A Christmas log cake and three soup recipes will give a hearty cheer to the holidays and are sure to be a repeat throughout the new year.
The soup was requested by Caroline Brosius of Dornsife, Pa., who wrote that she wanted a Polish soup like the one traditionally served on Christmas Eve.
Nicole Reed of Edgewood and Sharon LoBerg of Redmond, Ore., both requested a Christmas Log like the one their mothers made. Each wrote that the cake was a jellyroll style with a cream cheese filling and each added "I have lost my recipe."
For the soup, Helen Cass of Phoenix sent in two recipes which she writes are delicious and came from the book "The Best of Polish Cooking." Also a very filling stew recipe was sent in unsigned.
Christmas Eve Barszcz
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 carrots peeled and chopped
1/4 head savoy cabbage
salt and pepper to taste
6 cups beef broth
6 fresh beets, or 1 can red beets, chopped
sugar to taste
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Combine first six ingredients and simmer 40 minutes. If using fresh beets, wash and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes; then peel, chop fine and add to other vegetables. Stir in sugar. Simmer 10 minutes. Sprinkle with lemon juice and serve.
Christmas Almond Soup
4 cups milk
1/2 pound almonds, finely ground
2 cups cooked rice (use leftovers if you like)
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup currants or raisins
3 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
Combine all ingredients and heat through gently. Don't scald the milk. Excellent served after fish course.
The unsigned recipe, titled Hunter's Stew (Latwy Bigos), will
stick to the ribs any eve including Christmas.
Latwy Bigos
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika or caraway seeds
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 pound lean beef, cubed
1 pound lean pork, cubed
2 pounds sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
2 medium onions, sliced
12 ounces kielbasa (Polish sausage) or 6 smoky link sausages cut in 1-inch pieces
1 4-ounce can sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup dry white wine
chopped parsley, optional
few small boiled potatoes, optional
Combine flour and paprika and coat meat pieces. Heat butter in a Dutch oven or sauce pot and add meat to brown on all sides. Add sauerkraut, onion, sausage, mushrooms and wine. Mix well, cover and cook over low heat for 1 1/2 to 2-hours, or until meat is tender.
Remove meat and vegetables to serving platter. Garnish with parsley and serve with small boiled potatoes if desired.
All of the recipes for the Christmas Log called for pumpkin. The chef's choice came from Jancy Holley of Kelso, Wash.
Holley's Pumpkin Cake Roll
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped nuts
FILLING
1 cup powdered sugar
9 ounces cream cheese
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
To make cake, beat the eggs on high speed for 5 minutes. Gradually add the sugar. Stir in pumpkin and lemon juice. Stir together all dry ingredients and fold into the pumpkin mixture. Spread into a greased and floured 15-by-10-by- 1-inch jellyroll pan and top with the chopped nuts.
Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, beat filling ingredients until smooth. Turn finished cake out on tea towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Beginning at narrow end, roll towel and cake together. Cool. Then unroll and spread with the cream cheese filling. Re-roll and chill. To serve, cut into 1/2 -inch slices.
Chef Syglowski, with the help of chefs and students at the Baltimore International Culinary College, tested these recipes.
If you are looking for a recipe or can answer a request for a long-gone recipe, maybe we can help. Write Ellen Hawks, Recipe Finder, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278.
If you send in more than one recipe, put each on a separate sheet of paper with your name, address and phone number. Please note the number of servings each recipe makes. We will test the first 12 recipes sent to us.