 2022

    Loved these. Nicely chewy. I used preshredded sauerkraut. With preshredded sauerkraut these need to be squeezed by hand to remove excess liquid, as it didn't drain very well. Omitted caraway. Still flavorful. Eat with garlicky creme fraiche or sour cream

  • jenburkholder on February 02, 2024

    Very nice - sauerkraut flavor came through but milder than I would have expected. Ate with salted yogurt.

  • JoyceQuerubino on August 12, 2025

    I love this recipe!

• Breton beans with dried tomatoes (Fasolka po bretońsku)

  • ldyndiuk on February 28, 2023

    This dish is so simple, yet so delicious. I make it frequently and freeze it in portioned out containers so I can easily grab them for lunch at work. I like to have a chunk of good bread with it.

  • bwilcox on July 28, 2023

    Delicious and dosed me with serious nostalgia due to the flavour resemblance to Hawai’i style Portuguese bean soup. Use the spices listed- they make a difference! Keeps well and is also delicious the next day

  • Tealismyname on February 11, 2024

    Absolutely delicious! This makes a lot and we ate as a meal but perhaps too many beans for us. We'd prefer as an accompaniment. We are going to make again, freeze some and serve with breakfast! We used super high quality sun-dried tomatoes which are a key feature of the dish.

• Lentil, butternut squash, and zucchini stew (Soczewicowe leczo)

  • Tealismyname on March 20, 2023

    Quick and easy- next day we served with some yogurt. Wasn't the most exciting, but was hearty.

• Bigos with smoked plums and lentils (Bigos z wędzonymi śliwkami i soczewicą)

  • bwilcox on July 28, 2023

    Subbed black garlic in place of the dried smoked plums, and the flavour was through my own doing… a bit too much

• Stuffed tomatoes with millet, cinnamon, and almonds (Faszerowane pomidory z kashą jaglaną, cynamonem i migdałami)

  • bwilcox on July 28, 2023

    Tasty but millet was a bit chalky. I suspect it needs a longer cooking time

  • jenburkholder on September 29, 2023

    Great, very nice combo of flavors and textures. I added a bit more millet and cooked a bit longer as I had too much liquid (very juicy tomatoes), but that was easy to adjust. Used dried figs and feta instead of apricots and bryndza.

• Buckwheat stir-fry with kale, beans, and goat cheese (Smażona kasza gryczana z jarmużem, fasolą i kozim serem)

  • ldyndiuk on March 04, 2023

    This was disappointing for me. There is no indication of heat level, but it's called a stir-fry so I went with medium-high until my leeks started burning so I turned it down. But then when I added the buckwheat and beans it all got very mushy. In the photo I think the buckwheat is more toasted. There also wasn't a lot of flavor.

• Baked beet, apple, and bundz salad (Sałatka z pieczonych buraków, jabłka i bundzu)

  • mjes on May 21, 2021

    I used Jonagold rather than Granny Smith's, feta rather than bundz, and increased the amount of walnuts ... there is no such thing as "too much" when pairing walnuts with beets. This roasted beet/raw apple salad is superb. It could shine under a variety of vinaigrettes including the walnut-lemon-juice-honey mix given here. I will repeat experimenting with various vinegars ... I may like one better than the lemon.

  • jenburkholder on February 22, 2023

    Delicious salad. Made as written besides decreasing the oil - I like a sharper salad. Grinding the walnuts into the dressing was new to me, but it made for a really rich, nutty salad.

• Sauerkraut, apple, and carrot slaw (Surówka z kiszonej kapusty)

  • jenburkholder on November 10, 2020

    Loved this refreshing slaw. Homemade kraut and in-season apples made it extra delicious, but I think it would be tasty no matter what. Served with pierogi for a hearty fall dinner.

• Creamy cucumber salad (Mizeria)

  • jenburkholder on December 17, 2020

    Good, basic, Polish/German-style cucumber salad.

  • bwilcox on July 28, 2023

    Good as a side with the Breton beans

• Creamy hot beets (Buraczki na ciepło)

  • jenburkholder on November 10, 2020

    This was good, but overly laborious. Since you cook the beets anyways, I don’t see what boiling really adds - next time will try just grating and sautéing. Taste-wise, though, very nice!

• Sautéed cucumbers with fennel seeds (Podsmażane ogórki z nasionami kopru włoskiego)

  • Lepa on January 22, 2022

    This was my first time eating cooked cucumbers. It was okay but I didn't love it. This seemed to need some acid (?) My son loved them.

• Fava beans with mint and garlic (Bób z miętą i czosnkiem)

  • Apollonia on April 24, 2022

    Made with frozen favas. The mint & garlic combo is lovely here. I'll make again.

• Braised cabbage with hazelnuts (Modra kapusta)

  • jenburkholder on August 31, 2022

    Not bad, per se, and I quite liked the way the tart apple brightened it up at the end, but the flavors just didn’t quite mesh for me.

• Basic pierogi dough (Ciasto na pierogi)

  • Yildiz100 on November 05, 2024

    I was skeptical but he us right, this is better than pierogi dough with eggs in it. This version is very tender and also extremely simple to through together on a whim.

• Pierogi with lentils and dried tomatoes (Pierogi z soczewicą i suszonymi pomidorami)

  • jenburkholder on November 10, 2020

    These were incredibly reminiscent of spaghetti bolognese to me. They definitely were good - however, this makes way too much filling for the amount of dough he suggests, so be aware! I also didn’t like the suggestion of Parmesan, as it’s already rich and needs something to cut it. Yogurt would probably be good.

• Blueberry pierogi with honeyed sour cream (Pierogi z jagodami i miodową kwaśną śmietaną)

  • jenburkholder on July 14, 2023

    Once I got my mind around sweet pierogies, this was quite good. Unlike some others in this book, filling amount matched dough amount well.

• Kopytka with mushroom-mustard sauce (Kopytka w sosie grzybowym z musztardą)

  • jenburkholder on November 10, 2020

    Yum! We had to use plain old vodka, since Zubrowka is not available in rural Iowa, but this was still delicious. Even our irregular dumplings cooked up well and turned out great in that wonderful, creamy sauce. Would be great for a special dinner.

  • Tealismyname on March 06, 2021

    Really delicious

  • Lepa on May 16, 2021

    This is a dreamy meal! Everyone in my family loved them and the kids were licking their plates. I have never made gnocchi or potato dumplings before and I was a bit worried how they would turn out but these were easy and tasty. A new family favorite!

  • Yildiz100 on November 15, 2022

    We enjoyed the dumplings, but nobody in the house really liked the sauce. I will definitely make the dumplings again but try a different version of cream sauce.

  • Tealismyname on November 28, 2022

    One of our go to meals. The special vodka does make a difference (made it both ways...the Polish vodka has a herbal note that adds necessary depth to the sauce)