Most of us have eaten Eastern European food at some point, perhaps without even realizing it. Ever roast a kielbasa on the grill or make a pack of frozen pierogies? The cuisine includes fare from Russian, Slovak, Polish and other ethic traditions. Steve Wardega, of Jeannette, executive chef for the Concordia Club in Oakland and part-time culinary instructor at Westmoreland County Community College, recently led a discussion in his Garde Manger class that focused on his particular heritage: Wardega is 100 percent Polish. He said that two of the recipes the class made were "stolen" from his mother and grandmother. "My grandmother's recipes were not exact," Wardega said. "Her recipes would call for so many coffee cups of flour, but when we went to make them, we weren't sure which of her coffee cups she was using to make the recipes. It's been trial and error, but my mother's cooking is very close." Wardega told stories about growing up and only being allowed to miss school on Fridays if he was in front of the meat grinder, helping to make kielbasa and other sausages. "We hand-ground and hand-mixed everything," he said. In the lab kitchen at WCCC, Wardega stressed the importance of having as little air as possible in the casings when stuffing them with the ground meat mixture to encourage even cooking and cut down on bacteria. He added that his family used to make long ropes of sausages using natural casings and tie them into rings because they were easier to smoke that way. He also said chilling the meat makes it easier to grind. "Almost every European ethic group has some version of sausage that helped to preserve meats and totally utilize every edible part of an animal," he said. Wardega also mentioned that salt and pepper were usually the only spices seen in most traditional eastern European dishes. "They used what they had," he said. "They would not buy something unless they had to. They'd rather pick, dig, grow or butcher their own. When something like sugar wasn't in the house, my grandmother would use fruits, for example, to sweeten a dish." Hence the reason Wardega recalls eating prune pierogies as a child, traditionally served at Christmastime. He also remembers his grandmother owning a plum tree and serving plum pierogies with sour cream and sugar in the summer. In addition, Slovaks will sometimes make pierogies with sour cream instead of margarine and milk, which makes their pierogies lighter and fluffier, he said. People can make pierogies out of anything, Wardega said with a laugh. While preparing the pierogies in class, Wardega explained that most Europeans would not use cheese for the filling, but often use potatoes, cabbage or mushrooms. He also said that when families began to blend their ethnic backgrounds, the recipes changed a little bit and created new traditions. For example, haluski is generally made with homemade noodles, but it is also common to see it with spaetzle, a drop noodle native to German cuisine. "One of the common traits of eastern European cooking is that, besides using a lot of butter, cooks use what they have to make a dish that may not be fancy, but is filling," he said.

Kielbasa 14 pounds boneless pork butt 3 pounds crushed ice 7 1/2 ounces nonfat dry milk powder (optional) 21 beef round casings, rinsed, cut into 15-inch lengths and tied at one end with a bubble knot CURE MIX 7 1/2 ounces salt 1 1/2 ounces tinted curing mix (TCM), found in ethnic markets 1 1/2 ounces dextrose SPICE BLEND 1 ounce ground white pepper (can also use black pepper) 1/2 ounce dry mustard (optional) 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder Trim the pork and cut into cubes. Toss the pork with the cure mix. Chill well. Grind through the course plate (3/8-inch) of a meat grinder. Toss with the spice blend. Chill well and grind through the fine plate (1/8-inch) of a meat grinder. Place in the freezer until semi-frozen. Transfer the ground meat to a chilled chopper bowl. Add the ice on top of the ground meat. Process the ingredients until the mixture drops to a temperature of 30 degrees. Continue running the machine until temperature rises to 45 degrees. Add dry milk powder (if using) and continue processing until the mixture reaches 58 degrees. Stuff into prepared casings and tie the open ends with a bubble knot. Hot smoke at 160 degrees until desired color is achieved (11/2 to 2 hours). Poach in water at 165 degrees to an internal temperature of 150 degrees, then shock in ice water to an internal temperature of 60 degrees. Blot dry. Prepare the sausage for immediate use by sauteing, grilling, broiling or baking just until hot, or wrap and refrigerate for up to 7 days. Makes 20 pounds.

Pierogies DOUGH 1/2 cup margarine 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk 1 egg, beaten 2 1/2 cups flour Melt margarine and add milk and warm slightly. Combine with flour and salt and mix. Add beaten egg and mix until smooth. Add more flour if needed. FILLING 6 to 8 large potatoes 8 ounces Longhorn or cheddar cheese 2 large onions, diced and sauteed butter as needed salt and pepper Cook potatoes and mash while hot. Add cheese, sauteed onions, salt and pepper. Cool mixture before using. ASSEMBLY butter for sauteing 1 large onion, diced Roll dough out about 1/4-inch thick. Cut pierogies out using round cutter. Fill with rounded teaspoon of filling. Fold and pinch ends together. Cook filled pierogies in salted water at a slow boil. Remove gently. Saute with butter and onion. Can also serve with sour cream.

Haluski NOODLES 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup water 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg Combine flour, salt and nutmeg. Combine egg and water and beat into flour mixture until smooth. Drop in salted boiling water from spaetzle maker or large colander. CABBAGE 2 to 3 heads of cabbage 4 to 6 large onions 1 to 2 pounds of butter Salt and pepper Cook cabbage until tender in salted boiling water. Drain well. Saute onion and butter until brown, then mix with noodles and cabbage. Season to taste. Additional Information:

Recipe contest

This article is part of the Tribune-Review's monthlong celebration of eastern European food. Readers are encouraged to submit their favorite eastern European recipes for entry in the Home Plate Recipe Contest through Thursday. Entry form Download Adobe Reader

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