I’m planning on making one or the other tomorrow . I will make some with potato and cheese filling and some with meat filling . I was wondering about making the dough . I don’t have a stand mixer . Could I use a food processor for making the dough or is it better to do it by hand ? What do you fill yours with ? Thanks
Since this is my first time making them I have been scouring online recipes . A couple recipes use milk in the dough recipe and others use just water . Anybody familiar with the difference ? I am leaning to make pierogi .
Water if you are using meat…a little milk and water if you are using only potato…made them on my grandmother’s porcelain table in the early 1960’s
1 Like
Meat ground up with chuck and onion are called "kerplach’…potato with onion , mashed up are “Verenke”
After you make the kreplach let them cool…then warm them up in a scalding pan of chicken fat…serve warm.
The verenke…saute them in butter, until they brown on the outside…
Thanks for the great knowledge PHREDDY . My father would make these . Being of Lithuanian descent . I have not had them in eons . I would like to make the " kerplach ." Meat ground up with chuck and onion . Is there ground pork mixed in ? I might make some " Verenke " also .
Here’s the recipe I use. Good luck!
Serves 4 people, and will work if you double the recipe.
Mrs. Janiec’s Pierogi:
Ingredients:
1| 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2| 1/2 cup cold water
3| 1-2 eggs
4| 3 1/2 cups flour (17.5 oz.), sifted
5| 1/2 cup warm water, near boiling see http://www.chowhound.com/post/quick-chinese-dumpling-advice-1007063?commentId=9556964
6| 1 1/2 tbs. butter, melted
To make dough: Place flour in a large bowl and thoroughly mix in salt. In a measuring cup, combine the eggs and 1/2 cup of cold water, and beat well with a fork. Add those ingredients to flour and mix with your hands until blended.
Add enough warm water to hydrate the dough, but you probably won’t use it all. To do this, add the warm water a few tablespoons at a time until all of the loose flour gets incorporated. It will transform from a shaggy dough, with lots of unincorporated flour, to a solid mass. When you are 95% close to a wet dough (a bit dryer than cookie dough, definitely not to the point of oatmeal), add the butter
and knead on a lightly floured surface until there are no lumps and it feels very smooth.
This should take up to 15 minutes. Wrap in plastic wrap and let set for 1-3 hours, or let sit in the refrigerator no longer than 48 hours.
To assemble:
-
Option 1 (Chinese style): grab a ~100g hunk of dough, re-wrap the remainder, and cut it into several 10 gram nuggets. Keeping covered balls you’re not working with, on a lightly floured surface, flatten each ball with your fist, flip over, and roll with a wooden dowel into 2 1/2” circles.
-
Option 2 (more traditional): Divide the dough into thirds and roll out each on a lightly floured surface until the dough is approximately 1/8 inch
thick. With a cup or glass, cut as many circles as possible out of the dough, but do not lift them off the work surface. Remove
the excess dough from the work surface, and roll the circles until they become completely flattened.
Carefully lift each circle of dough from the table (a spatula helps) and put between 1 tsp. and 1 tbs. of
filling in its center.
For each circle, fold dough over to form a half-moon shape, and pinch edges closed, making sure there are no air pockets. Repeat for the remaining dough.
To cook: Place no more than 1/3 of the pierogis at a time in lightly boiling salted water for 5-10 minutes, and don’t let the boiling get too rough or it’ll destroy the pierogies. Drain and serve immediately or fry in butter.
Drain in colander and rinse with cold water if you don’t serve immediately.
Alternatively to fry: Prepare 1 recipe of the saurkraut pierogie filling. Set aside and in the same pan, melt a stick of butter. Add
the pierogies and the filling to the pan and fry until the pierogies become brown.
Fillings: Each of these fillings corresponds to the above recipe for dough.
Cheese Filling:
Ingredients:
8 oz. farmer cheese(a soft, NOT a hard cheese) or dry-curd cottage cheese (if unsalted add 1 tsp. salt)
4 oz. cream cheese
1 egg
2 tbs. flour
Mash together all of the ingredients until well mixed.
Saurkraut Filling:
Ingredients:
1 large can (~28 oz.) sauerkraut, drained
1 medium onion, diced
1 stick butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Fry the onion until it is translucent and then add the sauerkraut, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes and let it cool before using. For best results, refrigerate a few hours.
1 Like
My grandmother did not use pork, just the ground beef.
1 Like
I have another question . I have read some people cook the meat before filling the pierogi and others don’t . Should I cook it or leave it raw ? Thanks
my grandmother would boil the meat and onions together, then grind. Obviously the potatoes were cooked and the sautéed onions added.
That’s what I will do . Thanks
My best advice to you, having made pierogi about a dozen times, is to not overfill them lest they break apart in the boiling water. And that you’ll know the dough is the right consistency when it feels like an earlobe.
1 Like
Hyper? Any opinions about making the dough in a stand mixer (like a Kitchenaid)?
I know the dough is going to be my problem . I need all the help I can get .
I use Veselka’s recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/potato-pierogi-50062434. You will end up with too much dough. I freeze it and make dumplings at some future date. Try to get your filling kind of dry - return the drained potatoes to the pot over low heat for a few minutes before you mash them with the onions. Be liberal with flour - dip your fork in flour before you flute the edges of the pierogi, for instance. And even failed pierogi taste pretty good. Sour cream is a miracle.
1 Like
Sorry, I’ve never used a kitchen aid (sadly). Adding near boiling water makes the dough much easier to work with by hand.
Well, I hope you’re happy. Because all this talk made me devote the evening to pierogi-making (and watching The Americans).
2 Likes
Bravo .
They look fantastic .
How did they come out?
Side note: the dough, at least the recipe I posted above, is too sticky to go through a pasta rolling machine so you have to roll it out by hand. I would guess, for the same reason, a food processor wouldn’t work.
Thanks! They needed a little salt. Luckily, I had some.
A good amount of salt is common in the recipes I’ve looked at.
Interesting that Veselka’s recipe uses milk! Any clue how that changes the taste or texture of the pierogies? Other recipes use sour cream or mashed potatoes in the dough, and ones that incorporate eggs have a firmer bite.
