Paczi

     Multicultural week in the kitchen - Creole yesterday and Polish today. I had always wanted to try my hand at Paczi, and figured that they could be served appropriately on Fat Tuesday, as is Polish custom. My grandmother, who was born in Poland, never served these probably because she was a very busy wife, mother, working woman (in a furniture factory) and a first-generation American (wanting to assimilate). Doughnuts are not my forte, although in the past I have made a ricotta and a potato variety, which both turned out pretty good. But doughnuts can be time consuming and somewhat messy, so they are best saved for an afternoon with little else planned. I found a recipe online that had several good reviews and claimed to be authentically Polish, so forged onward with a yeast sponge set to rise.

     Later after adding other ingredients, rolling and cutting the dough, and rising once again, the two inch rounds were dropped into hot canola oil (to minimize mess and spatters, I use a medium size heavy saucepan with high sides and fry only three doughnuts at a time). After draining on paper towels and cooling on a platter, I injected strawberry preserves into half the batch, and then glazed them all.

     However good most of my doughnuts turn out, and of course I pick the prettiest for photographing, the first batch to fry always fails or at least doesn't look as nice as the rest. Perhaps I am impatient and the oil is not hot enough to brown properly. For whatever reason, the winter birds are very happy with the crumbs!