Baba Kartoflana - Polish Potato Pie

This baba kartoflana or Polish potato pie is a super rich comfort dish baked with grated potatoes, eggs and bacon. It makes a great main course or side dish.



I have to be honest, I didn’t know much about Poland or Polish cuisine but when Polish recipes was chosen as our theme for this month’s Baking Bloggers, I started my research close to home. I knew from the many festivals (pre-Corona, of course) that there is a vibrant Polish community in Houston and the broader state. 

Indeed, here in Texas, there are many towns that boast Polish ancestry but the oldest Polish settlement in the whole United States is a place called Panna Maria (Virgin Mary in Polish) which is not far from San Antonio, about a three-hour drive from my home.

The first Polish settlers arrived in December of 1854 and impressively, the original oak tree under which they celebrated the very first mass is still standing! In September of 1856 the very first permanent Polish Catholic Church in the United States - Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church - was consecrated there.

In another first, Panna Maria was also the location of the first private Catholic school in the United States. It’s a community that is still going strong. In fact, they are currently building a heritage center to safeguard their history for future generations. I’m looking forward to being able to visit there when we are able to take road trips again. 

Meanwhile, I will console myself with making baba kartoflana aka Polish potato pie, a comfort dish if there ever were one. Or perhaps I'll try one of the other recipes my Baking Blogger friends are sharing. Make sure to scroll down below my recipe to see the links.

Baba Kartoflana - Polish Potato Pie

This recipe is adapted from one on Cook in Polish. The author suggests you can reduce the calories in this dish by omitting the bacon – but don’t do it! Bacon makes everything better. 

Ingredients
2.2 lbs or 1 kg floury potatoes (baking potatoes, like Russets)
2 yellow onions (about 12 oz or 340g)
12 oz or 340g bacon
2 large eggs
1/4 cup or 61g whole milk Greek-style yogurt
1 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves, plus extra for garnish, if desired
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (or 1/2 teaspoon powdered nutmeg)
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
Peel and dice the onions. In a large pan, fry half of the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and drain on a paper towel. Once it has cooled, chop or crumble the bacon.

Remove all but about 2 tablespoons of bacon fat (reserving the balance for greasing your baking pan) and then add the onions to the bacon fat and cook until lightly golden. Put the onions on a plate to cool.

In a large bowl, beat your eggs and yogurt together, along with the marjoram, salt, nutmeg and a few generous grinds of black pepper.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Use the leftover bacon fat to grease an 8x8 in or 23x23cm baking pan (or a 9 1/2 in or 24cm iron skillet.) Sprinkle in half of the bacon crumbles.

Peel then grate the potatoes on a fine grater. (I used my food processor for this step!) Squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

Immediately add the potatoes to the egg mixture, stirring to completely combine. This will help ensure the potatoes don’t turn brown.

Add in the cooked onions and the other half of the bacon crumbles and stir well.

Spoon the potato mixture into your prepared baking vessel.

Cover the top with the remaining uncooked bacon slices.

Bake the baba kartoflana in your preheated oven for 55-60 minutes or until the top is golden and the bacon is browned and crispy.

Sprinkle on a little extra marjoram for garnish, if desired. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes, then cut in slices to serve. The baba kartoflana is very rich, truly comfort food, but it's not stodgy at all. Lift the slices out carefully or they crumble a bit. I suggest serving them with a lightly dressed green salad.

Enjoy!

Check out all the wonderful Poland-inspired dishes my Baking Blogger friends are sharing today! Many thanks to our host and leader, Sue of Palatable Pastime!

• Baba Kartoflana - Polish Potato Pie from Food Lust People Love
• Babki Śmietankowe (Cream Tarts) from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Kapusta Casserole – Polish Cabbage, Potato, and Bacon Bake from Making Miracles
• Karpatka (Polish Carpathian Cream Cake) from Tara's Multicultural Table
• Kolaczki - Jam-Filled Polish Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Kotlety Ziemniaczane from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Mom Klik's Breaded Pork Chops from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Oven Braised Pork with Sour Cream (Karkówka w śmietanie) from Palatable Pastime
• Piernik - Polish Gingerbread Cake from Caroline's Cooking
• Polish Stuffed Cabbage Rolls from Cookaholic Wife
• Veg Pierogi Casserole from Sneha's Recipe

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interested in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.

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Cauliflower Sourdough Crumpets #BreadBakers

These cauliflower sourdough crumpets are cooked in butter, which gives them wonderful golden outsides, perfectly complementing the tender insides made of sourdough starter and tiny cauliflower bits.



I’m always looking for easy recipes that use up sourdough starter discard so when I found this one on the King Arthur Flour website, I couldn’t wait to try it. Like every recipe I’ve made from the KAF website, it did not disappoint. But that got me thinking. What else could I add to the original to add flavor and nutrition without affecting the look of the crumpets?

And so these cauliflower sourdough crumpets were born. I made them one afternoon when my husband and I had somehow skipped lunch and it took the two of us mere minutes to demolish all five crumpets, with and without cheese. The flavor of the cauliflower is subtle but definitely there. In short, we loved them. I have a feeling they will be on regular rotation whenever I have sourdough starter to discard. 

Cauliflower Sourdough Crumpets

Many supermarkets carry ready-made cauliflower “rice” in the refrigerator section of their produce departments but it’s easy enough to make at home. Grate the cauliflower florets or pulse them in a food processor until they resemble small pieces, similar in size to short grain rice. This recipe is easily doubled but, as written below, it makes 5 crumpets.

Ingredients for five crumpets

1/2 cup or 70g cauliflower “rice”

1 cup or 227g sourdough starter (unfed/discard)

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

3/8 teaspoon baking soda*

Butter for greasing English muffin rings and pan

*If your discard starter is particularly sour, you might want to increase the baking soda to 1/2 teaspoon.

Method

Steam your cauliflower “rice” for about three minutes and then press it to get rid of as much liquid as possible.

Put it in a large mixing bowl and set it aside to cool.

Add the sourdough starter to your cooled cauliflower, along with the sugar, salt and baking soda. Stir well to combine. The batter will start to bubble up almost immediately. 

Heat your nonstick griddle or large frying pan over medium-low heat. 

Lightly grease five English muffin rings (1" high and 4" across) and place as many as will fit flat on your pan. I cooked mine in two batches, three and two. Melt a pat of butter in each then use a pastry brush to cover the pan inside the rings with the butter. 

Divide the batter evenly among the buttered rings. I used a 1/4 cup measuring scoop to fill each ring up about halfway. 

Cook for about 5 minutes, until the tops are set and full of small holes. Run a knife around the edge of the rings and carefully lift them off. Use a spatula to turn the crumpets over and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until they are golden on the other side as well. 

Remove from the pan and keep warm while you repeat the process to cook the rest of the crumpets.

Serve the crumpets warm, spread with butter. They are also excellent with some grated cheddar on top, which really goes great with the cauliflower. 

Enjoy!

This month my Bread Bakers group is sharing breads made with vegetables. Many thanks to Renu of Cook with Renu for hosting! 

• Butternut Squash Sourdough Bread by Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Carrot Sandwich Bread by Ambrosia
• Cauliflower Sourdough Crumpets by Food Lust people Love
• Cranberry-Pecan Pumpkin Bread by What Smells So Good?
• Garden Harvest Vegetable Bread Loaf by Making Miracles
• Potato Rosemary Focaccia by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Purple Pain de Mie by A Messy Kitchen
• Spinach Spiced Sourdough Discard Bread by Cook with Renu
• Tomato Garlic Biscuits by Palatable Pastime
• Vegetable Focaccia by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Zucchini Bread by Sneha's Recipe

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Mustard Honey Buttered Carrots #FoodieExtravaganza

Mustard Honey Buttered Carrots are slightly sweet with a lovely sharpness and, of course, shiny with just the right amount rich butter. They make a beautiful side dish, served hot or at room temperature. 

I love putting carrots in things – like soups or stews or even cakes and muffins – but rarely make them a star in their own right. I think of them more as an ingredient in mirepoix than something to fill a whole bowl with.

Maybe it’s because my younger daughter is not such a fan of cooked carrots. On the odd day that I did prepare carrots as a side dish when she was little, I served her portion raw and she was happy to munch them that way. 

All that changed when I started buying baby carrots. They are always sweet, always tender and they also look beautiful. What more can one ask of a side dish? 

Mustard Honey Buttered Carrots

If you aren’t lucky enough to be able to find baby carrots in your local market, by all means use whatever sweet carrots you can buy. Cut them into sticks or coins but make sure not to overcook them.

Ingredients

1 lb or 450g baby carrots

1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to season, if needed

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon whole grain mustard

Chopped parsley for garnish, optional

Method

Scrub the baby carrots and trim the green stems, leaving a few inches on for color. Put them in a pot and cover them with water. Add the teaspoon of salt.

Bring the water to the boil and cook the carrots for 5-7 mins or until just tender. Drain, and discard any stems that have detached themselves. 

While the carrots are cooking, warm the butter, honey and mustard and whisk them together. (I used the microwave, a few short zaps will do it, but you can also use a small pot on the stove.) 

Drain the carrots and transfer them to a bowl. Immediately pour the mustard honey butter over them and toss gently to coat.

Sprinkle with a little salt, if desired but I find that the saltiness of the whole-grained mustard is sufficient for our taste. 

Transfer the carrots to a serving plate and make sure to pour any dressing left behind in the bowl over the top. 

Sprinkle with some chopped parsley for garnish, if using. Serve the carrots immediately hot, or at room temperature. 

Enjoy! 

This month's Foodie Extravaganza theme is honey to celebrate National Honey Month which is September. Many thanks to our host, Rebekah of Making Miracles. Check out all the honey recipes we are sharing:

• Honey Chicken Wings In Potato Baskets by Sneha's Recipe
• Honey Roasted Figs by Palatable Pastime
• Honey Soy Baked Chicken Thighs by Making Miracles
• Hot Honey Chicken Wings by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Mustard Honey Buttered Carrots by Food Lust People Love
• Sticky Soy Spare Ribs by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.

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