Friday, October 15, 2010 @ 8:04 PM
Polish food, ftw!
A month or two ago, I was overwhelmed by the urge to cook dishes from my heritage. I made a childhood favorite:
Hungarian paprikash as well as (Italian)
potato gnocchi. Shortly after making both for the first time, I wanted to try something a bit more daring: pierogies. My mom's side of the family is half Polish and half Italian, so at Christmas and Easter, we always had pierogies. For years, we'd buy them from the grocery store or from a local Polish deli; they seemed like too much work to attempt.
If you've been following my blog, you might know that lately I've been trying to conquer my baking fears. This includes cheesecake and pie crust, among other things (more on the pie crust later). Dough isn't really my specialty, so the thought of pierogi-making made me super nervous. I've tried my hand at pasta making several times since getting my pasta roller at age 12, but I can't help but fail at even the simplest spaghetti.
Luckily for me, heritage was on my side. I followed the recipe with much trepidation and let my dough rest for a half hour. When I returned to roll it out, I found that it had become elastic and really forgiving.
I made two kinds of fillings--potato & cheese and sauerkraut. The former was a russet potato boiled til tender, combined with sour cream, cheddar cheese, a pinch of salt and white pepper to taste. The latter was a jar of sauerkraut with freshly cracked blacked pepper. Both were really simple to make and pretty tasty.
I didn't have a large cutter, so they came out on the small side. Next time, I'll make them bigger so it's easier to get a taste for the filling.
I boiled and then fried them, but I made so many that I had to do them in batches and put the finished ones in the oven to keep them warm. Warming them made them soft instead of crispy. (Something to note for next time).
Served with kielbasa from the farmer's market, sauerkraut and curried cabbage (not a Polish dish, but still delicious!)
Pierogi and Vareniki Dough
Gourmet | February 2001
Yield: Makes enough for about 48 pierogies or 32 varenikis
Active Time: 20 min
Total Time: 50 min
1 cup all-purpose flour plus additional for kneading and rolling
3/4 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
Stir together flours in a bowl. Make a well in flour and add eggs, salt, and water, then stir together with a fork without touching flour. Continue stirring, gradually incorporating flour into well until a soft dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead, adding only as much additional flour as needed to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. (Dough will be soft.) Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature at least 30 minutes.
Cooks' note:
·Dough may be made 2 hours ahead, wrapped well in plastic wrap and chilled. Bring to room temperature before using.
Labels: kielbasa, pierogies, polish food, sauerkraut
This weekend happened to be a long weekend as well as my school's fall break. However, the biggest contributing factor to choosing this particular weekend to come home was the Southington Apple Harvest Festival. I wish I could tell you more about the countless craft vendors or the rides and games, but I can't. I'm extremely narrow-minded in my approach to this festival. I go for the apple fritters alone. I'm not sure how to say this, but they're kind of a big deal. People wait in lines up to a half hour for bags of these sugar-dusted fried balls of fall.

the never-ending line, which wound around the block
I'm not sure who orders 5 Dozen, but I would like to be that person's friend.
My mom and I "split" a dozen. I use the word "split" loosely, because I'm pretty sure she had about 3 and then gave me the rest. Bless her heart, she's good to me!
Piping hot and soft with warm bits of apple throughout and dusted with cinnamon and sugar:
A perfect bite of fall.
We were particularly hungry this year and had the brilliant idea of eating before we got fritters so that by the time we moved through the line, we would have digested our food. Tempted by everything from New England clam chowder in a bread bowl to chili to fried dough (a personal favorite), we decided on Polish food. My mom went for sauerkraut pierogies and my sister and I split potato & cheese pierogies and a kielbasa and kraut sandwich. The pierogies could have used a dash of pepper in the filling and a touch of butter on top, but they were still pretty delicious (and far superior to commercial frozen ones). I had no complains about my sandwich. The bread was soft, the meat had just enough spice and the touch of dijon mustard added a welcome kick to balance out the flavors. Eating fair food on a perfect October day with my family? I couldn't ask for a better day!
Let's move on to Sunday...
By the time I went to sleep on Saturday night, I was pretty convinced that I would never eat again. Having gorged on apple fritters and pierogies, I wasn't sure I could fit anything else in my stomach, but I had a breakfast date first thing Sunday morning, so I had to make room somehow. Thankfully, it only took a quick glance at the menu to find room for my next fall foodventure... pumpkin pecan pancakes at Colony Diner in Meriden.

fluffy buttermilk pumpkin pancakes infused with cinnamon and the crunch of pecans
sprinkled with sugar
Then slathered in maple syrup... oh yes. (and just look at those pecans!)
Easily my favorite breakfast. I wait all year for it.
I'm getting full just typing this and smiling at my delicious food memories, but friends, I have one last stop on this taste train. I'd like to tell you about Ted's. It's a tiny place--if you're not careful, you can drive by and almost miss it.
They've been making magic for over fifty years and their delicious steamed cheeseburgers were recently featured on Man vs. Food for good reason! Hamburger meat gets packed into metal trays and placed in a steaming oven. Cheese meets the same fate, though it has its own oven. Each sandwich is made to order and the meat is placed atop a soft, freshly baked kaiser roll. Next, the steamed cheese nearly doubles over itself as it oozes out of the steam tray and slides down over the meat, leaving no bit of hamburger uncovered. Topped with anything you'd like (I went the lettuce, tomato, raw onion, ketchup route), they're quite the mouthful. I was bringing my sister lunch (though a few minutes late... sorry!), so I took mine to go and didn't get to take a picture of my burger while the cheese was still warm, melty and making its slow descent down the bun. Forgive me. I'll get better pictures next time.
Amazing weekend at home--fall flavors, delicious food, quality time with my family and foliage, I'm one lucky gal.
great post, Kelly! i love reading about your food adventures every chance i get. : )
Fall in Philly is the best-- I grew up there so believe me, I know. It's warm for a while and then it starts to cool down. Enjoy the warmth while it's still here because it'll be cold soon enough!
Those apple fritter look delicious. I love going apple picking and eating fresh hot apple donuts.