Pocket change
Mar. 20th, 2020 08:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrSo I decided to try a few changes to my Polish Grandmother's Pierogi recipe. First of all, I'd make them half the size. Second, I'd try to dry up the filling a little. Third, I'd pervert the course of European history and serve them with home-canned tomato sauce.
I mixed up the dough as before; divided it into 12 balls. Rolled and stretched each into 5-inch disks. Filled each with a generous tablespoon of filling. Sealed and crimped.
They looked much more dainty than the last batch, plump and pretty. They still swelled up surprisingly in the boil; six were more than enough for supper. I put the rest in an airtight container, uncooked, in the fridge. I've got some butter and bacon grease, so maybe we'll try the traditional version tomorrow night.
For sauce, we used a quart of home-canned tomato sauce from last summer--I use Roma tomatoes, green onions and mushrooms, basil, oregano and bay leaves. For tonight, I simmered it in a 12-inch skillet with a clove of crushed garlic and about 12 shakes of red pepper flake. Served with a little parmesan on top. Delicious!
So, my final version of the recipe:
Grandson Frank's Pierogis
Dough:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup cold water
Filling:
8 oz. (half a tub) cottage cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup shredded parmesan
2 green onions, chopped fine
salt and pepper to taste
To Fry:
Butter and bacon grease
Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder in a stand mixer bowl, then install the dough hook. With the mixer on low, dribble cold water into the bowl from a measuring cup, stopping when it starts looking like stiff bread dough. Let it run and knead for another two minutes, then pull it out.
Put cottage cheese into a mixing bowl and beat with a whisk until curds start breaking down, getting creamy. Whisk in egg, parmesan, salt and pepper. Stir in onion.
Fill a 12" saucepan half full of cold water. Add a couple of teaspoons of salt. Turn heat on high and bring to a boil.
Divide dough into twelve equal parts. On a floured rolling sheet, roll and stretch one into a circle about five inches across. Put a generous tablespoon of filling in the middle of the circle. With a pastry brush, brush water along half the circumference. Fold the dough over, pressing out surplus air and sealing together. Crimp and fold the edges pretty, and set aside on a sheet pan. Repeat until all dough and filling is used up.
By now, the water should be boiling nicely. Turn the heat down a little bit, and carefully put six pockets in the pan, keeping them separate, and checking with a wooden spoon to be sure they're not sticking to the bottom. Cover the pan and time 10 minutes. About half-way through cooking, uncover and flip them over. After 10 minutes, remove, drain, and cook the other six. (Or, I suppose they can be frozen for later? Heck if I know.)
Fry in a hot skillet with a half-and-half mixture of bacon grease and butter. Serve hot, drizzled with bacon-butter.
(Or immerse them in a pan of simmering marinara sauce, cook five more minutes, and serve with grated parmesan.)
Serves six.
I mixed up the dough as before; divided it into 12 balls. Rolled and stretched each into 5-inch disks. Filled each with a generous tablespoon of filling. Sealed and crimped.
They looked much more dainty than the last batch, plump and pretty. They still swelled up surprisingly in the boil; six were more than enough for supper. I put the rest in an airtight container, uncooked, in the fridge. I've got some butter and bacon grease, so maybe we'll try the traditional version tomorrow night.
For sauce, we used a quart of home-canned tomato sauce from last summer--I use Roma tomatoes, green onions and mushrooms, basil, oregano and bay leaves. For tonight, I simmered it in a 12-inch skillet with a clove of crushed garlic and about 12 shakes of red pepper flake. Served with a little parmesan on top. Delicious!
So, my final version of the recipe:
Grandson Frank's Pierogis
Dough:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup cold water
Filling:
8 oz. (half a tub) cottage cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup shredded parmesan
2 green onions, chopped fine
salt and pepper to taste
To Fry:
Butter and bacon grease
Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder in a stand mixer bowl, then install the dough hook. With the mixer on low, dribble cold water into the bowl from a measuring cup, stopping when it starts looking like stiff bread dough. Let it run and knead for another two minutes, then pull it out.
Put cottage cheese into a mixing bowl and beat with a whisk until curds start breaking down, getting creamy. Whisk in egg, parmesan, salt and pepper. Stir in onion.
Fill a 12" saucepan half full of cold water. Add a couple of teaspoons of salt. Turn heat on high and bring to a boil.
Divide dough into twelve equal parts. On a floured rolling sheet, roll and stretch one into a circle about five inches across. Put a generous tablespoon of filling in the middle of the circle. With a pastry brush, brush water along half the circumference. Fold the dough over, pressing out surplus air and sealing together. Crimp and fold the edges pretty, and set aside on a sheet pan. Repeat until all dough and filling is used up.
By now, the water should be boiling nicely. Turn the heat down a little bit, and carefully put six pockets in the pan, keeping them separate, and checking with a wooden spoon to be sure they're not sticking to the bottom. Cover the pan and time 10 minutes. About half-way through cooking, uncover and flip them over. After 10 minutes, remove, drain, and cook the other six. (Or, I suppose they can be frozen for later? Heck if I know.)
Fry in a hot skillet with a half-and-half mixture of bacon grease and butter. Serve hot, drizzled with bacon-butter.
(Or immerse them in a pan of simmering marinara sauce, cook five more minutes, and serve with grated parmesan.)
Serves six.
insert pocket quote here
Date: 2020-03-22 02:37 pm (UTC)I was going to find something clever to use as a title, but Wise Old Sayings dot com really fell short.
Re: insert pocket quote here
Date: 2020-03-22 07:23 pm (UTC)