With both of us home on a Sunday, we opted for a more time-consuming dish and decided to make pierogies. (Not to mention Sean's Ukrainian heritage...) It was well worth the time and effort, and we had the help from our friend RJ. We chose two different fillings, one potato based, and the other with sour kraut. Both had fried onions and bits of bacon mixed in to make them extra tasty. The dough was simple, but filling the pierogies does take time and focus. Finally, they are boiled and then fried in bacon fat for a little browning. The final product is served with sour cream and more onions. It was the perfect comfort food for our Sunday dinner!
Ingredients
Dough:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup water
1 large egg
1/2 t salt
2 t vegetable oil
Potato Filling:
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 oz cream cheese (a fourth of a package)
4 oz shredded cheddar
2 strips of cooked crumbled bacon
a couple spoonfuls of the fried onion
salt and pepper
Sour Kraut Filling:
1 package of sour kraut, drained well (about 2 cups)
2 strips of cooked crumbled bacon
a couple spoonfuls of fried onion
Toppings:
sour cream
extra fried onions (we ended up using one large onion for the whole dish)
green onions
crumbled bacon (optional, but definitely have as a topping if you choose to exclude it from the pierogi filling)
Directions:
Begin by making the dough. It has to rest for one hour before rolling. (we couldn't wait quite that long) In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt. Make a well in the middle and pour in the water and oil, and add the egg. Scramble the egg into the water, and begin to incorporate the flour from the edges until it is all mixed in. Take the dough to a kneading surface with extra flour and knead for 5-10 minutes or until the dough is soft and stretchy.
Cover the dough with a clean dish towel to let it rest. Next, begin the potato filling. Cover the potatoes in a pot with water and salt, and bring to a boil. Boil them until tender, about 15 minutes (depending on the exact size of your potatoes). Meanwhile, fry the four pieces of bacon (or more), reserving bacon fat for the onions and cooked pierogies. Leave about 2 T bacon in the pan for the onion. Slice the onion and fry it over medium heat in the bacon fat, added a bit of extra salt if needed. Let them cook until they are browned and soft, but not mushy. Remove from heat.
After the potatoes have drained, return to the pot and and mash. Then, add the cream cheese and stir to combine. Finally, add the grated cheddar cheese. The mixture should be dry... don't add water or milk like you might do for mashed potatoes, because you want the pierogi filling to be firm. Then, add the about half of the crumbled bacon and a few spoonfuls of the fried onion.
For the sour kraut filling, mix the drained sour kraut with the rest of the bacon and a few spoonfuls of onion.
Now that the fillings are ready to go, begin to prepare the dough. This amount of dough is enough to make 48 pierogies. Start by cutting the dough in half. Keep one half under the towel so it doesn't dry out, while you use the other half. Cut the dough into 24 even pieces. They will seem pretty small when you are done, but they are rolled thin so it works out. Sprinkle some flour on your rolling surface, and also have flour available to coat the rolling pin as needed so it won't stick. Start to roll out the pieces of dough, and they will be about 3 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick when ready to be filled.
To fill the pierogies, place a heaping teaspoon of filling on one side of the dough circle, but not too close to the edges. Have a small bowl of water nearby to dip your finger in to wet the edges of the dough. Then, fold it over and press edges to seal. Continue filling, and prepare for the next step - boiling. Having people to help and setting up an assembly line makes it much easier!
Boil some water in a large pot, and boil the pierogies for about 30 seconds to 1 minute or until they come to a float. Don't over-crowd the pot... we didn't do more than 5 or 6 at a time. Drain them when they are done boiling, and prepare for the final step which is to brown them in a skillet with bacon fat. Heat the bacon fat over medium and place the pierogies in the pan. After about 2 minutes or until crisping, flip and cook one minute longer. Remove and continue doing this one batch at a time.
After all of your hard work, you will be rewarded with a beautiful plateful of pierogies! If you are serving this for a meal, we all ate 9 each as a serving size estimate.
Top with sour cream, extra fried onions, and green onions.
After receiving a fall mixed produce crate from our local organic delivery service (another Groupon deal) we were left with a cornucopia of root vegetables and squash. Acorn squash and spaghetti squash to be specific. Squash is one of those things I've never really liked and it was a challenge to come up with ways to cook it so that I would actually eat it. The first attack: acorn squash, along with trying to use up as much of the other random vegetables as possible (small potatoes, beets, turnips, onion)
I decided on making a vegetable curry, roasting the squash and root vegetables. The squash was pureed to thicken the curry, and the other vegetables were simply added once they were done. It made for a warm & delicious fall dinner, as well as super healthy and vegetarian. The purple beets & yellow squash combination turn the curry a beautiful bright red color, hence the dish's title.
Ingredients:
- 1 small acorn squash (butternut squash or pumpkin would work too)
- 1 large beet
- 1 large Potato or two medium
- 1 turnip (optional)
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can garbanzo beans
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
- 1 tablespoon yellow curry powder
- 1 tablespoon red curry paste (or use more yellow curry powder)
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
- olive oil
- handful of chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (I used apple cider vinegar but lemon juice is ideal)
- fresh basil & roasted sunflower seeds as garnish
Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees F
Start by roasting the acorn squash. Halve it, scoop out the seeds & pulp, brush the inside with oil and place face-side down on a baking sheet. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the inside is completely fork tender. Before and after roasting shots below.
Next, peel and cube the beet, potato, and turnip (if using). Mix with olive oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Spread evenly onto a baking sheet or dish, and place in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until tender.
While the vegetables are roasting... Heat 2 T oil over medium heat. Add the red curry paste and stir quickly (it splatters) to infuse the oil with the curry flavor.
Next, add the carrots and sautee for 3-4 minutes. (Some of the curry paste stuck to the bottom of my pan, so I had to deglaze with a few tablespoons of broth so it wouldn't burn. This may or may not happen depending on your pan.) Then add the chopped onion, and continue to sautee until the onions soften, about 10 minutes. Next add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.
Pour 1 cup broth into the pan, along with the yellow curry powder and cayenne pepper.
Bring to a simmer, add the garbanzo beans, and cook on low for 10-15 minutes, or until you are ready to add the squash.
When the acorn squash is done, scoop out the flesh. Combine this with 1/2 cup broth and blend. (Immersion blender or food processor will work) Stir this mixture into the curry and continue to simmer over low heat.
When the other vegetables are done roasting, remove them from the oven and stir into the curry mixture.
Add chopped parsley and lemon juice, stirring to combine.
Serve over rice, sprinkle chopped fresh basil and sunflower seeds on top.
If you're interested in the second squash recipe, check out our spaghetti squash side dish with tomato, black olives & feta cheese.
