Pierogies
My favorite food growing up was easily my mom’s homemade pierogies. I crave them from time to time, and although I 
have the recipe, they never quite taste as good as hers. The recipe isn’t difficult, it just takes a bit of time to fill and seal the pierogies. However, when something taste this good, sometimes it’s worth the effort.
Translating my mom’s recipes isn’t always easy, and this recipe is no exception. She told me to make enough mashed potatoes to equal the cottage cheese. Turns out, that is roughly a pound of potatoes. The potatoes need to by mashed by hand to a lumpy consistency, similar to the cottage cheese. I usually empty the cottage cheese into a large bowl, and then fill the empty container with the mashed potatoes, just to make sure I have equal amounts. I then add Parmesan cheese, egg yolks, salt, and pepper, mix everything together, and refrigerator the filling until I roll out the dough. >>
To make the dough, I simple cut cold cream cheese and butter into flour to make fine crumbs, very similar to pie dough. I then add eggs and milk and mix together to form a very sticky dough. Sometimes I need a little more milk to pick up all the flour. Once mixed, I chill the dough for 20 minutes before rolling it out on a floured work surface. I 
find it a lot easier to divide the dough in half before rolling it out. I also roll my dough a little on the thick side, which I know is arbitrary. My mom rolls her dough very thin, similar to pie dough, but when I did that, I had a hard time filling and sealing the pierogies without the dough splitting. Seth decided he liked the thicker dough anyway, so it actually works out. Because of this, I usually I need a batch and a half of dough to use up all the filling. Once the dough is rolled, I use this fancy Pampered Chef cut-n-seal to cut out circles, fill the circle with about a teaspoon of filling, and seal into half circles using the same gadget. The dough can also be cut out with an inverted glass or cup dipped in flour, as my mom used for many years, or a round cookie cutter. When sealing the pierogies, try to get as much air out as possible, and be careful not to get any of the filling into the seal. Once the pierogies are filled and sealed, I transfer them to a very heavily floured cookie sheet. The flour with ensure the pierogies won’t stick to anything, because at this point, they are very delicate. Unless I am cooking them immediately, I freeze all of the pierogies on a cookie sheet, and after about an hour, transfer them to a freezer bag.
To cook the pierogies, I bring a large pot of water to a simmer, and gently drop the pierogies into the water. It’s very important not to boil the them because they will fall apart. The key is to keep the water at a bare simmer, which is usually medium to medium low heat. Simmer them about 5 or 10 minutes, until all of the pierogies are floating. They can be served at this point with butter and sour cream, which is how I loved them as a kid, and I still eat at least 1 or 2 this way now, however, most of my family liked pierogies sauteed in butter and onions. So after boiling, I remove the pierogies with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a skillet filled with butter and onions that have been softening over low heat for about 15 minutes – I start the onions when I turn the water to boil the pierogies. I like the pierogies just barely sauteed, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side, but Seth liked them a little crisper, so I let his go about 5 minutes on each side. I still serve these with lots of sour cream, and for Seth, more pepper.
I know there are hundreds of other fillings for pierogies – potato and cheddar, potato and onion, sauerkraut, cabbage, and various types of meats – but these are the ones I grew up eating, so they are the ones I love. Lucky for me, Seth likes them too. Of course, he grew up in the coal region, so ever now and again, I have to hear about Mrs. T’s , especially the jalapeno variety. Maybe I will make them for him one day, but for now, I will just enjoy the classic pierogies from my childhood.
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