Main Dishes

Hey this is your friend, Mike Baruch, wishing you all good health and cheer. Congratulations to Jaga and Nancy for all their hard work in giving our young generation a forum to toss around new and refreshing ideas about Polish heritage and culture. I wish we all lived closer together so we could have a true Polish summit centered around food.

With Easter around the corner, I’ve been deluged with e-mails from around the country asking advice about lighter and healthier recipes with which to celebrate the occasion. Hmmm! Good question Thaddeus Kosciusko. What’s a Polish kid to do? Alright, check this out. I’m going to be on the road over the Easter holiday up North so I’ve decided to do Easter at the beach or any obliging picnic table I can find. I’m going to entertain a few local wine owners I know so I needed to come up with a menu that could be prepared a day or two ahead of time, packed up in a cooler, and brought to a destination. Hope you enjoy my Easter menu!

Read more: Chef Mike’s Easter Picnic Basket

From Wikipedia: Łazanki arrived in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in mid-16th century when Bona Sforza, Italian wife of King Sigismund the Old, brought high Italian cuisine to the country. Unlike most Italian dishes in these parts of Europe, lazanki has survived until the 21st century and is still eaten today, although the long and cultural history of the dish has been largely forgotten. Stiff wheat, rye or buckwheat dough, rolled thin and cut into triangles or rectangles, is boiled, drained, and eaten with melted pork fat, vegetable oil, or sour cream. In Poland, they are often mixed with cabbage or sauerkraut and small bits of sausage and meat.

Read more: Polish Cabbage Lasagne

Silesia (Slask) is a coal-mining region that has both Polish and German traditions. My husband, Jan, was born there. These noodles are a Silesian tradition and, interesingly enough, Silesian call them "Polish noodles" (kluski polskie). Try serving them with different meats and sauces, or as an individual dish covered with fried bacon bits.

Read more: Silesian Noodles

Try serving these with Silesian noodles and red beet salad or sauerkraut .

Read more: Beef Rolades