Sorrel soup
The simplest way to do sorrel soup is to use chicken broth, you either make your own or you can buy (your own is better, because it will have all veggies and everything). For about 1 L of chicken broth, add about 200-400gr of sorrel (to taste, the more you add, the more acidic it will be, we like more acidic,) and boil for about 2minutes. Add hard boiled eggs (2-6) for that amount and that is ready to serve. This soup is served with potatoes (cooked before), a little bit maybe 50-100 grams per this soup. If eggs and potatoes were prepared way ahead of the soup (and are cold), then add together with sorrel, or shortly after you add sorrel, so they have enough time to reheat in the soup. Some people like to add cream (18%), we sometimes add and sometimes not. about 100ml of cream at the end, mix everything in and ready to serve. Some people add potatoes to the small bowl with eggs and then pour soup and serve (more restaurant style) or some have everything together (more traditional, rural serving)
Broad beans fried with bacon
[to be updated soon]
Pickles in brine (Ogórki małosolne)
Rinse pickle cucumbers (pickles), and soak in cold water for a few hours (2-4 hrs or even overnight). Then stack them in a large glass jar (we use large 2-3 gallon jars/crock pots) but with smaller pickles (3-4 in) you can do it in 1l/1qt jars too. Don’t use any metal containers, ceramic might work, but glass is the best. Any container that was made for pickling or making sauerkraut will work.
For 1 l/1 qt jar full of pickles add 1-2 stems of dill with seed head, 1 clove of garlic (can be more, depends what you like), 2-4 grape leaves or sour cherry leaves or horse radish leaves. Horse radish has large leaves, so 1 might be sufficient. If grape leaves are large, then use less. Both garlic and leaves add to the overall flavor of brined pickles, so good idea to start with smaller quantity and then add more in next batches.
Then for 1l of cool water mix in 1 heaped table spoon of salt (pickling salt, not iodine salt or Himalayan sea salt). The brine should taste a bit salty, similar to sea water).
Pour the brine over pickles and make sure they are completely submerged. With large jars, it might be needed to weigh them down. In order to do it, place a plate that is slightly smaller then the diameter of the jar/crock pot and then put a 1 qt jar filled with water on top of it.
You can start eating in 2-3 days. If you keep it longer, it will be more salty and crispy. Eat within a few days.
Rendering lard/tallow
[to be updated soon]
Pickles (Pickled cucumbers)
To make syrup:
> Take about 2 liters of water
> 3 glasses of sugar
> 3-4 heaped table spoons of pickling salt (not iodine salt nor Himalayan salt)
> about 5-7 bay leaves
> 2 table spoons of white mustard (spice)
> 2 tea spoons of chili pepper powder (if you like less spicy, then use less) We sometimes add sliced jalapeno peppers instead
> 10-13 tea spoons of curry
> add about 300ml of white vinegar
boil everything, until sugar is dissolved. If you cool down small amount, tried how it tastes. If needed, add more chili, jalapeno, salt. Let the syrup cool down.
Then add to each 1l/1qt jar:
1 stem of dill (with seeds if possible)
2-3 cloves of garlic
similar amount of horse radish (to match amount of garlic)
then put pickles inside jars. Pickles can be cut in 2 or 4 along the length. Optionally, sliced of bell peppers can be added too.
Once everything is nice and tightly packed, pour syrup into each jar, make sure that all pickles are covered. Then tighten a lid and swirl everything to mix up. Leave a bit of air space between syrup and lid (maybe 1/2 in or more, depending on the jar)
Then put such prepared jars in a pot filled with water (good idea to put a small towel on the bottom, so jars are not standing on a metal bottom of a pot) and bring to boiling and boil for 15 minutes. after 15 minutes of boiling, remove jars right away and place them on a cloth with lid facing down. After the while you might hear a pop from the lid (vacuum/seal is created). Keep jars flipped for an hour-two, until they cool down. once jars are cooled down, then you can flip them back (lid up) and put in your pantry. We keep them like that for a few months.