Christmas #3: Uszka with mushroom filling – another polish custom

Hello, is Santa Claus already there?

I don’t know how about you, but I can’t wait until Christmas!

I want to eat all this food, spend time with my family and see their faces when they unwrap the presents. It is so much fun every year.

Most of the food we need has already been prepared. Actually, I am sipping right now on my mom’s borscht. It is so good, you won’t believe it! I am drinking it from a cup, but on Christmas Eve we eat in from a bowl with uszka. But what are uszka? These are little dumplings with mushroom filling that resemble animals’ ears. Aren’t they cute?

What is more, they are super delicious. As I mentioned in my pierogi post I really like the taste of the dough. Here it is the same. And when you chump them you can taste the mushrooms, which go perfectly with the borscht. It is like a symphony in your mouth, in my opinion.

These beauties are waiting in the freezer until Christmas to be eaten. Right now, the only things that have to be made are: Christmas mayonnaise salad, kutia and poppyseed cake. I still have a few days so I think I will manage, but who knows??? Gotta come home early tomorrow to do everything. On Tuesday I’ll have no time to bake and cook because I am going on a Christmas date with my love. Fortunately, I already know what I am going to wear, so that’s one problem fewer.

Let’s not forget about decorating the Christmas Tree! We’re going to do this on probably Wednesday and I really can’t wait. Our tree is so cute this year! It is not very big, but it is beautifully trimmed and full and has a perfect shape. Just gorgeous!

And how about you? How are your Christmas preparations going? Are you as excited as I am?

Let me know in the comments!

Uszka with mushroom filling

These are a type of pierogi, but they are stuck differently – the base is not a circle but a square. We eat them in our Christmas soup – polish borscht. Their name is from their shape – they look like little animal ears! I personally love the taste. You can taste the flour in the dough and mushrooms in the filling. They are perfect if you love the taste and the texture of the dough, because you cannot put too much filling into them and therefore the dough is a bit more discernible.

Prep time: 3 hours
Cook time: 3 minutes
Total time: 3 hours
Yields about 80 “ears”

Ingredients:

Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour,
about 1 cup boiling water,
pinch of salt,

Filling:
about 8 cooked cep mushrooms (see my Polish pierogi post for directions on cooking dried mushrooms)
1 onion
1 tbsp oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook the mushrooms as said in this recipe. Drain them and let cool down a bit.

2. Chop an onion and fry in on a bit of oil until golden and fragrant.

3. Add the mushrooms to a food processor along with an onion, salt and pepper. Pulse a few times until a smooth, paste consistency is reached. Taste and season more if needed.

4. Let cool completely before assembling “ears”.

5. Make the dough: combine flour and hot water (pour in slowly!) in a bowl using a knife. Then knead with your hands when it has cooled down to touch. Transfer onto a pastry board and knead more until everything is combined and has a rubbery like consistency that is neither too dry nor to damp. Sprinkle some flour on the surface. Roll the dough. It should be 2-4 mm thick.

6. Cut the dough into 4 cm squares. Add a tiny bit of the filling onto the centre of the square. Fold it in half to form a triangle and stick the sides together. Then stick two of its vertices together to form an ear. Repeat until the rest of the dough is used up. If it doesn’t stick spread a bit of water on the dough and then press.

7. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add water and oil. Throw in the “ears” and cook until they come up to the surface of the water or for about 3 minutes. Drain and put into bowls. Pour borscht over and serve. If you want to, you can freeze them. I am not sure if they should be cooked before freezing or not. I didn’t do it this year and we will see how it goes.

Merry Christmas,
Adela