Wednesday, September 30, 2009

How I Make Pierogies

Hey All,

I decided to do this for Annie, but whomever gets benefit out of it... I'm happy to share my wisdom.

So growing up my mom encouraged us to try a huge variety of foods, as far back as I can remember I was eating, Japanese food, Chinese food, Italian food and the list goes on and on... one of my very favorite foods is I guess Polish although various other cultures do very similar things so we can't give them all the credit and that is the Pierogie. What a pierogie is, is a dumping that is filled with various ingredients, most commonly potato... and usually onion and or cheese. More info can be found in Wikipedia.

I grew up on "Mrs. T's" brand pictured below, but I'm sure others are good, I have just haven't tried any yet.
The instructions tell you to EITHER boil them or fry them... my mom taught me how she did it, and after a few other attempts, I did find this to be the best way... and that is to do BOTH. First boil water, salt and oil just before dropping them in.

Then when they are al-dente put them into a med-hot pan with lots of butter (onion, pepper and whatever else sounds good can be added at this point... serving them with sausage is very popular as well.)
I like to put a tiny bit of butter (and pepper) on the top before I flip them just to really make sure you get a nice crispiness on the top too. Once they crispy up on the bottom... takes longer then you'd think but its well worth the wait, flip them over.

Once they are all crispy and happy, then plate.

Top with sour cream! You'll think you died and went to heaven. :)

They can be served with just about anything as I mentioned before, I decided to do Peas and Corn this time since its similar to mashed potatoes (and its something I had just laying around the house), I thought it would go good together, as it turned out, it totally did! :)

I hope you enjoyed my little picture/instruction on the ever elusive pierogie... maybe I inspired you to try something new and maybe just a bit sinful. ;)

ENJOY!

P.s There is a "fat free" sour cream made by "Naturally Yours" that is amazing... I'd say its the best tasting sour cream on the market I've had and FAT FREE... so you don't feel too bad giving a nice big dollop on each pierogie. :)