Homemade Pierogi for Secret Recipe Club

Guess what time it is??  That's right...it is Reveal Day for Secret Recipe Club.  That means that today I am going to share with you the blog I was assigned, a little bit about the author and the blog content, and one of the recipes I found that I wanted to recreate.

This month I was assigned Lauren of Sew You Think You Can Cook.  Lauren is a fellow midwesterner living in Ohio which is neighbor to my home, Michigan.  Lauren is much smarter than I though as is apparent by the fact tht she is an AeroSpace Engineer!!  But, intelligence notwithstanding, Lauren and I have much in common.  Lauren hopes to be a caterer one day as I was a caterer in the past.  We both love to cook, quilt and blog and we both love Holiday decorations.  I really enjoyed learning about Lauren and I think you will too.

But that's just the first part of this assignment....after I learned a little bit about Lauren it was time to go into her recipe file and find just one recipe that I wanted to recreate for you this month.  THAT is the hard part!!  Finding just one recipe in the plethora of wonderful recipes that Lauren has to offer.

I had seen Lauren's Oatmeal Pancakes back in January when we participated in Foodie Extravaganza, another fun group to which we belong but while looking for that recipe I found her recipe for Nalesniki (Polish Crepes), another thing that Lauren and I have in common....Polish heritage. However, Lauren was born Polish and I am Polish through marriage LOL.  Her recipe was very similar to mine.  

Breakfast was just one of many categories in Lauren's recipe index though so I couldn't stop there.  I went to Beverages where I earmarked Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade to serve as soon as Michigan strawberries are in season, usually early June.  Then there were Snacks and Appetizers to look at. When I was done there, it was time to go into Soups and Salads, followed by Entrees in Meatless, Seafood and Meat categories before finishing up with Sides and Desserts.  

So you see my dilemma....how to choose, how to choose....

What impressed me most when going through Lauren's blog were all the recipes of her Busia's that she shared.  Busia is grandmother in Polish.  My husband called his Busia, Bacci and his Mom has shared many of Bacci's recipes with me.  In fact, I just shared the recipe for Bacci Bread earlier this month.  

I finally settled on Lauren's recipe for Pierogi.  I have always wanted to make homemade Pierogi and this recipe was perfect!  In the past, when I have served Pierogi, I have used premade Pierogi that I purchase from a Polish Bakery in the area and last year Frank made Lazy Pierogi when Ciocia (Aunt) was over teaching me to make Kruschiki .  Needless to say, I was very excited when I found this recipe on Lauren's blog!

I cheated a little bit by using my kitchen aid mixer for the middle section of the recipe but I did knead in the last cup of flour by hand and rolled out all the dough when assembling the pierogi.  There is a reason that Eastern European women were so strong.  I worked up a sweat making these delicious little dumplings even with cheating!!

I want to thank you Laura for helping me to mark off another item from my bucket list.  The pierogi were excellent.  Frank thought they were better than those that I normally serve from the Polish Bakery.  I will be making this recipe again and again, I am sure.

I stayed pretty true to the recipe except that I used 2% milk and regular half and half instead of skim and fat free because that was what I had in the house. Oh and my eggs come from my chickens not the store so I just chose the largest one for the yolk and 3 others for the remainder of the eggs.

After the dough was made, I left it in the refrigerator until the following afternoon.

Then I rolled it out, a little at a time, and used a 3 1/2" round biscuit cutter.

Place a dollop of filling of your choice on each round.

I made half potato/cheddar and half sauerkraut.

Fold in half and seal by pressing with fork.

Then drop them in boiling salted water until the float to the surface, 10 minutes or so.

Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Let dry and cool.

You can now refrigerate or freeze them.

When ready to serve, fry them up in butter and onions until browned and heated through.

Serve with sour cream as a side dish or for a Meatless Monday meal as I did.

Homemade Pierogi

1 1/2 c. milk
3/4 c. half and half
5 c. flour plus more for rolling
1 T. butter
1 t. salt
1  extra large egg yolk
3 large eggs

Ingredients for filling:

Mashed potatoes that incorporated shredded cheddar cheese in the mashing process.
Sauerkraut- you can find my recipe here (just delete the sausage).
note: you will not need a ton of filling.  I placed the remaining mashed potatoes in a casserole to be baked for the following night's dinner and I placed the remaining Sauerkraut in the freezer to be used for dinner another time.

Spray the bottom of a dutch oven with cooking spray, place over med heat and add the milk and cream. Heat to almost boiling.  Whisk in 1 c of the flour and then, using a wooden spoon, cook and stir frequently for 20 minutes or until almost smooth.  Remove from heat, stir in butter and salt, partially cover and let stand for an hour or longer.

In a small bowl, gently whisk the egg with the yolk.  Transfer the dough from the dutch oven to a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Add eggs and 1 c. flour mix on low until combined, continue with 2 more cups of flour, stirring until incorporated.  Turn the dough onto a clean counter and knead the last 1 cup of flour into the dough by hand.  Return dough to bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.

In batches, roll the dough into 1/4" thickness, leaving remaining dough refrigerated. Flour the board, rolling pin and dough as needed.  Using a 3 1/2" cutter, cut rounds from the rolled dough.  Add a dollop of filling in the middle of each round.  Fold the round in half pinching and using a fork to seal the edges.  Continue in this manner until all the dough is used.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the pierogi 5 or 6 at a time and cook until they float to the top, about 10 minutes.  Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Continue in this manner until all pierogi is cooked.  Allow to cool and dry completely.  They can now be refrigerated or frozen for later use or sauteed in butter and onions and served immediately.  Print Recipe

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