Roasted Garlic Pierogi w/ Shallot-Browned Butter

What do you get when you add a free night with your husband, a few rum and cokes, and about 6 cups of flour? In my case, nearly fifty pierogies.

And oh, little pierogies, how I love each and every one of you. For those who’ve never had a one, I offer my sincerest sympathy. You’ve been seriously deprived. Pierogies are incredibly addictive Polish dumplings filled with either mashed potato, cheese, sauerkraut, or meat. I highly recommend all variations, although I’ve always had a special place in my heart for potato. (Note: If you go for the meat, never ask a Polish waitress what kind of meat it is, or you’ll be met with a death stare and a stern, “It’s. Meat.”, which translates to, “You are clearly not Polish, and do not deserve my food.”)

I had my first pierogi back in middle school while staying over at a girlfriend’s house. Her Czechoslovakian mother made them from scratch with rosemary dipping sauce. I thought they were a little odd, like potato-stuffed ravioli, yet somehow extremely habit forming. Every time I went back, I’d nonchalantly bring them up in hopes of an encore. But no such luck. I didn’t taste pierogies again until high school when Mrs. T’s frozen variety hit the grocer. My mom brought home a box and topped them with spaghetti sauce. Not quite right, but I was intrigued enough to continue experimenting with them throughout college.

Then I met Luke, his Polish family, and finally, a real pierogi, which I know now means it's made lovingly by hardworking, Polish hands, boiled then slightly pan fried in butter, topped with bacon crumbles, and served with sour cream. Instead of attempting to describe the taste, I’ll just advise you to please, go find a good Polish restaurant and give them a try. Just say, “Pierogi, prosze?”, which means, “Pierogi, please?” I’ve asked my mother-in-law this on several occasions, and it has a 100% probability of making pierogies miraculously appear in your lap within minutes. And if you're lucky, alongside a piece of kielbasa.

Since my epiphany, I’ve always wanted to make my own pierogies. I attempted once, with my Polish roommate in Chicago. But there was no recipe, all the ingredients were in Polish, and she didn’t have the patience to hold my hand through the steps, so I didn’t retain much of the experience.

So. After a long weekend of cleaning, organizing, shopping, working, and playing catch up in every other way from our trip up north, I thought, hmm…let’s stay up all night and make Polish staples from scratch! And not only that, let’s double the recipe so we have a bunch to freeze! But I’m glad I we did. It turned out to be a great time, and this is how it all went down.

The first step in making any polish meal, according to my husband, is to pour a drink. Hence, the rum and cokes. Yummy. The first step according to the cookbook, is to bake the potatoes and roast the garlic, so I peeled away the garlic’s papery skin (two heads worth – I doubled the recipe), covered them in olive oil, wrapped them in foil, and stuck them on a baking sheet along with pierced baking potatoes.

 

 

 

 

An hour later, the entire apartment smelled like garlic bread and my mouth was already watering. After letting them cool, I squeezed the cloves to extract the pulp. Of course I couldn’t resist a taste or two, and was met with this amazing, creamy, garlicky, buttery taste. I could have eaten it with a spoon. But for the love of pierogies, I resisted and instead mashed it with the potato, sour cream, salt and pepper.

 

 

Next was the dough. Yogurt, salt, egg, and...six cups of flour. But once I’d gotten to three, I could already see the bottom of the canister, so I knew I wasn’t going to make it. I blame it on the raspberry strippers, which I had to make twice, and also on Kroger, for selling me a bag of unusable flour a couple weeks ago full of bugs. How gross is that? So, what’s a girl to do in the middle of the night when she needs flour? Ask the neighbors, of course. Well, have her husband ask the neighbors. But no one responded to Luke’s late night knocks, so he was off to the store.

When he returned, flour in hand, the fun really began. I kneaded the dough, broke it in half again and again until we had 48 equal portions, and then we rolled each into a small ball. It was fun, like Play Doh for adults. Then we formed a pierogi assembly line. Luke flattened the balls into circles, and I spooned in the potato mixture, folded over the dough, and pinched the edges.  A little time consuming, so we were at this for awhile. I ran out of potato about 12 pierogies too soon, so I whipped up a quick concoction of mozzarella, feta, plain yogurt, and Italian spices, thinking it may taste something like a ravioli. (And it did, by the way. Pretty good.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, I boiled the pierogies in turns, and set them aside to start on the shallot-browned butter. I found it so weird that in just minutes, a stick of golden butter can turn into a dark, glassy liquid without burning the slightest. After ten minutes, I added the shallots and the butter went crazy, lifting into a frothy, brown puff. It smelled amazing as is simmered. I then tossed in the pierogies in turns for a minute or so, letting them soak up that wonderful buttery-shallot flavor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then, finally, at 11:30 p.m., we sat down and ate. And ate. And ate. And…ate. pierogies are just one of those things you can’t and won’t stop eating for anything, accept maybe a breath of air, and I even try to limit that as much as possible.

They were deliciously perfect. Creamy garlic potato on the inside, buttery on the outside. (By the way, browned butter is to die for.) Maybe not the lightest meal in the Cooking Light cookbook, but a great treat. Luke said they were some of the best pierogies he’s ever eaten. And because he’s grown up on the real thing, I’ll take that to heart.

 

Roasted Garlic Pierogi with Shallot-Browned Butter
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 4 pierogi)

Cookbook note: Pierogi are Polish dumplings that have long been a delicatessen treat. Unfortunately, they often contain lots of cream or chicken fat to help make the potato filling creamy. Starchy russets, however, break down and provide a creaminess that allows you to forego the fat.

Ingredients:

Filling:
1  pound  baking potatoes
1  small whole garlic head
1  teaspoon  olive oil
1/4  cup  fat-free sour cream (I used reduced fat)
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
   
Dough:
1/2  cup  plain fat-free yogurt
1/2  teaspoon  salt
2  large eggs
3  cups  all-purpose flour
12  cups  water

Browned butter:
4  tablespoons  butter
2/3  cup  finely chopped shallots


Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400°.

To prepare filling, pierce the potatoes with a fork; place potatoes on a baking sheet. Remove white papery skin from garlic head (do not peel or separate cloves). Drizzle garlic head with oil, and wrap in foil. Place garlic on baking sheet. Bake potato and garlic at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool slightly. Peel potatoes; discard skins. Place potatoes in a large bowl. Separate garlic cloves; squeeze to extract garlic pulp. Add garlic to potatoes, and mash with a potato masher until smooth. Stir in sour cream, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper. Set aside.

To prepare dough, combine the yogurt, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and eggs in a large bowl. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add flour to yogurt mixture; stir well to combine. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth. Divide dough into 24 equal portions, shaping each into a ball. Working with 1 portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), roll each ball into a 3 1/2-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Spoon 1 rounded tablespoon filling onto half of each circle. Fold dough over filling; press edges together to seal. Repeat procedure with remaining dough and filling.

Bring 12 cups water to a boil in a large Dutch oven. Add half of pierogi; cook 6 minutes or until tender. Remove pierogi with a slotted spoon; place in a colander. Repeat procedure with the remaining pierogi.

To prepare the browned butter while pierogi cook, melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat; cook 10 minutes or until lightly browned (be careful not to burn). Add shallots; cook 1 minute. Add pierogi; cook 2 minutes, tossing to coat.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 435 (23% from fat), Fat: 10.9g (sat 5.5g,mono 3.4g,poly 0.9g), Protein: 12.2g, Carbohydrate: 72.1g, Fiber: 3.1g, Cholesterol: 93mg, Iron: 3.8mg, Sodium: 516mg, Calcium: 80mg. Source: Cooking Light Cookbook, 2004.

Raspberry Strippers

 

Even though they’re void of chocolate chips, peanut butter, and nuts, a.k.a. the ingredients that usually produce the best cookies, these little guys definitely have something going for them. Sugar and butter. And more sugar.

Raspberry strippers are basically a twist on thumbprint cookies, which I’ve never made, but have eaten plenty of times. They looked so pretty, I just had to try them. But "pretty", pretty much meant they'd be a tad tedious, and seeing that I had a long night of pierogi-making fun ahead of me, I went out of my way to speed up the process. I got out all the ingredients and portioned them in advance, and even cleaned up and put things away as I was going. I was on a roll.

Sugar…butter…vanilla. It was all mixing up nicely, and I was making great time. That is, until the egg. The recipe calls for one large egg white. So I added three tablespoons (an egg’s worth) from my carton of egg whites, but it seemed like an awful lot of liquid. So I started to worry, thinking that maybe an egg’s worth of liquid was a lot more than an egg white’s worth of liquid. I phoned my mom and she said it would be fine.

I was still worried, but continued, adding the dry ingredients, and mixing up the dough to what was supposed to be “firm”. But it was nowhere near firm. Not even in the same universe as firm. Just sloppy and sticky. I was sure it was ruined, so I made a judgment call to start over, and spooned the sticky goo onto a cookie sheet, which later became some plain old butter cookies. (Pretty good, by the way, especially with a milk dunk.)

 

 

So I got all the ingredients out again, measured everything, and started over, at a much slower, slightly disheartened pace, have you. I used an egg white from an actual egg the second time around, and guess what? Even more liquid. Seems mother always does know best. And the dough was even stickier, too, like peanut butter. I tried to plop it onto the table, but it was glued to my fingers.

How do you roll peanut butter into logs? You don’t. So instead, I patted down the dough with tons of flour, and shaped it carefully by hand. I even got a few half rolls in there. But when it came time to transfer to a cookie sheet, it wouldn’t budge without breaking. In the end, it took three spatulas, a balancing act, and a little reconstructive surgery, but it worked.

 

 

 

Then using the handle of a spoon, I made an indentation down each log and spooned in the preserves. Baked. Then drizzled with a mix of powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. And they came out great. The glaze is very sweet, which nicely complements the buttery vanilla cookie and the slightly tart preserves. I’ll definitely make these again, despite my less-than-perfect experience.

I’m thinking they’d be easier and prettier if they were simple circles filled with jam instead of the long rolls. But I guess that would mean taking the twist out of "twist on the thumbprint cookie". Oh well. Luke liked them, so they were worth the trouble. And while they don't have any chocolate chips or peanut butter, I'm still guessing these won't be around for long.

  

  

 

Raspberry Strippers
Yield: 2 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)

Cookbook note: Think of these as a variation of thumbprint cookies. Vanilla butter cookies are filled with fruit preserves and drizzled with a powdered sugar glaze.

Ingredients:
1/3  cup  granulated sugar
5  tablespoons  butter or stick margarine, softened
1 1/2  teaspoons  vanilla extract
1  large egg white
1  cup  all-purpose flour
2  tablespoons  cornstarch
1/4  teaspoon  baking powder
1/4  teaspoon  salt
Cooking spray
1/3  cup  raspberry or apricot preserves
1/2  cup  powdered sugar
2  teaspoons  fresh lemon juice
1/4  teaspoon  almond or vanilla extract

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375°.

Beat granulated sugar and butter with a mixer at medium speed until well-blended (about 5 minutes). Add 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla and egg white; beat well. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, stirring until well-blended. (Dough will be stiff.)

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll each portion into a 12-inch log. Place logs 3 inches apart on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Form a 1/2-inch-deep indentation down the length of each log using an index finger or end of a wooden spoon. Spoon preserves into the center. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove logs to a cutting board.

Combine powdered sugar, lemon juice, and almond extract; stir well with a whisk. Drizzle sugar mixture over warm logs. Immediately cut each log diagonally into 12 slices. (Do not separate slices.) Cool 10 minutes; separate slices. Transfer slices to wire racks. Cool completely.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 75 (30% from fat), Fat: 2.5g (sat 1.5g,mono 0.7g,poly 0.2g), Protein: 0.7g, Carbohydrate: 12.4g, Fiber: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 6mg, Iron: 0.3mg, Sodium: 56mg, Calcium: 4mg. Source: Cooking Light Complete Cookbook, 2008.

Chicken with Pancetta & Figs

This post marks the first of hopefully many weeknight recipes. Until now, I’ve cheatingly left the cooking for the weekends, which tend to be slower as far as work goes. But Luke and I just spent a wonderfully long weekend together in Petoskey, MI, celebrating our one-year anniversary. And while there was definitely a lot of food involved, absolutely none of it was cooked by me.

But boy did we eat. Let me brag just a little about the fine culinary offerings of Petoskey. First, there was the pizza at Papa Lou’s, which made its way into my personal pizza hall of fame with basil olive oil, grilled chicken, caramelized onion, bacon and so much cheese, my lactose-intolerant self had to pop double dairy pills. It was wonderful. Especially the part where they accidentally made us a large instead of a small. Then there were the buttery sandwiches and homemade bread at City Park Grill, a restaurant once frequented by the great Ernest Hemingway. Oh, and the slab of fudge from Killwins, literally dripping with caramel. And the humongous, technicolor, hippie made rice krispy treat made with cocoa puffs, fruit loops and golden grahams. 

But the best of all came from the bed and breakfast we stayed in. I had Chicken Hemingway, which was covered in Michigan sour cherry sauce and truffled mushrooms, propped on creamy garlic mashed, and Luke had chicken marsala to melt for. All washed down with fabulous falltinis, a.k.a. liquid Christmas, made special by the owner, and finished with hazelnut crème Brule with caramelized sugar, scorched right at the table. Let me tell you, it was all deliciously worth casting our diets to the wayside for romance’s sake.

But it wasn’t all so glorious. Ironically, we drove home on Sunday, our actual anniversary, and stopped for dinner at, ahem, Arby’s. You know you’re really in love when you can stare dreamily into your husband’s eyes while stuffing your face with curly fries smothered in Arby’s sauce.

Anyway, Monday came all too quickly and before I knew it I was back to work and back in the kitchen. Well, the grocery store at least, where for at least 30 minutes, the only thing running through my head was, “Garam Masala! Garam Masala! Where are you? Actually, what are you?” as I foraged through every inch of the store for the mystery spice. It was late, my cart was already full of pancetta, tawny port, chicken, figs and our usual fare, and I think I looked desperate because after I passed the same employee for the tenth time, she joined in on the hunt. We searched the spice racks, the international food aisle, the organic section, and alas, I put up my white flag and sadly postponed the cooking.

Fortunately, I have a wonderful husband, who did his own search online the next morning and found a nearby Indian grocer. And boy, you wouldn’t believe the things they sell in there. Rice in dog-food size bags. Chickpea cans the size of your head. The owner actually opened the freezer for Luke and started hard-selling unrecognizable meat to him, in an unrecognizable language.  But we got the stuff. And the stuff, I tell you, is glorious. Garam Masala means “hot mixture” (with “hot” referring to the spice’s intensity, not its heat), and is a beautiful blend of peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, nutmeg, bay leaves, star anise and coriander. Smells great, like Christmas in India.

So with all my ingredients finally in one place, the cooking began. Like always, I started with the prep. I mixed the dry rub, sliced the onion and pancetta and chopped the figs, parsley and thyme. By the way, thyme smells so good. Oddly reminds me of those scratch ‘n sniff pizza stickers, and at the same time, all the homegrown herbs and flowers my mom used to dry in our attic in Indiana when I was a kid. And it was going to take a strong whiff of nostalgia to get me through the next step.

 

 

The next step being the one thing I wasn’t looking forward to – removing all that fatty skin from the chicken thighs. I’ve only ever bought boneless, skinless chicken breasts that are ready to go, so this was something new.  I’ll spare you the slimy details, but to say the least, the thighs were 50% smaller when I was done, and my garbage disposal had a hard time choking down all that fat. Gross.

After the prep, the rest of the cooking went well, and I really enjoyed it. I sautéed the onion and pancetta, set them aside, then sprinkled the dry rub on the chicken and browned them. It smelled so amazing sizzling in the pan with all those spices. And every time I added something new, the aroma just got better. First the port and vinegar, then the onions, pancetta and broth, and finally, the figs and herbs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I served it over jasmine rice with glasses of the tawny port. The dish was great. Very different, but great. Luke was in love. We’re both big fans of Indian food, and while I’m not sure if this dish actually classifies as Indian, it definitely tasted like it. Sweet, juicy, saucy, and full of all those great spices. (Which, I may double next time.) And great texture, too, thanks to the figs and onion. It would have been perfect if we’d only had some warm naan to go with.

We made a toast, and I took a sip of the port and thought, wow, this is incredibly sweet and strong. A quick scan of the bottle and I realized that it was a dessert wine, made to go in those little fancy glasses for microscopic sipping, not the oversized goblets on our table. Eh, oh well. I’m sure our sesame dessert from the Indian store soaked it all up just fine.

 

Last night we had leftovers, which were even better, as most leftovers are. And mid-meal, Luke asked with pleading eyes if I'd make this meal again. So of course I turned to him and said, "I do."

Chicken with Pancetta and Figs
Yeild: 4 servings (serving size: 2 thighs and about 2/3 cup sauce)

Pancetta--Italian unsmoked bacon found in the deli of many supermarkets--adds saltiness to this dish. If you can't find it, substitute lean cooked bacon. If fresh figs are available, stir them in just before serving, omitting the dried figs. Serve over basmati rice in rimmed soup bowls.

Ingredients:
3/4  teaspoon  olive oil
Cooking spray
1  cup  vertically sliced onion
1  ounce  pancetta, finely chopped
2  teaspoons  garam masala
1  teaspoon  brown sugar
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
8  chicken thighs (about 2 1/4 pounds), skinned
1/4  cup  tawny port
2  tablespoons  red wine vinegar
1  cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
12  dried Calimyrna figs, quartered
3  tablespoons  chopped fresh parsley
1  tablespoon  chopped fresh thyme
Fresh thyme sprigs (optional)

Preparation:
Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion and pancetta; sauté 3 minutes. Remove from pan.

Combine garam masala, sugar, salt, and pepper; sprinkle evenly over chicken. Add chicken to pan; cook over medium-high heat 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Add port and vinegar; cook 30 seconds, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add onion mixture and broth; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Add figs; cover and simmer 8 minutes or until chicken is done. Stir in parsley and chopped thyme. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.
Nutritional Information

Nutritional Info: Calories: 392 (26% from fat), Fat: 11.5g (sat 3.2g,mono 4.4g,poly 2.3g), Protein: 32.3g, Carbohydrate: 42.3g, Fiber: 8g, Cholesterol: 125mg, Iron: 3.5mg, Sodium: 594mg, Calcium:125mg. Source: Cooking Light Complete Cookbook, 2008.

Pumpkin Dip

I’m going to keep this post short, simple and sweet, as a tribute to the qualities of this dip.

First off, I’ve never been much of a pudding/sweet dip person. And I’ve always slightly loathed those who try to pass off fruit as dessert. So making a fruit dip wasn’t high on my list of must-eat treats. But I do love pumpkin and anything with cream cheese, so I had the inkling to give this recipe a shot.

It’s quite a breeze to make. Six ingredients. Three steps. You gotta love that. I did, however, modify it a bit based on a review I read online, cutting the brown sugar down to 1/3 cup (you definitely don’t need more), and adding a little pumpkin pie spice. You just whip it all up with a little maple syrup and cinnamon, chill for 30 minutes, and voilà! A perfect fall treat. It came out fluffy, creamy and… oh so dreamy. (Sorry. I have Grey’s Anatomy on my mind from last night, which is becoming quite an annoying show, in my opinion.)

I served it with fresh Michigan apple slices and mini gingersnaps. This stuff is awesome. Like pumpkin cheesecake in an easy-to-pig-out-on form. We couldn’t get enough! I loved the way it complemented the crisp, juicy apples. Luke preferred the crunchy cookies. We both ended up eating most of it off our fingers.

 

 

 

Pumpkin Dip
Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 2 tablespoons dip/2 apple slices)

Ingredients:
3/4  cup  (6 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1/2  cup  packed brown sugar (I reduced to 1/3 cup)
1/2  cup  canned pumpkin
2  teaspoons  maple syrup
1/2  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
24  apple slices
(*I added a few shakes of pumpkin pie spice)

Preparation:
Place first 3 ingredients in a medium bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add syrup and cinnamon, and beat until smooth. Cover and chill 30 minutes. Serve with apple.
Nutritional Information

Nutritional info: Calories: 107 (27% from fat), Fat: 3.2g (sat 2g,mono 0.9g,poly 0.1g), Protein: 2g, Carbohydrate: 18.3g, Fiber: 1.4g, Cholesterol: 10mg, Iron:1mg, Sodium: 87mg, Calcium: 35mg. Source: Cooking Light, 2003.