Perogies from Scratch

Well, the worst seems to be behind us in Toronto after this week’s ice storm. With 250,000 people without electricity two days before Christmas, a solid day of almost non-existent public transit, and coming up on a week of constant clean up and repair (with lots more yet to come): it looks like things are mostly under control and the majority of the GTA has it’s power back up and running. Street-blocking trees, downed power lines, and a now snow-coated sheet of ice are what remains, but most people are able to carry about their daily business. The sirens are still a plenty in my neighbourhood, but the sun is back out and shining. A massive Thank You goes out from the residents of Toronto to all of those who neglected this years Holiday plans to spend their time gruellingly and dangerously cleaning up the city’s streets, and restoring normalcy to people’s lives! (and luckily I was spared the frustration of not having electricity, very thankful.)

 

More than a week ago I made a batch of perogies that I wanted to share, but the week got away from me and I had less time to spend on WP than I had predicted. Perogies are the ultimate comfort food for me, I grew up eating both the homemade kind and the pre bought kind, but this is the first time I’ve had success making them on my own.

The Perogy Dough: (yields 1 feast for 2 people)

1 cup           all purpose flour
1/4 cup       milk, warm
1/4 cup       mashed potato with no lumps, room temp
1 tsp             salt

-Mix all ingredients together until a sticky dough ball forms, you might need to add more milk 1 TB at a time if the dough is too dry.

-Allow to sit covered, at room temperature, for 30-40 mins.

The Perogy Filling: 

2                    potatoes, mashed, still hot
1/4 cup        cheddar cheese, grated (packed cup!)
1 tsp              chili flakes
1 tsp              dill
(to taste)      salt

-Mix together all ingredients until smooth, set aside for later.

To Build:

-Flour your work surface generously, and roll out the perogy dough with a rolling pin as thin as you can get it. It’ll have some elasticity to it (but if it’s  very very elastic then you’ve over mixed the dough!) so it will bounce back slightly after it’s rolled thinly. Roll as thin as possible and then allow to relax for a couple of minutes.

-Using a round cookie cutter (your choice of size!) cut into rounds. Spoon the filling onto the dough circles making sure you aren’t too cheap, you don’t want your perogies to be little pancakes after they’re boiled.

-Dampen the edges of the dough with a finger dipped in water (to seal the edges together) and fold one side of the dough across the other, pressing it down and sealing it with a fork. Make sure you have flour handy for dipping your fork to prevent sticking.

-Your perogies are ready to be boiled now, can be refrigerated for 24 hours, or frozen to be cooked later. My favourite preparation is: bring water to a boil, add 1 TB of oil, drop in perogies and wait for them to float to the surface, then continue to simmer for 1+1/2 to 2 mins, then brush a little butter over them and add salt and pepper. Serve with sour cream. They can also be boiled, brushed with oil, salted, and then either baked in a high temperature oven or pan fried, to give them a little bit of a crispy outside.

 

Ciao for now folks!

 

 

 

 

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