Pirogie Night in Canada

My first homemade perogie.

I've been craving perogies (pirogies) for the last little while. I saw a sign that had "Pirogie Night in Canada" on it a while ago and for the life of me can't seem to find the photo I took of it. But obviously it stuck and it got me to research various perogie recipes online. After a bit of experimenting, the recipe below is what I've come up with.

When broken down the perogie is basically mashed potato in a dough wrapper. You can buy them at a grocery store for only a few dollars a bag. Should you be located in the world where these things don't come easily, or you want to make them yourself from scratch to fully appreciate them read on for my recipe in this blog entry.

The last few days I've been perfecting my technique on the creation of pirogies. This got me out today looking for a cookie cutter that would allow me to cut dough to the size of a dumping mold I got a few years ago.

NOTE: You don't need a dumpling mold or a specific cookie cutter.

You can use a cup or glass as the cookie cutter and your hands to fold the dough wrapper. However, since I'm a fan of food automation and like the idea that making food can take less time than actually eating the food I use a cookie cutter and mold. Part of that could also be that I just like kitchen gadgets.


The dumpling mold and the cookie cutter.

To help avoid confusion I've broken down my recipe into two sections, the wrapper dough and the filling. When shopping for ingredients make sure you look at both lists otherwise you may forget some food items and have to go out again.

Also it helps to have some kind of automated mixer perhaps with a J hook specifically for dough. You can mix with a wooden spoon in a bowl but it'll take some work.

Gear Used

• frying pan (for onions, and cooking pirogies)
• pot (that can hold at least 5 potatoes, for cooking potatoes and/or boiling perogies)
• mixing bowl (for making dough)
• bowl (for holding cheese, can later be used to hold mashed potato mixture)
• container (for refrigerating dough)
• container (for made dumplings)
• mixer (for dough) or wooden spoon
• knife (for cutting potatoes, cheese)
• measuring cup
• cheese shredder
• cutting board
• cookie cutter
• dumpling mold

The Wrapper: Ingredients

• 4 cups of flour
• 1/2 cup of butter
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of sour cream

Directions

cut up the 1/2 cup of butter into small chunks
place all ingredients in bowl and mix.
Place dough mixture into the refrigerator to let butter harden (could be 30 minutes or over night or while you are making the filling).


The results of the mixed ingredients should look something like this


The Filling: Ingredients

• 5 potatoes
• 2 onions
• 1/2 cup of cheese (does not have to be cheddar)
• 2 tablespoons of butter (or to taste)

Directions

take cheese and shred into a bowl.

cut up the onions.
place in a frying pan with butter.
cook until onions are translucent.

Wash potatoes, peel them, then chop them up into small cubes (1 cm cubed is good).
Place in pot, add water so the potato cubes are submerged.
Place on stove and cook until potatoes become soft.
Drain out water.
Mash potatoes.

add the bowl of cheese and the frying pan of onions.
mix on low heat until cheese is melted.


Altogether now


Cutting the dumpling wrapper.

Take the wrapper dough out of the refrigerator.
Use a rolling pin to flatten. If dough is sticking to everything lightly add more flour to surface of dough.
Cut out dough circles using the cookie cutter (or cup).
Place a teaspoon (or approx 1 inch ball) of filling into wrapper and seal.
Repeat until you're out of filling or wrapper dough.


You should get something like this.


The time consuming part is now done. Now the easy part, the cooking of the perogies. There are two methods.

Method 1: Boiling

The first method is to boil the perogies in water. You know when they're done when they float up to the surface. I have not actually done this so you're on your own here.

Method 2: Pan Fry



I love crunchy food so this is the cooking method I've selected. Add butter to the frying pan until it's melted, then add the perogies until they're brown on both sides. (it took about 7 minutes per side on my stove top). You'll note that the perogie side being cooked becomes hard (but not black) and crunchy when it's done. When it is, flip over and repeat until the other side is the same.


Eating

I like sour cream on my perogies with chopped chives maybe even bacon and more fried onions. I've also eaten them with mayonnaise when there was no sour cream to be found. I realize this borderlines eating like a college student, but you've got to do what you've got to do.