New Orleans Pierogi

This is an older post from my days of cooking at PRAVDA! While I am no longer there, the TRUTH! Pierogi will always be near one of my menus.

Got some amazing produce in yesterday from the HollyGrove Market, which included some broccoli and goat cheese curds.  The curds are amazing from Ryal's Dairy.  The taste is something like a country version of American Feta, with a certain tang, chalk, salt. The flavor takes well to seasoning other dishes as a component, or simply served by itself with some honey, cilantro blossoms, toasted cumin seeds, it can be an amazing component to a harmonious orchestra of flavors for the palate.  So, this thinking lead me to the following Pierogi ideas.  Broccoli and cheese are amazingly classic components, and we happen to have both of them on hand, along with some fresh made Pierogi dough.  So today, Goat Cheese Curds w/ HollyGrove Broccoli Pierogis.

Yesterday, Linda brought me some amazing foraged parsley, cilantro blossoms, sage flowers, and mustard green blossoms.  They are pure ingredients, which make it easy for people like me to cook.

If the divine creator has taken pains to give us delicious and exquisite things to eat, the least we can do is prepare them well and serve them with ceremony.                                    

Fernand Point  

It is the unlikely story of a guy from New Orleans, trained in French Cuisine, making Pierogies at a Russian Absinthe bar in the French Quarter.  But like life, there is no formula, just make it happen.  So here is the recipe that I have been using at PRAVDA! If you have any questions, shoot me an email and will get to the answer for the both of us.

PRAVDA! Pierogie Recipe

    - 4.5C All Purpose Flour

    - 2C Sour Cream

    - 2T Melted Butter

    - 1T Oil

    - 2Each Eggs

    - 1Each Egg Yolk

    - Salt

Combine sour cream, butter, oil, and eggs in a bowl; whisk until mixture is smooth and lump-free; salt the flour; make a well in the center of the flour; pour sour cream mixture into center; incorporate into dough; let rest 15 minutes at room temperature; pinch off and roll out into desired size.  Place them into some berrling water until they float...done.  Pierogie!

If this is too much, the recipe conversion factor can be used to scale it up or down.  For instance, if you only have three cups of flour, divide three by four point five, then multiply the other quantities by that number to yield your new recipe amounts.  If you get stumped, convert all the measurements into the same category, i.e., 1C = 8oz; 1T = 0.5oz; 1 Large Egg = 2oz, etc.  Just use the intraweb and find the needed conversion.

    Once you conquer the dough, it becomes a blank canvas for flavors and imagination.  At the top is a quote from my Gastronomic Hero, Fernand Point, he shaped the way we eat.

For those of you about to cook, we salute you.