Recipe for Polish Easter Soup...

Polish Easter Soup

Polish Easter soup is made with the ingredients that were included in the traditional blessing of the baskets on Holy Saturday before Easter Sunday. In Polish it is known as święcenie pokarmow. The ingredients included in the blessed basket are:

· Kielbasa (Polish sasuage)

o Fresh Kielbasa

o Smoked Kielbasa

· A small piece of Polish Ham (Krakus is a good Polish brand)

· Colored Hard Boiled Eggs (Often referred to in Polish as Pisanki)

· Butter formed into lambs (baranek wielkanocny)

· Miniature Rye Bread

· Salt & Pepper in small crystal shakers

· Horseradish (Red or White or both)

· Pickled Beets

Ingredients not included in the blessed basket are:

· Cube the Miniature Rye Bread for later inclusion

· 1 – Beef Shank

· White Vinegar

· Prepare the beef broth which is the basis for the Easter Soup

· Add approximately 6 – 8 cups of water to the Beef Shank, salt and pepper to taste. Boil for approximately 1 ½ to 2 hours for a nice beef flavor. Remove beef shank when you have the flavor you like

· Chop up Fresh and Smoked Kielbasa into 1 inch pieces and add to beef broth

· Cube the piece of Ham into small squares and add to beef broth Slow boil items in the beef broth 30 – 45 minutes

· Add one small cap full of White Vinegar to soup

· Chop up 4 Hard Boiled Eggs and add to the broth

· Add approximately 2 Tbs. Lamb Butter to broth

· 1 tsp of Red and White Horseradish each to broth

· Chop up 2 medium sized Pickled Beets and add to broth

· Salt & Pepper to taste

· At serving time add some cubed Miniature Rye Bread to each bowl of Easter Soup served

There you have a good and simple recipe for Traditional Polish Easter Soup. I hope you enjoy eating it as much as I have enjoyed sharing this with you. Thanks be to Jesus Christ our Savior and my mother and grandmother for teaching me how to make it.