Polish Scrambled Eggs with Sausage

{Jajecznica na Kiełbasie}

I’ m starting a series of recipe post about Polish breakfast. It’s a series because there is not one dish that could be claimed as a breakfast dish, but rather a variety of dishes that are considered breakfast food.

In my experience, breakfast food changes as you grow. When I was a child, everyday breakfast was always cereal (or other grain or even pasta) with warm milk, in Polish called milk soup “zupa mleczna”. Cereal varied, but most popular in my home was corn flakes. Occasionally, mom would serve oatmeal or cream-of-wheat with a variety of additions (marmalade or jam, chocolate or cinnamon). This provided us with belly-warming and notorious “filler” and kept us going until “second breakfast”. Oh, how I hated milk soup and the idea of warm milk makes me cringe to this day. When we (my brother and I) were old enough to have an opinion, we lobbied for alternatives, a favorite being “nalesniki” (thin sweet crapes) with farmer’s cheese or jam. This is a bit time-consuming dish, so it would mostly be served on a weekend.

For me, one that always won the day (and still does) is farmer’s cheese with chives. If I get creative (read: not lazy), I’d add tomatoes or cucumbers (or both) or better yet, crunchy radishes. Add a slice of hearty bread with butter and the pleasure of breakfast is complete.

Once in a while, when we had guests for breakfast, especially on Sunday mornings, we had boiled eggs cooked to order, served warm. My favorite: medium-boiled: soft and runny yolk and a solid white. A plate with cold cuts and cheeses would join the party, and a side of sliced tomatoes and onions. Sometimes links of smoked sausage warmed up in water for carnivores of the family. Fresh bread and rolls from the local bakery would finish the spread. Everyone drank hot tea as their drink of choice. Add the mentioned farmer’s cheese to this list, and this remains my favorite breakfast combo to this day.

On days that time is of the essence, quickly scrambled eggs with onions and smoked sausage or ham does the job. Spice up the meal with an addition of tomatoes and parsley, and you won’t leave you feeling like you’re missing out.

When holidays (Easter or Christmas) roll around, unusual breakfast choices fill the table, chicken in gelatin “galaretka z kurczaka” being one, for example… but that’s a whole other story.

To start off my breakfast series, I’m giving you quick recipe for scrambled eggs with sausage. Believe you me, try this and you won’t settle for plain boring and dry eggs ever again.  And why should you.

I’m also showing an alternative and providing one more delicious way to serve scrambled eggs, the Polish way.

Try it out and (re)discover Polish culture by way of our food.

Love,

Anna