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As you know, Sarah G. and her Seahawks are going head to head this week with me, Sarah G. and the Steelers
in preparation
for the Super Bowl. Sarah Gilbert is a die-hard Seahawks fan, and has already started to show us the super foods
of Seattle with oysters. Pittsburgh is easy - with a fairly large population of Polish people, I'm doing
pierogis.
Pierogis are a typical, comforting, Polish food that are similar to Italians' ravioli and Asian dumplings. However, they're not just Polish - virtually every culture in central and eastern Europe have them, just spelled or pronounced slightly differently. The usual, primary ingredient for pierogi filling is potato. Mashed potatoes inside pasta? Dr. Atkins obviously wasn't Polish.
Pierogi dough is a basic pasta dough, though many recipes include sour cream or cream cheese to make it richer. They are shaped most commonly in crescents, but sometimes as squares. The filling is not only, nor always, potato. Pierogis can be filled with onions, cheese, meats, sauerkraut, and mushrooms. If you fill them with hard boiled eggs, I guess you have a breakfast pierogi!
My first Super Bowl foray into the world of pierogis this week starts with Mrs. T's potato and cheese pierogis.
Mrs. T's pierogis come in a variety of flavors, and as proudly proclaimed on the
box, are all low in fat. I dropped them into boiling water for about five minutes until the floated to the top. The box
also suggests sauteing, baking, grilling (I have no idea how grilling would work for these things), and best of all,
deep-frying. If you deep fry, they certainly won't be lowfat anymore.
I ate them plain just to see how they tasted, because oftentimes, tossing with butter and adding sauce can make me love anything.
The pierogis tasted alright, though I felt a little cheated by the rather skimpy filling. It was certainly cheesy, but not enough. If you don't have the time to make them yourself, these will probably work out fine. I even found a "recipe" on the Food Network that includes Mrs. T's frozen pierogis as an ingredient. And if Sara Moulton goes a little semi-homemade, I guess it's okay!
Next pierogis up: from a Polish restaurant and homemade.
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2-01-2006 @5:46PM Deb said... In Delaware, we have a New Orleans style restaurant that serves pierogi, but with a Cajun flair. They cover them with a white gravy that is spiced with jalapeno peppers and what appears to be small pieces of sweet peppers. It is really an awesome appetizer!
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2-01-2006 @6:16PM becky phillips said... Yay pierogies! Yay Pittsburgh! Yay Steelers! One for the thumb!
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2-01-2006 @7:01PM Susan said... Oh no! Packaged pierogi? Not in my house...I've not lived in Pgh since I moved after high school but it's still "home" when I'm askedm anywhere in the world, as I often am, "where are you from?." I tried those things in the bag once, in desperation, & I was not only ill from how awful they were but that people would think that's what I'd been talking about (what should I do/go/eat when in Pgh?)...yikes. Most people who've made them since they were kids can 'feel' their way through it if they've done it enough. (Like making pasta or break, for instance.) Not me though. I sure hope to see a good homemade recipe with a few fillings (though any combo one is easy) written with measurements. Cheers & go Steelers!
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2-01-2006 @7:09PM Trish said... Yea!! Pierogies are great. I usually boil them for a few minutes, then saute them with onions, carrots, green peppers (whatever veggies I have available) as well as some sliced kielbasa. Everyone loves them!
GO STEELERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PS. I use Mrs. T's, Potato & Cheddar
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2-01-2006 @8:16PM Patricia Borrelli said... I was raised on homemade Pierogies. There were no Pierogies sold in food stores anywhere while I was growing up. My mother filled them with combined mashed potatoes and onions. She boiled them and then sauted them in butter. She also filled them with leckvar (not sure of the correct spelling). I can't seem to find it in any food stores. It has the taste close to the taste of smashed prunes. Can anyone tell me if it is still available and being produced??
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2-01-2006 @8:53PM ooda said... About once a year when I visit my parents at home I tend to make Pierogie with my Mom, and usually a few hundred at a time as they keep pretty well in the deep-freeze. From memory, the ones filled with potato, cheese, onion and pepper were always referred to as Russian Pierogies, while the ones we pretty much always made were the ones with ground hamburger meat (ground very fine) with cabbage and mushroom.
Even though it's on the fatty side, a good topping for them is onion diced at fine as you can, which has been fried in plenty of butter. It's also good for keeping them from sticking.
This brings up another traditional (I assume Polish) recipe that I remember having when I was young. The are dough mixed with mashed potato, with a piece of fruit in the middle, and then made into a ball. I think they were called Kluski, or something like that.
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2-01-2006 @10:28PM heidi said... The problem with frozen pierogis (I am partial to the trader joes potatoe and cheese ones), is that the doughy skin is way to thick. Homemade pierogis have a very thin delicate skin, and are bursting with filling. I have the pleasure of living and loving a polish man - and the best part is his mothers amazing food.
My fav way to eat frozen pierogis is sauteed in a little bit of butter, and then serving with sour cream and carmelized onions on the side.
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2-02-2006 @10:49AM Beth said... I was raised on homemade pierogies as well, but haven't found the time to make them myself. My nana used to fill them with the traditional potato and cheese, but my favorite was the sauerkraut filling. The only way we eat them is boiled with LOTS of melted butter and slightly sauteed onions, and of course, kielbasa. The best frozen kind I've found is Baker's Dozen. GO STEELERS!!!!
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2-02-2006 @3:17PM suburban misfit said... Picky point here, but it's "Pierog" for one and "Pierogi" for two or more.
And they are DELICIOUS, especially when they're homemade.
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2-03-2006 @10:02AM holly said... I eat my pierogi just like my polish grandfather did - sour cream on the side and syrup drizzled on top.
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