Smaczny Pierozki!

[Because the phrase "Delicious pierogi!" looks way cooler in Polish.]

I love pierogi. I do I do I do! They are especially wonderful this time of year since they are hearty and filling. For those who need a clue, I'll fill you in. Many different cultures have some version of a dumpling. There are fried buns (Russian), pot stickers (Chinese), gyoza (Japanese), Fufu (Africa), Ravioli (Italy), and a whole bunch more that I can't think of at the moment. Dumplings are simply cooked balls of dough. They are typically starch based using flour, potato, or bread; they may or may not be filled. Pierogi are the glorious dumplings that come from Poland. Traditionally they are filled with potato, ground meat, sauerkraut, cheese, or fruit. Most often they are boiled, then fried or baked to give a slightly crisp texture. And dude, are they yummy!

In my area, what we consider "specialty foods" can be hard to find. The only pierogi I can find around here are Mrs. T's in the freezer section. And I almost picked some up the other day. Then I thought better of it. I said to myself, "Elle! You have culinary training. Like, good culinary training. You've made pot stickers and ravioli all by yourself like a big girl chef! Surely you can make pierogi." Oh! And when I got home, the first post in my news feed was from a lady that goes to my church who posted a recipe for- wait for it- homemade pierogi. IT WAS A SIGN! So I did it. And they were awesome. So here is the recipe, with my small adjustments:

Homemade Cheese and Potato Pierogi (adapted from 12 Tomatoes)
Dough:
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 large egg, room temperature and lightly beaten
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
1/4 butter, softened (you could also use olive oil)

Mix together the flour and salt. Add in the egg and blend together with a fork. The dough will be very clumpy and crumbly which is totally ok at this point. Work in the sour cream and butter. I found that it was easiest to start blending these ingredients in with a fork, then switching to fingertips as the dough comes together more. Knead the dough for approximately 3 minutes folding it over a few times as you go. The end result should be a moist, relatively smooth ball of dough. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes. It will hold nicely for up to 48 hours.

Filling:
1 cup mashed potato*
1 cup shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar this time)
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder or 1 small clove of fresh garlic, grated

*[I peeled and roughly chopped 1 large, russet potato. I boiled it in salted water for about 8 minutes until it was tender, drained it, and mashed it with a fork.]

While the potato is still warm, mix all ingredients together until the cheese has melted and is evenly incorporated. Allow mixture to cool completely.

Assembly:
2 to 3 Tbsp flour**
1 large pot of boiling salted water
rolling pin
2-inch round cutter or drinking glass

Break the dough into 2 pieces. Roll out half of the dough to about an 1/8 inch in thickness. **You will need to flour your rolling pin and cutting surface very well as this dough tends to be quite sticky. Cut as many dough circles as you can and gently set them aside. Repeat with the other half of the dough. You should get 20 to 24 circles if using a 2-inch cutter. Place about 2 tsp of the cooled filling in the center of each dough circle. Fold the dough over forming a pocket and pinch the edges together to make a seal. Press the tines of a fork around the edges to unsure the dumplings are sealed well. (I tried using a pastry wheel to make the edges pretty, but it didn't work so well. The dough is too sticky. I don't recommend it.)

This poor little guy in the front fell victim to my pastry wheel experiment.
Just stick with the fork. Ha! 

Place the finished dumplings- 6 to 10 at a time, depending on pot size- in a pot of boiling water for about 8 minutes. When they float to the top, give them about 5 minutes before you pull them out and they should be cooked. The original recipe says 10 minutes, but they didn't take that long at all for me. If you are not serving these immediately, you can skip the boiling stage and just freeze them until you're ready for them. To serve, saute the pierogi in a small amount olive oil or butter until golden on each side.

Mmmmm...

I served ours with kielbasa sausage, applesauce, and sour cream.
(The green stuff are snow peas I threw in for color.)

Now that I've made them successfully, I'll start playing around with the fillings and try to make them look prettier. If you try this recipe, let me know how you liked it!

Sources:
Original Recipe
Pierogi research

Shared at: Frugal by Choice, Cheap by Necessity 

"Rut" is such a weird word

It's me again, Margret. The last time I wrote in this thingamablog (see what I did there?) I was in Texas with 2 very large basset hounds and an infant. Now I'm back home with 1 largely obnoxious cat and a toddler. It amazes me how fast kids grow. And you never fully understand just how fast until you have one of your own. Or until you have one at close proximity to you on a daily basis. Whichever.

I'm not going to make any promises I can't keep. So there will be no talk of a series of posts (because that always works out so well!) or a vow to write so many times a month. There is simply my hope of writing more to improve my writing, share my thoughts with those who care to hear/see them, and maybe bring myself a little closer to figure out just exactly where I fit in to the culinary world.

I've been reading more and more blogs and am honestly incredibly intimidated. Have I mentioned this before? I'm having an acute Deja Vu attack right about now. I'll go back and check later. Anyway I really feel the need to improve. There are so many people out there that blog for a cause or blog for a living. People make money for writing whatever they want on the Internet. Seriously. And can I just say that, while I'm only 26, I remember a time less than 20 years ago when the Internet was strange and foreign and most people were still trying to figure out what exactly it's purpose was. Hell, computers were still confusing to me until high school. The only thing I ever used them for was Mario Teaches Typing (I will forever be grateful to my Daddy for that one) and Claris Works word processing. I was taught DOS in middle school, okay. We still used floppy disks. And now that I've made many of you, including myself, feel incredibly old, how 'bout a little chat about food?
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I've been working on staying out of a food rut when it comes to cooking at home. I know a lot of people complain about it and it happens quite often around here. A few weeks back it seemed like all I ever cooked in this house was bacon and eggs or cheeseburgers. We are also trying to trying to seriously get into healthier habits in my household. Not in the New Year's resolution kind of way where you keep at it for a month or so and then go back to your old, self-destructive ways. More of the subtle lifestyle changes that will become routine kind of way. In order to accomplish this my husband and I sat down and came up with 30 meal ideas that we'd like to have over the next few weeks. I've been adding to that list every time I come up with something new and now I think we're up to 56 individual meals? Something like that. They must all include a veggie and most of them have left-overs potential. For instance the pot roast left over from dinner on Thursday was turned into a component for my umm...knock-off version of poutine is about the only way I can describe it. I used the cooking liquid to make a yummy gravy, chopped the roast into smaller pieces, and added it back to the gravy. Then I made some twice baked potatoes, topped them with some aged, raw milk cheddar, and stuck them under the broiler. I put the potato(es) on a plate, topped with the "new" roast creation, and ate. I was pretty proud of myself. Serve some steamed or sauteed veggies on the side and it's complete, healthful meal. The roast was extremely lean (eye of round), I used a tablespoon of butter to make about 3 servings of gravy. I used another tablespoon of butter, 2 tablespoons of sour cream, and about a quarter of a cup of cheese to make 6 twice baked potatoes (3 medium potatoes cut in half). So per serving, these really aren't that bad at all.

I think we're off to a good start. Staying out of a food rut and cooking/eating in a more healthy way is just the beginning, though. Next is portion control, exercise, and paying attention to the numbers.Lucky for y'all I'm more about posting recipes and talking about food than I am talking about numbers and calorie counting and math!

And with that, I have to go dig myself out of another rut- the "I don't ever want to do laundry again" rut. Here's hoping I post again soon!

Elle

Beware of exploding potatoes!

This has happened to me before, so it's not a new experience. But I didn't have this blog then and therefore no one to share my wisdom with. Aren't you so lucky that this happened to me again?!

Potatoes explode. If you don't pierce the skin before putting them in the oven, they will eventually explode leaving a crispy skin hanging from the oven rack and bits of potato will cover the bottom of your oven.

I was getting my prep done for supper tonight- thawing the pork chops and chicken, figuring out what other vegetables to have, and baking the potatoes the first time for the twice-baked potatoes. I cleaned the potatoes well and dried them off. Then, I grabbed a fork and pierced each one a several times...or so I thought. I had six small potatoes and I could have sworn that I pierced all six before placing them in the oven. Apparently I missed one, because about 30 minutes later I smelled something burning. I opened the oven door and sure enough, one of my potatoes had burst leaving a crisp skin dangling from the rack while little bits of white and lightly brown flesh were scattered all of the bottom of the oven. I cleaned everything up, pulled the other potatoes out to cool, and then what did I do? I took pictures of the disaster, of course!

The moral of the story (though, I'm sure this is common knowledge): Potatoes, especially farm fresh potatoes or new potatoes, will explode if the skins have not been pierced or vented in some way. Don't let it happen to you!
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Elle's Adventures in Dining Out (or eating in)

Clemson, SC (for the locals)

Little Pigs Bar-B-Q
A casual, quick-service restaurant serving Carolina style, pork BBQ. The chopped pork is flavorful, juicy, and tender and the homemade sauces are the perfect compliment. I prefer their signature mild sauce, which is savory and vinegar-based. They also offer a hot vinegar-based sauce (which is the staff favorite), a South Carolina mustard-based sauce, and a more traditional tomato-based sauce. Oh! And you have to try the apple sticks. You won't regret it.
Price range- $5 to $15
Eat in, carry out, bulk carry out, catering

Greenville, SC
Steak 'n Shake (nation-wide chain)
I know, I know. Yet another chain burger joint. But there's something about the burgers and those teeny, matchstick fries. Not to mention some fond memories I have that involve 15 people on a 3 am burger run in Ohio. I like my steakburger with American cheese and bacon, while my fiance prefers the cheesy cheddar steakburger. Most all of them are delicious and let's not forget the milkshakes. A meal at Steak 'n Shake wouldn't be complete without the "Shake" part.
Price Range- $5 to $10