Perogy Party

After New Year's Day, January feels slow and dull. The excesses and excitements are over so the entire month starts to feel like the reluctant cleaning-up chore the day after a boisterous house party. However, there's still another Christmas to celebrate before the fun funnels away. Ukranian Christmas is the perfect time to keep the party going with friends and festivities, and of course, food.

My Ukranian friend and I have been talking about making perogies for months, so it seemed the right time to make a pile of those delicious pillowy treats. She would provide the know-how, myself and a few other friends would be the students (and provide support as "pinchers"). We assembled on a Saturday afternoon to make plans for perogies, and poured the wine. Let the party begin.

We decided to make three batches, so at 50-75 perogies per batch, we were going to be making a lot to divide between our respective freezers (minus a whack to enjoy for dinner that evening).  The recipe is simple but the possibilities for fillings are limitless; the standard is potato and cheese, but all kinds of combinations can tuck inside. Herbs, sour cream, onion, bacon, chive and much mores can be paired with the potato, but it doesn't stop there. Potato can be substituted with yam or sweet potatoes and perhaps a little brown sugar to make a sweeter treat. Too, a breakfast version where the perogies are filled with fruit or jam is a delicious option as well. For us, we wanted to make something on the traditional savoury side and opted for potato and cheese and some with plain sauerkraut. My friend was sharing this expertise of traditional perogy production with us, and we eager to participate (and even more eager to eat them).

We enjoyed the fruits of our efforts that night and took home more to enjoy again later. All in all it was a great day to kick the January doldrums aside. Appetizer alone or served with bacon and fried onions, perogies are delicious any way they appear. Allow about 8-10 perogies per person for a meal.

For the filling (one batch):

We made cheddar cheese and potato, and also plain with drained sauerkraut, but those are merely jumping-off points. The filling shouldn't be too wet, and the perogies shouldn't be overstuffed as they won't cook evenly and risk bursting when boiled.

• 2 lbs yellow flesh or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 cup orange cheddar cheese (for colour)
• 1 and 1/2 cups aged white cheddar
• 1/2 cup cream
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 whole cloves garlic (with husks on)
• Salt and pepper to taste

1)In a medium pot, add the potatoes and cover with cold water. Salt the water well and heat on high heat.
2)When boiling, reduce the heat to low and cover with a lid. Continue to cook for about 20 minutes or until soft.
2) In the meantime, heat the oven to 400 degrees F, and coat the garlic cloves with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake, wrapped in a tinfoil,  for 20-30 minutes until soft.
3) Drain the potatoes and add the cheese, butter, cream, and and  roasted garlic. Mash well until smooth. Use a a stand mixer to whip them for an even smoother finish, and adjust the flavour as you desire, adding  herbs or more cheese if necessary. For us, tasting and sampling the mash mix was one of the best parts. It seems the whole process could stop right here!
4) Cover and set aside to cool.

For the dough:

• 500g full fat sour cream
• 4 cups unbleached flour

1) In a large bowl, combine the sour cream and most of the flour, mixing with a spoon until it sticks together.
2) Use your hands to further mix the dough, if it becomes too sticky, add more flour in small amounts.
3) When the dough is smooth enough without sticking, roll out on a floured, flat surface using a rolling pin.
4) Roll out the dough until it is about 5mm thick. Add more flour as necessary to prevent sticking.
5) Using a sharp paring knife cut the dough into rectangular strips, about 8cm by 6cm.
6) Pick up a piece of cut dough and place it in the palm of your hand. Using a small spoon, scoop about 1 tablespoon of filling  into the centre.
7)Take one long-ended corner of the dough and press it to the opposite long-ended quarter of the dough to create a triangle. Pinch the dough corners together.
8)Pinch the remaining edges of the dough together firmly around the filling, making sure it is sealed well. The shape should resemble a boomerang or a half-moon.
9) Repeat until all pieces of dough  are filled and pinched . Continue to roll out the remaining dough edges into new pieces until no more can be made.
10) Place the fresh perogies on a floured baking pan and cover with a tea towel so they do not dry out. If freezing the perogies, keep them covered for a day before freezing.
11) To prepare, fill a large pot with cold water and add salt. Bring to a boil.
12)Gently add the perogies one at a time  to the boiling water.
13) When the perogies float on the surface of the water for about a minute, they are ready.
14) Rinse with cool water to prevent sticking and serve with fried onion, bacon bits, sour cream and sauerkraut (see my homemade sauerkraut recipe in the Schnitzel section of this blog).
15) Alternatively, perogies can be fried in butter (or bacon fat) from frozen or after being boiled for a golden brown, crispy texture.

Savour the soft and hearty treats with a lager or chardonnay. Delicious.

Smokey Chicken Paprikash

Serves: 4
Time:1.5 hours

What better way to ring in the new year than to put some miles on my newest piece of crockery. A big shiny red dutch oven needs to be filled with something hearty, so to start 2015 I made Chicken Paprikash.

This is another dish reminiscent of one of my former favourite restaurants. Chicken Paprikash is a thin Hungarian stew made with chicken and sweet paprika. A lot of it. Whole chicken parts are doused in Hungarian paprika before being baked in the oven with onions, peppers, and often potatoes. When the timer beeps you find very juicy chicken nestled in mildly sweet paprika gravy. Often sour cream is added to complete the sauce, but it can be left out if you like or substituted with tomato sauce. Ladle it out and lap it up.

To give this dish a smokier flavour I added chipotle chili powder to compliment the sweetness without overpowering the paprika. I think this dish would be even better if the chicken sat in the paprika mix overnight before cooking, but for those of us who have difficulty planning ahead, 30 minutes is fine.

⦁    1 whole frying chicken, cut into pieces
⦁    5 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
⦁    1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
⦁    1 tablespoon ground chipotle chili powder
⦁    2 tsp salt
⦁    2 tablespoons olive oil
⦁    2 whole cloves garlic, crushed
⦁    2 cups chicken stock
⦁    1 medium onion, chopped
⦁    1 green pepper, chopped
⦁    1 red pepper, chopped
⦁    2 bay leaves
⦁    1/4 cup sour cream

1. Pat the chicken dry. Season well on all sides with paprika, parsley, salt and chili powder. Let sit for at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F).
3. Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven on medium high heat.
4. Brown the chicken pieces in batches,  about 1 minute per side and set on a plate.
5. De-glaze the pan with 1/4 cup of chicken stock.
6. Add the garlic cloves and cook for 1 minute, stirring well.
7. Add the onion, green pepper and red pepper. Season with salt and pepper if desired .Cook until the vegetables are  softened.
8. Stir in the remaining chicken stock and bay leaves. Pile the browned chicken in the pan and season with 1 teaspoon of salt and freshly ground pepper.
9.When the stock begins to boil, place the cover on the dutch oven and transfer to the oven.
10. Bake for 35-40 minutes then remove from the oven and transfer to the stove top. Remove the chicken pieces and cover them with foil. Set aside.
11. To make the sauce, heat the stock and cooked vegetables in the dutch oven again on medium heat. Whisk in the sour cream and stir until bubbling. Add salt and pepper as needed.
12. Serve the chicken with sauce on a bed of mashed potatoes. Curl up and enjoy!