Vegetable Pancakes

A healthier and interesting alternative to potato pancakes.

1 egg
1 egg white
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1-1/4 lbs. baking potatoes (about 2 medium potatoes), peeled and shredded
1 medium zucchini, shredded
1 large onion, finely diced
1 sweet red pepper, diced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mix the egg, egg white, salt and pepper in a bowl. Place the potatoes, zucchini, onion and red pepper in a bowl. Add the flour and stir to blend.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over a medium-high heat. Using a ¼-cup measuring cup, drop some “batter” into the skillet and flatten slightly. Cook until underside is browned; about 3 minutes. Flip and brown the other side. Serve immediately.

Chopped Kale Salad

After a whirlwind trip to the east coast to photograph colleges for University Icons (21 days, 4,000 miles and over 80 schools), we stopped for a two day visit with our friends Anne and Tobey in the upper reaches of West Virginia. Their magnificent house, situated on numerous wooded acres on the Potomac River, just outside of Shepherdstown, WV, was a perfect respite after 3 weeks of road travel. Anne served a chopped kale salad, which was accompanied chicken thighs and chicken sausage that Tobey masterfully grilled. Carolyn had previously made a kale salad, but it was made with large leaves that were a struggle to chew. Anne used curly kale leave that she chopped into fine pieces. That made a big difference and we loved it. Last night we reproduced it, but with baby kale (also finely chopped). The quantities are merely a guide. This recipe does not require exactitude and is based on 2 servings. The best part is that it’s easy and quick to prepare. We believe it’s gluten free too.

2 large handfuls of baby kale, chopped
1/8 cup pine nuts, toasted (I like them well toasted!)
3/4 cup Shredded (Kirkland brand) Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
salt
black pepper (freshly ground)

Combine the kale, nuts and cheese in a large bowl. Combine the lemon juice, oil and spices in a jar. Add the lid, shake vigorously and pour over the salad. Toss to mix everything together.

Serve with grilled Italian chicken sausage (Whole Foods) and/or grilled boneless/skinned chicken thighs that have been seasoned with Italian spices and salt.

Kopytka (Polish Dumplings)

 Kopytka, a word that translates to “little hooves,” are dumplings that are similar to gnocchi or spaetzle. This recipe is based on my mother’s oral recipe. Kopytka refrigerate well. Serve with a gravy or simply buttered.   -jb 12-31-12

2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-1/2 pieces
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2+ cups of flour
2 tablespoons butter (optional)

Fill a large pot with water, the potatoes and the salt. Boil the potatoes until fork tender.  Remove from heat, drain, and allow to cool, covered. When the potatoes are warm (i.e. not hot to the touch), mash them until they are smooth and not lumpy. Spread 2 tablespoons of flour on the working surface. Heat a large pot of water to boiling.

Add the eggs and mix well. Add the flour, one cup at a time, and work it into the  potatoes with your hands. Place the dough on the work surface and sprinkle with some flour. Create a log shape and squeeze it into the shape of a thin baguette. Use flour, as needed, but just until the dough is no longer sticky. The less you “work” the dough the better. Cut the dough into equal medallions (about 1” wide). (Or you can cut the “baguette” in half lengthwise and make smaller kopytka.)  Heat a large (microwave safe) bowl in the microwave. If you are planning to serve the kopytka without gravy, add 2 T of butter to melt.

Drop 1/2 of the medallions, two at a time, into the boiling water. In about 4 or 5 minutes, the kopytka will float to the surface. After a minute or two, remove them to the hot bowl with a slotted spoon. Repeat until all the kopytka are done cooking and transferred to the bowl. Mix them to coat them with the butter. Cover with aluminum foil to retain heat until serving.

The kopytka store well in the refrigerator. To reheat, simply add some butter and a tablespoon or two of water to a pan. Cover and place pan over low heat until warm. Optionally, you can fry them in butter.

Smacznego!  (translation: bon appétit!)

Really Simple Tuscan Pasta Salad

Carolyn came home from Trader Joe’s with the fixin’s for this salad. It’s so simple it’s silly, but it does taste good and is quick to make.

1 lb. bow tie pasta (or whatever shape you have in the pantry)
3/4 cup (6 oz.) crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
1/2 to 3/4 cup (8 to 12 oz.) olive tampenade 
2-3 handfuls of baby spinach

Cook the pasta per the directions on the package. Drain and rinse lightly with cold water, to stop the pasta from cooking (probably not what the package says, but ignore the package in this regard). Add the remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper (careful with the salt). Add extra olive oil, as desired. Mix well and serve luke warm.

Frontier Stew

During our recent trip to Albuquerque, MN to help Natalie find an apartment, we managed a day trip to Bandolier, Sante Fe and Taos.  The destination was really Taos, so that I could introduce Carolyn and Natalie to Michael’s Kitchen and Bakery, and, more importantly, to introduce them to the tamale plate.  It had been at least 15 years since I was last there, but it proved to be as good as I remember (except they now add shredded lettuce, which is an unnecessary garnish).  The very next day we had lunch at the Frontier Restaurant, in Albuqwerky.  I ordered a sampler plate and discovered that the enchilada was covered in the same, delicious gravy as the tamales at Michaels.  Except the call the gravy, “the stew.”  An internet search turned up the recipe and I made it for Natalie, Julia and Carolyn this evening.  The stew was served over home made refried beans (see recipe) and tamales from Costco, accompanied by a Lime Greem Salad.  I only wish I had remembered to wear one of my cowboy hats!

1 lb ground pork 
1 medium onion, chopped 
3 large cloves garlic, minced 
1 tablespoon oil, for frying 
3 tablespoons flour 
1 generous cup diced potatoes 
1/2 to 1 cup chopped green chile, to taste 
1 quart chicken stock 
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground pork and chopped onion, breaking apart pork into small pieces. When pork is no longer pink and onions are translucent, add garlic and cook for a minute or so. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon of flour; stir to combine.

2. Add potatoes, the green chiles, and chicken stock. Bring to boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook, covered, until potatoes are just tender, 20-30 minutes.

Note 1:  Each batch of green chiles is different in both flavor and heat.  Test the chiles by tasting before beginning to cook.  The chiles I used had no heat at all, so I added one medium jalapeno to give the dish a bit of heat.

Note 2:  The Frontier Restaurant uses Hatch chiles, which I could not get.  I used a mild green chile that looks like a Hatch chile.

Frijoles Refritos (Refried Beans)

Refried beans are not actually refried at all. In fact, they are not actually “fried.”  They are simply cooked twice.  Once in water and once again in a pan.

This recipe is assembled from information gathered from numerous recipes I found on the internet, inspired by our recent trip with Natalie to Albuquerque.  I made these with the “stew” that is served at the Frontier Restaurant in Albuquerque, which was miraculously published on the internet.  The beans were served along with tamales from Costco, drowning in the stew, with a Lime Green Salad on the other half of the plate.  jb 6-22-11

2 1/2 cups of dry pinto beans (about 1 lb or 450gm)
3 quarts of water
1 lb. bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
1/4 cup chicken stock (or water)
½ teaspoon Liquid Smoke (optional, but recommended)
1 tablespoon Chipotle chili powder (optional)
2 teaspoons salt
Monterrey Jack (or queso blanco), shredded
Diced scallions, as a garnish

Crisp fry bacon, cool and crumble. Set aside, but reserve rendered drippings (if not using a microwave).

Inspect the beans, removing any small stones, twigs, or ugly beans. Place the dry beans into a pot with 3 quarts of water. Lower heat to simmer, cover, and cook for about 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. The cooking time will vary depending on the beans. Older beans take longer than newer ones. The beans are done when they are soft and the skin is just beginning to break open.

Remove from heat and strain from the cooking water. Allow to cool to handling temperature. Stir in crumbled bacon bits, in batches, and smash the beans with a potato masher. I prefer to leave some beans whole, to add some texture. Some people strain the beans to remove the skins

Add enough reserved bacon drippings to lightly cover bottom of skillet and heat over medium high heat. Add spoonfuls of mashed beans to fill pan. Stir and cook. You don't want to cook until a crust forms but nearly. Add a bit of water, if necessary. Repeat until all beans are done.

Top with shredded cheese and diced scallions. Serve hot. Ideally, serve with Frontier Stew.

A meal: Smear the beans on to a warm corn tortilla, sprinkle with cheese and onion. Roll it up and enjoy.

Black Bean Soup

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
7 – 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped or squeezed
1 pound (2 cups) black beans
5 cups water
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 Knorr’s vegetable bullions
2 tablespoons parsley
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Open the package and spread the beans out on a cookie sheet.  Inspect them and remove any stones, ugly beans or foreign material.  Then rinse the beans in cold water.

Boil the beans in 5 cups of water for 2-3 minutes.  Turn off the heat and let them soak for 1 hour, covered.  (Alternative:  Soak the beans in cold water overnight, discard the water and use fresh water to cook the beans.)

Heat the oil in a skillet. Sauté the onions over moderate heat for 6-8 minutes.  Add the garlic and continue to sauté an additional 8-9 minutes, turning occasionally, until the onions are somewhat caramelized.

Heat up the beans, add the onions and add all the remaining ingredients.  Add water (if needed) and bring to a simmer.  Simmer for 2 hours, covered, stirring every 30 minutes.

Using a potato masher, press the beans two or three times to break some of them up.  (Note:  The object is to thicken the liquid base of the soup, not to mash all the beans). Cover and simmer gently for an additional 10 minutes.

Serves 6 to 8.

Cranberry Relish

12 ounces fresh cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup dried cherries
4 tablespoons Grand Marnier
2/3 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Wash cranberries and combine in a heavy saucepan with sugar, water and orange juice.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat and cook at a gentle boil until cranberries begin to pop.

Remove from heat and stir in the cherries and Grand Marnier.  Chill for up to a week.  Stir in pecans just before serving.

8 to 10 servings

Carolyn’s Holiday Sweet Potatoes

Christmas dinner isn’t dinner without Carolyn’s signature sweet potatoes.

6 medium sweet potatoes (Garnet variety if available)
1/2 stick of butter plus one tablespoon
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
salt
2 tablespoons Cointreau or Gran Marnier
2 cups mini-marshmallows

Wash potatoes and cut off the ends.  Cook in oven at 350 degrees until soft; about one hour.  You can cook them in a microwave if preferred. Cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Cut potatoes into 1/2" thick slices and arrange the rounds in a buttered baking dish so that each round overlaps it's neighbor.

In a sauce pan, melt 1/2 stick butter.  Add sugar and dissolve.  Add orange juice and liquor and stir.  Drizzle over the potatoes.  Dot potatoes with remaining butter and sprinkle with some salt.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Add the marshmallows and broil for 2 minutes, until browned and soft.

Green Beans

Cooking green beans, you might think, is to simple to warrant a post, but this post is more than simply cooking instructions.

When I was growing up my mother served green beans often.  I didn’t particularly like them.  They were bland, soft and tasteless.  They came from a can.

Green beans are easy to grow in your yard or even in a container, although a single bush would probably only produce a handful of beans.   There are pole beans (i.e. a vine that needs to be supported by a pole of some kind) and bush beans.   Purple green beans are fun because, well . . . they’re purple.  When you cook them, unfortunately, they turn green. 

The typical green beans found in supermarkets, called string beans, are larger and thicker than the French Haricot vert beans.  They also tend to curl, whereas the French beans are elegantly straight.  The French beans do have a slightly different taste, but it’s a subtle difference. I prefer the haricot verts for aesthetic reasons, although both varieties are good to eat.

There are a dozen ways to cook green beans.  Here’s how I prepare them:  I bring some water to a boil and then place the basket with trimmed beans into the pot and immediately cover it.  I reduce the heat to a moderate heat and steam them for about 6 minutes ; until they are al dente.  It’s good to check tenderness with a fork because there is nothing worse than overcooked green beans.  Once they are cooked, I quickly dump out the water and put the beans into the pot.  I salt them with coarse ground salt and grind some black pepper over them and then  pour a tablespoon of olive oil into the pan and shake it all about.  The oil helps the salt and pepper to stick to the beans.

Note:  I trim the stem end of beans, but leave the other end alone.  Those little tails are too cute to cut.

Couscous

This is a flavorful couscous.  I like the large “pearl couscous,” which seems difficult to find.  Fortunately, the Ziyad brand Maftoul couscous (see image of package below) is available at the Oakton Market in Skokie.  (Ignore the instruction on the package.)  I serve this with the Moroccan Style Chicken Tights, accompanied by lightly sautéed zucchini slices. 

جيد جدا  (which translates to “muy bien”)

1 cup couscous
Water (1-1/2 cups)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced (2 onions dices, if caramelized)
one (Knorr’s) vegetable bullion
¼ teaspoon (or more) of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 tablespoons butter
1 carrot, finely diced

Lightly brown couscous in 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet.  Add the remaining ingredients, except the carrots.  Cover and cook over low heat until couscous is tender, but with a slightly firm center, turning occasionally.  Add additional water if necessary.  Add the carrots shortly before the couscous is fully cooked.   Next, remove cover, increase heat to medium and sauté over moderately high heat until slightly browned, stirring often.

Note:  This recipe works perfectly well following the instruction above, however, I urge you to first caramelize two onions as follows:  Dice the onions.  Add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil to a 10 or 12-inch skillet, add the onions, add 2-3 tablespoons of water, and raise the heat to medium.  Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes, occasionally stirring, until the onions are thoroughly limp and caramelizing.  Remove the cover and continue to cook, turning occasionally, until all liquid is evaporated and the onions are nicely caramelized.  Add these to the couscous for an even better dish.

 

Classic Potato Salad

Gluten free – serves 8

It’s takes a little bit of advance planning and work, but home made potato salad is so far superior to store-bought.  I encourage you to make this.  It keeps well for days, covered with plastic wrap.  (Potato salad accompanies ribs in the photo above).  First prepared 8-1-09 for a dinner with Catherine Severson and Chris Hurn.

8 medium red potatoes (~2.5” diameter), peeled, boiled, cooled (room temp) and diced
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise (real mayo; not Miracle Whip)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 celery ribs, sliced
1 cup diced red onion
5 hard-boiled eggs, sliced and halved
Paprika

Place diced potatoes in large bowl.  Mix next 7 ingredients in another bowl, add to the potatoes, and mix.  Add celery and onions and mix well.  Stir in the eggs.  Sprinkle with paprika.

Tip:  Boil the potatoes in moderately hot water; not a violent boil, or the potatoes will crack open.  Once the potatoes are done (fork tender), pour out the hot water and replace with cold and two or three large handfuls of ice cubes.  This will cool the potatoes quickly.

Variations:  Although I have not tried any variations, yet, I have had potato salads with chopped gerkins, diced red peppers, crumbled bacon, capers, green beans (cooked), diced ham, chopped green onions, etc.  Experiment . . . that’s the joy of cooking!

Black Bean, Corn & Tomato Salsa

Carolyn made this for her birthday party, 7-12-05. It was a hit.

2 cans black beans
1-1/2 cups chopped seeded tomato
¾ pkg. frozen corn
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus springs for garnish
1 red onion, diced
1 lemon (juice)
1 lime (juice)
½ cup olive oil
1-1/2 teaspoon salt

Drain the beans and tomatoes and in a bowl combine them with the corn, red onion, and the minced coriander.

In a small bowl whisk together the oil, the lemon juice, and the salt, pour the dressing over the and stirring to mix. The salad may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. Serve the salad, garnished with the cilantro sprigs, at room temperature or chilled slightly.  Keeps for several days.

White Trash Nachos

We first discovered White Trash Nachos at the Silver Cloud Bar & Grill (1700 N. Damen Avenue), in Bucktown.  The recipe is very simple and devilishly tasty.  I first prepared this for Carolyn’s 7-12-09 birthday party using our End of Millennium Chili recipe.

2 bags Fritos
1/2 lb. shredded “Mexican cheese” (50/50 Colby and Monterey Jack)
Chili (about 4 or 5 cups)

Place contents of 1-1/2 bags of Fritos into a 9 x 12 baking dish.  Top with chili, spreading evenly with a spoon.  Cover with cheese.  Place under a broiler, just long enough to melt the cheese.  Serve.

Below, the Redneck Fire Alarm

Potato & Bacon Gratin

A gratin, which originated in France, is a dish in which the ingredients are allowed to form a crust. Either the ingredients form the crust or the ingredients are topped with something that will make a crust. Gratins typically are topped with a mix of butter and breadcrumbs or with cheese. The most basic and well known of gratins are scalloped potatoes. This recipe is an off-shoot of the basic recipe. It's virtually fool-proof and amazingly delicious. We paired this with Mustard, Herb and Garlic Encrusted Beef Tenderloin. All I can say is WOW.

Some recipes call for soaking and draining the sliced potatoes, twice, to remove excess starch. I don’t do that, so I can’t comment on whether it’s worth the extra work.


Serves 6

8 slices smoked bacon, rind removed, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
20 or more whole sage leaves
4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
2 lbs. potatoes, scrubbed (Yukon Gold or Charlotte are preferred, but not essential)
10 oz. double cream or crème fraiche (I use a mix of 5 oz. 1/2+1/2 or heavy cream and 5 oz. milk)
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
½ cup smoked mozzarella cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Fry the bacon in the oil for 3-4 minutes, until golden. Remove from heat as you add the sage and garlic. Cook one or two minutes and remove from heat. Set skillet aside.

Arrange enough sliced potatoes (not peeled) to cover a large cutting board (or cookie sheet or whatever) and season evenly with salt and pepper. Place potatoes into a large bowl. Repeat until all the potatoes are seasoned and in the bowl. Add contents of the skillet. Add the cream to the bowl. Mix and place into a shallow baking dish or casserole (~ 9” x 13”). Cover with aluminum foil and place in the bottom third of the oven for 50 minutes. Remove the foil and cook an additional 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the cheese and cook an additional 5 minutes. Feel free to broil it for two minutes to give it a nice crust.

Potato Pancakes (Placki Kartoflane)

Placki Kartoflane was one of my favorite dishes as a child. My mother would make piles of them and we would have them as leftovers throughout the week.

4 large potatoes, grated
2 eggs
8 tablespoons flour
1 small onion, finely diced or grated
salt

Place the grated potatoes and onion into a large bowl. Add two eggs and mix well. Sprinkle with two tablespoons of flour and some salt, mix well and repeat until all the flour has been incorporated.

Melt two tablespoons of butter and oil into a 12” skillet. Heat until hot and spoon four heaps of potato mixture into the skillet. Flatten each pancake gently. The pancakes should be about ½” thick. Fry to a crisp golden-brown and serve immediately with salt and pepper. Optionally, serve with a dollop of sour cream or apple sauce on the side.

Below, potato pancakes with lamb top sirloin and green beans.

Bigos (A Polish Hunter's Stew)

When I first moved to Evanston in 1985, I lived on the first floor of a two flat. A quiet Jewish family lived upstairs. One Saturday morning our neighbor knocked on the front door and asked if I had noticed the strange odor in the hallway. I told him I had not, sniffed, and reported that I didn’t notice anything unusual. He returned to the apartment upstairs, shaking his head. On Sunday afternoon he knocked on our door again. This time he insisted that I step out into the hall. “You don’t smell that?” he asked incredulously, “It smells like some animal died out here.” I sniffed, several times, but could not perceive anything unusual. On Monday evening, there was a knock on the back door. When I opened it, our neighbor marched in and went straight to the stove. He pointed at the large, bubbly pot and triumphantly declared (picture Ralph Kramdon of the Honeymooners), “Ah ha! That’s what I’ve been smelling!” I sheepishly offered him a bowl, but he declined.

Bigos, considered to be the national dish of Poland, is a stew that once upon a time aristocratic hunters prepared for their guests. Ordinary Poles couldn’t afford to put so much meat into a dish! Traditionally bigos included game such as wild boar, pheasant, and/or venison. Today, the ingredients, sourced at the grocery store, are less romantic, but make a quite tasty, if somewhat pungent, dish nonetheless. Any kind of leftover meats or sausage, and even fowl, can be added and it simply improves the flavor. The longer it is cooked, the deeper, more complex and satisfying is the flavor. Bogos is typically served with rye bread and is traditionally served the day after Christmas. Who knows why. Polish cooks sometimes refer to choucroute as "bigos alzacki", and Alsatian cooks sometimes refer to bigos as "choucroute à la polonaise.” I prepared and documented this version on January 2, 1999. --jrb

3 quarts of Polish or German style sauerkraut (i.e. fermented cabbage; not merely cabbage with vinegar)
4 large onions, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 loin cut pork chops, meat trimmed from bone (see note 1)
1 lb. beef stew (beef chuck or sirloin), cut into ¾” pieces (see note 1)
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
3 Knorr's vegetable bullion
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) of chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2-3 dozen black peppercorns
2 carrots sliced into ¼” rounds
1/2 cup frozen blueberries (I also used two heaping tablespoons of Ligonberry preserves and/or apples)
8 oz. tomato sauce
12" of Polish sausage (Kielbasa Wiejska preferred, but any kind will do), sliced into ¼” thick medallions

Day 1: Saute onions in a 12” skillet in the olive oil on low-medium heat for one hour, turning often. Add a little water to keep it moist. Be careful not to burn. You want to caramelize the onions.

Drain and reserve liquid from 1 quart of kraut. Place all three quarts of kraut (including liquid from 2 quarts) into a large pot or Dutch oven. Cook for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Add the onions and the next seven ingredients (see note 1 below). Mix well and cook, covered, over low heat for 2 hours. Stir occasionally and add water when needed to keep the bigos fairly wet. Remove from stove and allow to cool.

Day 2: Heat up the bigos and cook, covered, for another 2 hours. Remove from stove and allow to cool.

Day 3: Heat up the bigos and add the carrots, tomato sauce and blueberries. Cook for 90 minutes (or more). Serve with rye bread and butter.

Note 1: Although you can put raw meat into the bigos, I brown the meat and I think it adds considerable flavor: I season the pork chops with some salt, pepper and garlic powder and brown the chops in a cast iron skillet in about 2T of olive oil (both sides). At the end, I add more olive oil and brown the beef stew over a fairly high heat. This will nicely brown the meat. Then I add about cup or more of chicken broth and deglaze the pan. Add the chops (I include the bones and fish them out later), the beef and the pan juices.

Note 2: You can compress the instructions for Day 2 and Day 3 into one day.

The ingredients above are a general guide. The recipe varies from family to family. You can add ham, prunes, apples, whole or cut up tomatoes, caraway seeds, chicken leftoevers, bacon, etc., etc. Traditionally, Poles include diced “boczek” (Polish pork belly, like salt pork or slab bacon), but I think this simply adds unnecessary fat. A final note: Bigos can be frozen.

"Bigos is no ordinary dish,
For it is aptly framed to meet your wish.
Founded upon good cabbage, sliced and sour,
Which, as men say, by its own zest and power
Melts in one's mouth, it settles in a pot
And its dewy bosom folds a lot
Of the best portions of selected meats;
Scullions parboil it then, until heat
Draws from its substance all the living juices,
And from the pot's edge, boiling fluid sluices
And all the air is fragrant with its scent."

from
Pan Tadeusz, by Adam Mickiewicz (1834)