5 Delicious Polish Thanksgiving Recipes

This recipe for pan-roasted filet of duck breast is fast and easy, and delicious when served with a honey-brown sugar sauce. Eastern Europeans love turkey and whole roasted birds, but this is a nice change of pace, and can be found at many of the upscale restaurants in Poland.

Rutabagas and potatoes are two favorite vegetables among Poles because they overwinter so well and winters can be very harsh in Poland. Here they are cooked in chicken stock and mashed with as much butter as your diet will allow.

Common root vegetables include potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots and beets. Their not-so-glamorous, but equally delicious, cousins include turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, and celeriac (celery root), and they show up on most Eastern European tables in late fall and winter.

This creamy side dish combines pumpkin, onion, sour cream and dill. It's not something you see everyday. Polish pumpkins are naturally very sweet. If yours is on the bland side, add a little sugar to brighten the flavor.

Polish potato bread is firm enough to accommodate sandwiches made of leftover turkey AND cranberry sauce without falling apart. And its flavor won't compete with the meat the way rye bread would.