Our Traditional Pierogies Food

PIEROGIES

Steps:

• Combine the flour, milk and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a food processor. Pulse until the dough forms into a ball.
• Roll out the dough on a floured board and cut into 2 1/2- by 2 1/2-inch squares. Drop about 2 teaspoons of mashed potato in the center of a dough square. Dip a finger in water, run it around the edge of the square, fold the potato inside and pinch the edges to seal. Repeat with the remaining dough and potato filling. Place the finished pierogies onto floured sheet pans.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and drop the pierogies in. When they all float to the top, they are done, 3 to 4 minutes. Strain and place in a bowl.
• While the pierogies are cooking, in large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and saute until medium brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Pour over the pierogies, gently toss and serve.

BABA'S TRADITIONAL UKRAINIAN PEROGIES RECIPE

Steps:

• Peel potatoes and cut into quarters. Cook in boiling water until soft enough to mash.
• Drain well. Reserve 2 cups of potato water for dough (optional: You can just use regular water but potato water works really well for making perogy dough!)
• Return potatoes to the pot and add the grated cheese and sautéed onion. Mash until smooth and all ingredients well combined. Place filling in the fridge to cool. Prep filling ahead of time and let it cool overnight if possible. Otherwise let cool for at least an hour or so while making the dough.
• In a large bowl, sift flour and combine with salt. Mix together the water, the oil and the egg and pour half of this mixture into the flour. Mix and slowly add the remaining liquid. Knead by hand until flour and liquid are well combined. You may need to add a small amount of either flour or water, depending on the consistency of the dough. You should end up with a ball of dough that is very pliable but not sticky.
• Wrap dough in plastic wrap or a clean plastic bag and let dough rest for at least 30 minutes.
• Cut dough in half or in thirds, keeping unused dough well wrapped in plastic until needed. Flour the table or counter lightly and roll dough to about 1/8 inch thickness.
• Cut the dough in rounds using a biscuit cutter or a small, upside down drinking glass.
• Fill each round of dough with about one tablespoon of potato filling and seal the edges of the dough together with your fingers. Make sure there are no gaps when pinching the edges because if there are, your perogies will boil out when you cook them and you'll be left with just the dough (although this is still really yummy).
• To cook, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook in small batches (10-15 perogies at a time), stirring gently to prevent dumplings from sticking together. Perogies are finished cooking when they float to the top.
• Use a slotted spoon to remove them from water and drain before transferring to a serving bowl. Toss with butter and serve hot with sour cream. Add fried onions and.or bacon bits to take your perogies to the next level!
• To freeze perogies, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and flash freeze them. You can layer parchment paper on top of perogies to freeze more on one tray, just don't let the perigees touch each other or they will stick together. Once perogies are frozen solid, transfer them to a freezer bag and store for up to 6 months.

PIEROGI (TRADITIONAL POLISH DUMPLINGS)

Steps:

• Pass farmer's cheese and cooked potatoes separately through a food grinder or food processor.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cook mushrooms and onions until soft, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Combine farmer's cheese, potatoes, mushroom mixture, sour cream, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Mix together and set filling aside.
• Place flour on a clean work surface and make a well in the center. Crack both eggs into the well. Add butter and a few tablespoons of the warm water. Mix with your hands, gradually adding more warm water, 1 tablespoon at a time, as you go. Knead well, continuing to add more water as needed. Knead until dough is soft and smooth, adding more flour to the work surface as needed.
• Cut off 1/4 of the dough and roll out to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut out circles using a glass or a round pastry cutter, saving the excess dough for your next batch.
• Fill each dough circle with 1 teaspoon of filling. Fold dough over into a half-moon shape and pinch edges together to seal. Cover with a clean dish towel so pierogi won't dry out and repeat with remaining dough and filling.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil. Add the pierogi in batches, about 20 at a time, and cook until they float to the surface, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain in a strainer. Repeat with the remaining pierogi.

OUR TRADITIONAL PIEROGIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Lightly grease one large or two small baking dishes.
• Boil the pierogies in batches until mostly cooked but not completely cooked.
• Place one layer in the baking dish with half the onions and dot with 3 tbsps. marg. or butter.
• Repeat layers, sprinkling with salt and pepper.
• Fill the baking dish not quite to the top with the whipping cream and place on a baking sheet as this helps prevent leaking onto the bottom of the oven.
• Cover and bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until pierogies are fork tender.

PIEROGIES

Steps:

• Make dough:
• Put flour in a large shallow bowl and make a well in center. Add water, egg, oil, and salt to well and carefully beat together with a fork without incorporating flour. Continue stirring with a wooden spoon, gradually incorporating flour, until a soft dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with flour as needed to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes (dough will be very soft). Invert a bowl over dough and let stand at room temperature 1 hour.
• Make filling while dough stands:
• Peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch pieces. Cook potatoes in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain potatoes, then transfer to a bowl along with cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and mash with a potato masher or a handheld electric mixer at low speed until smooth.
• When mashed potatoes are cool enough to handle, spoon out a rounded teaspoon and lightly roll into a ball between palms of your hands. Transfer ball to a plate and keep covered with plastic wrap while making 47 more balls in same manner (there will be a little filling left over).
• Make onion topping:
• Cook onion in butter in a 4- to 5-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally (stir more frequently toward end of cooking), until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
• Form and cook pierogies:
• Halve dough and roll out 1 half (keep remaining half under inverted bowl) on lightly floured surface (do not overflour surface or dough will slide instead of stretching) with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 15-inch round (1/8 inch thick), then cut out 24 rounds with lightly floured cutter. Holding 1 round in palm of your hand, put 1 potato ball in center of round and close your hand to fold round in half, enclosing filling. Pinch edges together to seal completely. (If edges don't adhere, brush them lightly with water, then seal; do not leave any gaps or pierogi may open during cooking.) Transfer pierogi to a lightly floured kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and cover with another towel. Form more pierogies in same manner.
• Bring a 6- to 8-quart pot of salted water to a boil. Add half of pierogies, stirring once or twice to keep them from sticking together, and cook 5 minutes from time pierogies float to surface. Transfer as cooked with a slotted spoon to onion topping and toss gently to coat. Cook remaining pierogies in same manner, transferring to onions. Reheat pierogies in onion topping over low heat, gently tossing to coat.

PIEROGIES

Steps:

• Place the sour cream in a large bowl, and mix in flour to make a dough. Roll the dough out on a floured surface about 1/16 inch thick, and cut rounds about 3 1/2 inches across using a cookie cutter or a glass. Re-roll the unused dough to make more rounds, up to 4 times -- after that, it gets hard to work with.
• Place about 1 teaspoon of mashed potatoes in the center of each dough round, fold over into a half-moon shape, and press and seal the edges with a fork. Set the filled pierogies aside under a towel to prevent drying.
• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat, and cook and stir the onions until translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the cooked onions and set aside, leaving butter in the skillet.
• Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil, and carefully drop a few filled pierogies at a time into the boiling water. After they float to the surface, allow them to gently boil for about 4 minutes.
• Re-heat the butter in the skillet over medium heat. Gently scoop the pierogies out of the water (they break easily) and place them in the skillet to brown on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Place the fried pierogies on a buttered baking sheet, sprinkle them with the cooked onions, and keep warm in the oven on low setting until served.