Thanks, I will go over and look. I have made them, my dh is Ukrainian, and his mom and aunt taught me. They are gone now, and it is really something I would rather do with a helper!

Beautiful!!!

A friend's Mother made pierogis for her family of 7. She used to cover her bed, a double bed, with a tablecloth and when the bed was covered with pierogis she knew she had enough. I always thought this story was so funny and I will never forget it!

Thanks for sharing.

Michelle

I have to go check this out! My gram used to make all kinds of pierogies - classic cheese, potato, sauerkraut, prune! And since we lost her this May I'd love to pick up the ball, thank you!

msafirstein--oh, that story is just too funny! I'll have to tell that one to my MIL! LOL!

You're very welcome, and thanks for the kind words! I've been lurking (and making a few little posts) over here in Cooking, so I thought it only fair to share!

Cat, did you fill the Pierogis? And approximately how big did you make yours?

Michelle

They look delicious! It's been ages since I had pierogis. Yum!

I love pierogi, when I was a little girl the local church ladies would make them on Friday's ... they were $1 a dozen.

Never tried making them myself.

WOW , do I ever have a craving now, I love pierogi! Haven't made them in a while but will be soon! Thanks for the reminder.

Yes, I filled them with potato and cheese (about 1/2-1/2 sharp white cheddar grated and white American torn into pieces). We added a small chopped (minced?) onion to the cooking water w/ the potatoes. There was too much filling leftover, so I used some to stuff a leftover baked potato from NYE (twice baked potato!) and some we had the next night as cheesy mashed potatoes.

My MIL said to roll out the dough into 3-4" circles, closer to 4" I think. I remember hers being pretty wide or long and flattish, so tried to make mine look that way.

It's been awhile since I've made pierogi's, thanks for the reminder. On occasions that I have had leftover mashed potato's I'll add cheese to the mix & I'll make them w/either wonton or eggroll wrappers. It works!

Michelle, funny story; which reminded me of my Mom drying homemade pasta on a table cloth covered bed to dry. ;-)

Lucy

I think I might make Pierogis this weekend! I love 'em and I usually just buy the frozen and pan fry. Also like them as a late night treat too.

Cat, did you boil and/or pan fry?

Seems like I remember that Pierogis freeze well too. Any input on freezing and what fillings are best for freezing?

Here's the recipe I have. Cat is it similar to yours?

1 T salt
2 T butter
1 egg well beaten
2 1/2 cups flour

I have no directions just the ingredients.

Lucy, I don't know what is about beds and cooking/baking. I'll never forget when I first started making bread and I called my Mom to get some tips on a good rise. My Mom baked bread every week when I was growing up so I consider her word law. She said she used to put her bread under the covers of her bed to rise!

So far we have Pierogis, pasta and bread all involving the bedroom.

Michelle

cat, those look just delicious. Now where is the recipe? (grin)

I've never tried to make pierogies but the woman I bought my house from was polish and she'd have me over for lunch sometimes and make pierogies. Hers was stuffed with potatoes and cheese, then fried in bacon grease with bits of bacon and onion. Very, very yummy.

Annie

Here's my Polish aunt's recipe. The dough is very tender. I made 100 of them this Christmas.

Dough:

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
4 Tbsp oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup boiling water

Add the beaten egg and oil to the flour and salt. Add boiling water and mix. Once mixture is cool enough to handle, knead the dough while adding flour gradually until itÂs not sticky. (I handled it right away and it spread beautifully and easily.)

*******************

This is my other aunt's recipe that I used to make all the time.

As a test, I made both recipes this Christmas and had DH & DD blind taste them. DH liked this one better and DD & I liked the Polish aunt's recipe better (it just melts in your mouth!). Both doughs are very good!

Dough:

3½ cups flour
1 cup sour cream
¾ tsp baking powder
1½ tsp salt
¾ cup water
1 egg, room temperature (important)

Mix all ingredients together. Roll dough to desired thickness (1/8 or ¼ inch). Cut dough into circles (whatever size you want your perogies to be).

NOTE: I used a perogie maker. You roll out half the dough and lay on the maker, then put the filling in appropriate areas, then roll out the other half of dough, lay it on top, then take your rolling pin and roll the perogies until they fall through the maker. Thus, leaving me with 18 perogies and a little bit of "scrap" dough. (It sure beats making them individually by hand, like I used to do!)

When using the "scrap" dough, it's best to roll it into a cigar shape and cut it up and roll the individual pieces into a perogie... the scrap dough is less tough this way.

This is a tip I got from my Polish aunt. She's very well known in the family for her perogies and pork kabobs.

The way I freeze mine:

I lay them out on "greased" cookie sheets, trays, etc. Put them in the freezer. Once they are completely frozen, I put them in containers. To cook, just drop frozen perogies into boiling water (add oil so they don't stick together and to the bottom of the pot), and cook for 2-3 minutes (they float to the top). Eat them like that, or fry them in butter with onions. Serve with sour cream or gravy, or both!

I served them Christmas day for 26+ people. I boiled them early in the morning, brushed EACH with melted butter, and put them in a large roasting pan. When we were ready to eat, I quickly fried them in a large frying pan. Transfer to covered casserole dishes and layered pre-sauteed onions in between the layers. It worked out great!

My Polish aunt's method of freezing:

After perogies are boiled, brush each perogy with melted butter. Arrange them in a plastic bag and freeze. (The melted butter will prevent the perogies from sticking together.) Defrost perogies at room temperature, and fry as desired. She likes hers "nuked" in the microwave. She fries the leftover perogies.

Those look very good!

I make my own, loosely based on my mother's recipe which was loosely based on my grandma's recipe, which was loosely based on HER mother's recipe ROFL.

What I make amounts to about a quarter of the batch we used to make for a single dinner growing up. I get one dinner, one breakfast, and enough for a breakfast or sidedish to freeze. To freeze, I go ahead and boil them like normal then cool completely. Arrange in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze solid, then transfer to baggies or a container. To use, defrost (overnight in the fridge or in the microwave) then brown in a pan, and eat!

We used to eat them "from the pot" (not browned, just boiled) with the carmelized onions and butter the day they were made, then browned the next day at breakfast. Slathered with sour cream, of course.

Now when I make mine, I use reduced fat cheese in the filling, cook my potatoes in the microwave and rice them, make my dough in the food processer (my mother did that, my grandmother and those before her made by hand), make them WAY smaller, and I don't do the butter and onions. Just spray with butter flavoured cooking spray to keep them from sticking. If I want onions on mine (dh and DD don't like them) I roast an onion until it is caramelized and practically spreadable and drop chunks onto my perogies LOL. We also prefer light sour cream to regular (but certainly not fat free, which is white jello if you ask me).

I also have started rolling my dough using the kitchenaid pasta roller. MUCH easier.

There are a million recipes for the dough. Some call for sour cream, some don't, and so on. I use 4-5 cups flour, a pinch of salt, a knife tip of baking powder, 1 egg beaten with 1 cup water, and a touch of oil. Pulse dry ingredients in a food processer fitted with metal blade. Set to run continuous and add oil in a drizzle. Add egg/water mixture in a drizzle until dough starts to come together and follow the blade. You made need to add more water (up to 1/2 cup or more depending on the flour). Let it go around in a lump a few times to "knead" it. The dough should be firm, plasticky feeling, and not really sticky.

Cut dough into at least 6 portions and wrap individually in plastic wrap and allow to rest about 20 minutes.

Roll, cut your circles, and fill. Use enough flour to keep dough from sticking too badly, but if you use too much your edges won't stick together properly. If that happens, moisten with a bit of water before pinching.

Sometimes I have filling leftover (to be eaten with a spoon LOL). Sometimes I have dough leftover. If I do, I roll it a bit thinner and cut it into smaller circles and fill with a mix of whatever cheeses I have on hand and fold into tortellini. These I freeze in a single layer uncooked and then transfer to a baggie or container. Nice to have some frozen on hand to pop into boiling water for a quick dinner! They take about 12-15 minutes to cook for me from frozen.

Cat_Mom, your pierogi look delicious. Now I have a craving too. I wish I still had some in the freezer.

Here is the recipe that I use.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Pierogi
========
The dough was about 3 cups of flour, one egg, salt, couple of tablespoons sour cream and enough water to make a soft but not sticky dough. Dough is wrapped and left to rest for at least 30 minutes.

The filling was mashed potatoes, butter, fried onions, grated cheddar cheese and salt and pepper to taste. I didn't measure any of the filling ingredients. Add the cheddar cheese while the potatoes are still hot so that the cheese will melt.

Roll the dough out and use a 2 or 3 inch biscuit cutter to cut the rounds. Gather up the scrapes and reroll. Brush the edges of the dough with a bit of beaten egg white, add a teaspoon or so of potato cheese filling and seal. Use a fork to seal the edges. I put them on cookie sheets lined with parchment and freeze. Once frozen I place in freezer containers. To cook, just bring a pot of water, seasoned with salt to a boil and simmer the perogies until they float. Only takes a few minutes to cook. Toss the cooked perogies with some fried onions and bacon or side pork (pork belly) and serve with sour cream.

Here's the recipe:

Dough:
4 Cups Flour
4 Eggs beaten
1 Cup sour cream
2 tsp salt

Filling:
~8 potatoes (if very large, use 6), peeled and cut up
1 small onion chopped (fine)
2 Cups large curd cottage cheese
1 1/4 Cup-2 Cups (yes!!!) grated sharp white cheddar or white American cheese torn up, or a mixture of both (that's what we did!)
salt and pepper to taste (I used white pepper)

Mix dough by hand, knead dough, and then cover with a bowl and let rest for 10-20 minutes.

Boil the potatoes with the chopped onion, then drain.

Mash the potatoes and mix in the cheeses with masher or mixer while the potatoes are very hot so the cheeses will melt, season with salt and pepper.

Roll the dough into a 2" diameter log, cut 1/2" slices and roll out each slice into a 4" diameter circle, fill with potato-cheese mixture, fold in half, and pinch edges together between thumb and index finger.

Boil the filled pierogi a few at a time. Remove when they float to the surface and place in a buttered roasting or baking dish, and brush each pierogi with melted butter. Continue layering with pierogi and melted butter. When finished boiling all the pierogi, flash freeze them in a single layer on baking sheets and place in ziploc bags when flash frozen.

Can thaw slightly before use. Fry the slightly thawed pierogi in butter with onions or fry the onions on their own, your preference. Serve with sour cream and eat them all up!!!!

PS leave some in the freezer for a future meal or you will wish you had!

Potato and cheese seems to be a very popular filling. I have made that on occasion but our family's favorite filling is fried cabbage. I shred the cabbage finely and cook til tender with a small amount of butter (my MIL uses a large amount of butter), some salt, a bit of soy sauce, and about a quarter lb of meaty salt pork. I cook the filling for about two hours on low. I usually season with pepper. When I am feeling too lazy to stuff the pierogi, I make "lazy pierogi". I just cut the pasta dough up into noodles, cook them and then stir into the filling. It is much easier to make if you don't have a helper. I always freeze my pierogi after cooking in serving size portions. That way my husband can go in the freezer and grad a bag to cook in the microwave for lunch, he loves that. His birthday is later this month so I will be making some soon.

I almost forgot, for shaping I got a really cool pierogi maker from King Arther, I just roll out two 4 X 10 inch sheets of dough, place one on the press, fill the indentations with the filling, place the other strip on top, and roll my rolling pin over it. That gives me six perfect pierogi! Here is a picture.

That's an interesting gadget, jcrowley...I always cut mine with a glass dipped in flour...I wonder how much faster with that gadget???

It's much faster! My gadget makes 18.

Thanks, another gadget to add!
Khandi is your the same as jcrowley's? If not where did you get it. please?

King Arthur does not carry the pierogi maker any more but you can still buy it as I've seen them before.

I did not think I would be co-ordinated enough to use it...LOL! But since now I can make pie crust maybe I should reconsider.

I have the dumpling maker and it is so easy to use. But you can make just 1 pierogi at a time but still faster then rolling out a cutting each one.

Michelle

Your right, I forgot that KA doesn't have them anymore, but they can be found on the Internet. Amazon has it for $15.00 and eligible for free shipping. I attached the link below. It is very easy to use, you just have to remember to moisten the edges of the dough before adding the top piece, otherwise they won't stay together. When I was checking to see if they had this, I saw the ravioli maker that makes 36 1.25" ravioli at a time, or maybe 36 mini pierogi?

Mine is exactly like this one. A friend gave it to me. You don't have to moisten the edges of the dough before adding the top piece. It works great!