Gram’s Pierogies

Tags

dumplings, egg noodles, family recipe, food, foodie, noodle dough, pierogi, Polish, recipe

I think the first time I ate homemade pierogies was when a classmate finished his speech on Polish immigrants, then our 7th grade class sat down to eat a Polish feast. The pierogies were buttery and oh so tasty… I didn’t eat them very often after that.

Every Saturday during college, my BFF and I would go to pierogi night at the student union… I liked mine boiled and dipped in sour cream, she liked hers fried and dipped in cheese.

Then one time I was at Hubster’s grandparents house and his Gram made gigantic pierogies, I couldn’t even finish one… It was a pillow of potatoes and cheese, way better than the Mrs. T’s ones served in college.

Hubster was the first-born grandchild in his family, and he calls his paternal grandmother Gram. All of the following grandchildren did not follow suit and they call her Meme. That means that Pumpkin, the first great-grandchild also calls her Meme. So sometimes these are called Gram’s Pierogies, other times they’re Meme’s Pierogies.

For seven years I’ve asked Gram for her pierogi recipe (Afterall, that IS why I chose to fall in love with my quarter Polish man). I always received an excuse or reason why I couldn’t have the recipe… yet. So we tried a new angle, Pumpkin asked her for it. He told her that he wanted me to make them for him on his birthday. Within two weeks she revealed her secrets. She made them his birthday weekend, and I finally made them today.

When she revealed the main ingredient of the filling as cottage cheese, I was hesitant at first. After all, every pierogi I’ve ever consumed consisted of a potato or cabbage filling. Once I made them, I sort of viewed them as Polish cheese raviolis. I did modify her recipe just a bit,  and I used my Nanny’s Florida noodle dough recipe.

Nanny Florida’s Noodle Dough

Nanny Florida’s Noodle Dough Ingredients:
4 c. flour, 4 eggs, 1/2 c. warm water, 1 tsp. fresh ground sea salt

Nanny Florida’s Noodle Dough Directions:
Mix salt into flour. Beat together eggs and 1/4 c. water. Mix egg mixture in with flour until a nice dough has formed. If mixture if too dry, add water 1 Tbsp. at a time. Cover and set aside for 1 hour. Working with 1/3 of dough at a time, roll dough out on a floured surface and cut to desired size and shape. I use a pasta press to get it thin enough.

Dough is ready for the pasta press…

Gram’s Pierogi Ingredients:
1 batch of noodle dough, 24 oz. small curd cottage cheese, 2 eggs, 2 c. chopped onion, 1 tsp. fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper, 1 stick of butter

Gram’s Pierogi Directions:
Beat eggs, and milk in salt and pepper. Mix together cheese, egg mixture and onions. Put in the fridge and allow to set for at least an hour. Bring a pot of water and some fresh ground sea salt to a boil. Grease two baking trays with butter and set aside. Spoon filling on noodle dough, fold over and use the prongs of a fork to pinch sides closed (I can’t find my dumpling press anywhere!). Drop pierogies into boiling water, stir once with a wooden spoon so they don’t stick. Pierogies will float when they are finished. Use a spoon to remove them from water (My Pampered Chef Scoop ‘N Drain is perfect for this). Place pierogies on baking tray and allow to cool. Just before serving, melt butter in a frying pan and brown pierogies on both sides.

Almost ready to boil…

I made several sizes, since Hubster likes his pierogies big enough to fill the plate. Boil large pierogies for about 5 minutes, medium for 4, and small for about 3.

Plate-sized Pierogi

To Freeze:
After boiling, allow pierogies to cool completely. Place baking tray in freezer, making sure pierogies are not touching each other. Remove tray from freezer and place pierogies in an airtight container (I use my vacuüm sealer). Return to freezer to store.

Giant Pierogi

Medium & Small Pierogies

I wanted to experiment with various filling, but Hubster vetoed each idea I had. Nest time, he just won’t get a say…

What’s cooking in your kitchen?

Lemon Spinach Fettucine with Cream Sauce

Tags

egg noodles, fettucine, food, foodie, homemade pasta, pasta, postaday2011, recipe, side dishes, spinach, spinach noodle

Our Valentine’s Day Feast Fifth Course was lemon spinach fettucine with…

Lemon Spinach Fettucine

Lemon Spinach Fettucine Ingredients:
8 oz. fresh baby spinach, 2 1/2 c. flour, 4 eggs, 2 tsp. lemon zest, fresh ground sea salt

Lemon Spinach Fettucine Directions:
Bring water to boil, add fresh spinach until leaves wilt. Cool spinach leaves in an ice bath, drain. In food processor, purée spinach, eggs, lemon zest and salt together. Change the blade in the food processor to the dough blade. Add flour and combine dough. Kneed dough on a well floured surface. Form dough in a ball and cover with a warm moist towel. Allow dough to rest. Cut dough into pieces and run through pasta press. Add salt to water and bring to boil. Boil pasta for about 5 minutes and drain, reserved 1/2 c. of the liquid.

Lemon Cream Sauce Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. butter, 1 Tbsp. minced onions, 2 tsp. lemon zest, 4 pieces of chopped bacon, 1/4 c. champagne, 1/4 c. reserved water from pasta, 1 c. heavy cream, 1 Tbsp. crushed red pepper, locatelli romano

Lemon Cream Sauce Directions:
Melt butter in pan and brown onions and bacon. Add starch water, champagne and lemon zest to pan and bring to a boil. Add cream and simmer over medium heat. Toss pasta in sauce and turn until well coated. Serve hot with fresh grated pecorino romano and crushed red peppers sprinkled over top.

Small individual courses are so fun….

What is your favorite type of pasta?

 

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Tags

chicken noodle soup, chicken soup, egg noodles

For many people, chicken noodle soup is a comfort food, whether to warm up the fall/winter or get rid of a cold. Every time I make chicken noodle soup I picture my friend’s curly blonde haired niece rapping “Chicken noodle soup, Chicken noodle soup, Chicken noodle soup, Wit a soda on the side.”  So today was no exception as I was whipping up a batch of good ol’ Jewish Penicillin…

Directions for my tasty homemade chicken noodle soup:

1) One day before eating, place a whole chicken in a large soup, fill with enough water to cover, and throw in several bay leaves. Boil until chicken starts to pull off bones. Allow to cool for a while and then place in the refrigerator overnight.

2) The next day, remove pot from refrigerator and discard any fat from the top of the pot. Slowly heat until warm, not hot. Remove chicken and separate meat then return to the pot, discarding any fat, skin, cartilage, bones and the bay leaves.

3) Add chopped parsley, thyme, chopped onions, turmeric, fresh ground sea salt, and fresh cracked black pepper to the broth and bring to a boil. Add these ingredients to taste.

4) Add chopped carrots, celery and baby corn (or regular) and allow to simmer.

5) Meanwhile, beat together three eggs and 1 Tbsp. water. Add eggs to 3 c. flour and a pinch of salt. Roll out dough to about 1/4″ thick and cut into strips (I remind Hubster that he’s so much better at getting the dough thinner, this is my subtle way of convincing him to buy mye a pasta press). I love a lot of homemade egg noodles in my soup, so I make extra.

6) Add noodles to the boiling soup only minutes before serving and then enjoy!

* I don’t add a lot of salt and pepper, so I make sure I add a little to Hubster’s bowl before serving him

*I cut my carrots either one of two ways: 1) with my ripple cutter, 2) make thin slices down the carrot before slicing it across, this makes them into little flowers.

*Corn I either use kernels or chunks of baby corn.

*Serve soup with a buttered sourdough roll.

*It is important if you’re making a large batch, to not store this with the homemade noodles, they’ll thicken it into a chowder. It’s best to make a fresh batch of noodles when reheating the soup.

Chicken noodle soup, Chicken noodle soup, Chicken noodle soup, Wit a soda on the side. I may have got the song stuck in my sister’s head as well…