Proscuitto, Carmelized Onion & Cheese Pyrohi

This is what happens when you have leftover procuitto, a craving for pyrohi and a husband that will indulge your creative cooking side.

Prosciutto, Caramelized Onion & Cheese Pyrohi
(yield: approx. 3 to 3 1/2 doz)

Dough

Ingredients:

1 egg
2 c. flour
1/2 c. water
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. salt

Mix together and knead for about 5 minutes. You can also let your mixer and dough hook do the work. Let dough rest on a floured board for about 1/2 hour. 

Filling:

Ingredients:
5-6 potatoes (I had red on hand), peeled and cubed
1/2 c. grated mild, creamy sheep or goat's milk cheese (I used a mild goat's cheddar)
2 yellow onions, caramelized in olive oil*
6 pieces prosciutto, cooked until crispy and broken into bits
salt and pepper

Cook the potatoes until tender. Run through a ricer (or mash) until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste (no milk!). Mix in the caramelized onions and prosciutto. Also add the cheese and mix until combined and melted.

Making and Filling Pyrohi

Roll out dough about 1/8" thick and cut in 3" rounds (use a donut cutter). Put 1 tbsp. potatoes on a round and pinch them shut. Use a little flour on your fingers if the dough is sticky or if it doesn't seal right away. No need to put water on the edges before sealing. I worked in batches so that the dough wouldn't dry out.

Put completed pyrohi on a lightly floured surface until ready to cook. If not cooking for a while, cover the pyrohi with a dish towel until ready to cook so that they don't dry out.

Cook in a large pot of boiling water, stirring gently until pyrohi come to the top of the water and then let simmer for 3 or 4 minutes; drain, serve with sauteed olive oil and onions.

The other option is to fry them. I caramelized some yellow onions in some olive oil and once they were done, added a bit more olive oil and sauteed the pyrohi until they were cooked through.

*To caramelize the onions, heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over low heat. Add in thinly sliced half moons of onion and stir, adding just a touch of salt. Continue to cook over low heat until the onion have turned an amber color. This must be done over low heat to ensure caramelization. If done over higher heat, the onions will burn. Be patient. It's worth it.

Pyrohi can be frozen individually on a cookie sheet and then combined (once frozen) into storage containers/bags.

Thanksgiving ReMix - Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie was an easy recipe to think of - the amount of leftovers this recipe used was amazing. We used half a turkey breast, turkey stock, gravy, 2 cups mashed potatoes, two carrots, 3 ribs of celery, 3 turnips, 1 white onion, thyme and mushrooms - all of which we had floating around in the fridge from either our Thanksgiving dinner or from making our vegetable stock (which was made for Thanksgiving). Our refrigerator breathed a sigh of relief as we unloaded crisper drawers and tupperware containers.

The recipe we used was based on this recipe. We made a few changes based on our leftover situation, but isn't that the point of these types of recipe - to use up all the mis-matched ingredients you have on hand? So, you can use this as inspiration and throw in whatever else you may be needed to use from your fridge. Ours turned out a bit on the runny side, so in hindsight, I would sub butter for olive oil and use 2 tbsp with 2 tbsp flour so that the rue was thicker, but other than that, the flavor was awesome. We will be keeping this recipe for use with next year's leftovers.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped white onion

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 celery ribs, chopped

1/4 tsp Essence (see Emeril's recipe for it here) 

2 pinch salt

pinch of ground black pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 tsp thyme leaves (we used dried)

 6 oz. mushrooms, stemmed, cleaned and sliced

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp flour

1/3 c. tomato sauce

2 1/2 c. roasted turkey breast, meat shredded

1 1/4 c. turkey stock (you could use chicken)

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes, mixed with blended turnips

3 turnips, boiled and blended with immersion blender 

1/4 c. Manchego cheese

1 c. grated Goat's milk Cheddar

1/2 c. leftover gravy 

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or saute pan. Saute the onion, carrots and celery with the Essence, salt and pepper.

Once the onions are clear and tender, toss in the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds to a minute. Then toss in the mushroom, thyme and bay leaf.

Once the mushrooms have wilted, toss in the flour and coat everything in the flour. Then add the tomato sauce and turkey breast and stir to combine. Slowly add the turkey stock and stir to combine. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.

Pour the mixture into a 9" x 9" pan and top with the turnip mashed potatoes. Top with the Manchego cheese (which melts into the potatoes and adds a nice buttery flavor). Top that with the Cheddar and place in a 400 F oven for about a half hour, until the potato is crisp and the cheese is bubbly and golden.  

Serve and drizzle some leftover gravy for a yummy use of all those odds and ends.

Congratulations to me!

Um. I made my very first multi-step (ie multiple day) yeast bread ever this weekend. And it was good.

Nick is our resident bread maker. I easily throw together pumpkin or banana bread - quick breads. But I was always a bit timid with the idea of yeast breads. Math isn't my strong suit, so actually having to measure out ingredients precisely gave me the hee bee gee bees. Plus, the kneading and the rising and the overnighting...sheesh.

But I suppose my bagel snobbery won out. I worked at a donut shop from my work permit days up until I gratuated from college, and again during a stint of unemployment, so I was spoiled with freshly baked bagels every day and grew quite accustomed to them and am now a full fledged bagel snob. But over a dollar a day for a fresh baked bagel (and I do mean fresh baked, from frozen, of course) just seems excessive. I'm a food snob, sure, but I'm also pretty cheap.
 

 Everything (garlic, shallot, poppy and sesame)

 White Poppy Seed 

Sesame Seed

So, when I found this recipe on one of Nick's favorite bread making sites, I knew I had to try it. And what a more perfect time than a three day weekend allowing time for a screw up if I needed?

My fears were all for not, however, as they turned out de-li-cious, not beautiful and somewhat misshapen. I have, with one taste of these bagels, qualmed my fears of yeast breads and decided that they are totally worth the effort. So, I did what any normal person making their first real yeast bread would do and took my bagel outside for a photo shoot. God help my future children.

All in all, even using super sweet (read: expensive) honey gold potatoes, these cost about twenty cents a piece. I can live with that.

I do have a new fear, though. The fear of what would happen if my stand mixer was taken away. Because, seriously, I cannot live without that thing.

Ukrainian Pyrohi (Pieroghi) & Pyrohi with a Twist

There are some foods that hold special memories, that take you back to a certain time or place. Pyrohi are one of those for me. I remember devouring them at my grandparent's house as a child. I learned to ride my bike (sans training wheels) by having my parents tempt me by saying "Olga's Pieroghi!" as they ran ahead of me and I tried to catch up. Engrossed by the thoughts of buttery, cheese and potato filled pockets, I completely forgot about my unbalanced self and raced to two wheels in no time. The smell of onions sauteing in butter on the stove top still reminds me of home and Olga's (my grandmother) kitchen.

Since I grew up, I've tried several varieties: the can't be topped pyrohi made by little old ladies in church basements, the store bought kind from your grocer's freezer, and some bought at specialty markets with unique added flavors. There is also a "poor man's" version that my dad makes, which is basically the same ingredients deconstructed in a mixture of noodles as opposed to pinched into dough rounds. It's equally delicious and I'll have to share it with you sometime.

I wanted to give homemade pyrohi a try, not only because I imagine that they will taste more like the little old lady variety, but also because they are a great weeknight dish since they freeze so well. Once they are individually frozen onto sheet pans (don't forget the parchment paper), I put a few into zip top bags and placed them in the freezer. On busy weeknights, it's so easy to boil a pot of water and throw in some frozen pyrohi, saute some butter/olive oil and onions and sit down to a nice, home cooked meal 15 minutes later.

This leads me to my current undertaking: making homemade pyrohi.  The recipe below is what I received from my Aunt Stephanie (a young church basement pyrohi pincher) at my bridal shower. I had to have some tweaks (for my allergy), but I've mostly followed this exactly (the items I've changed will not be in italics).

Ukrainian Pyrohi
(yield: approx. 3 to 3 1/2 doz)

Dough

1 egg
2 c. flour
1/2 c. water
1 tbsp. margarine (for which I subbed plain ol' butter)
1 tsp. salt

Mix together and knead for about 5 minutes. You can also let your mixer and dough hook do the work. Let dough rest on a floured board for about 1/2 hour. 

Filling

Cook 5 or 6 potatoes (pared and cubed). Mash, add salt and pepper to taste (do not add milk); add 3 or 4 slices of cheddar, American or your choice of cheese (I used Manchego* here). Mix well until cheese is melted. I like to saute butter (I used olive oil) and onions (1/2 yellow) and put some into the potato mixture. Scoop potatoes into 1" balls and let cool.

Making and Filling Pyrohi

Roll out dough about 1/8" thick and cut in 3" rounds (use a donut cutter). Put 1 tbsp. potatoes on a round and pinch them shut. Use a little flour on your fingers if the dough is sticky or if it doesn't seal right away. No need to put water on the edges before sealing. I worked in batches so that the dough wouldn't dry out. 

 

 

Put completed pyrohi on a lightly floured surface until ready to cook. If not cooking for a while, cover the pyrohi with a dish towel until ready to cook so that they don't dry out.

 

Cook in a large pot of boiling water, stirring gently until pyrohi come to the top of the water and then let simmer for 3 or 4 minutes; drain, serve with sauteed butter (again, I used olive oil) and onions. ENJOY!

The other option is to fry them. I caramelized some yellow onions in some olive oil and once they were done, added a bit more olive oil and sauteed the pyrohi until they were cooked through.



To kick these up a notch, mix the pyrohi filling (as directed above) and add one roasted, peeled and diced jalapeno pepper.  The spiciness goes well with the caramelized onions and it really is an great twist on the traditional version (although I can't say enough about the original).

*Manchego is a sheep's milk cheese that has goes really well with potatoes and melts well. There are also sheep and goat's milk cheddars available, but our nearest specialty cheese store is an hour away.

Potato Salad

Just like mom makes it. Really. It's her hit recipe. She always carries a bowl to picnics and summer gatherings. It's a staple at the summer holidays and with my dad and I, five pounds never lasts more than a few days.

The first time I made it for Nick and I, I cut back the recipe, thinking five pounds would be way too much. But a short two days later, I was making another batch since Nick had devoured it. (Note: make more than you think you should!)

Ingredients (for 5 lb of potatoes. Use more or less of each depending on your tastes):

5 lb red potatoes
2-3 large stalks of celery, diced
4-5 green onion/scallions, sliced thin
1/4 - 1/3c Italian Dressing
2 eggs, hard boiled and diced
1 c. mayonnaise (more or less depending on your tastes, start with a half cup and work your way up to desired consistency)

To begin, rinse and cut the potatoes. Cut them into bite sized cubes - about 1 potato per bite is how large I cut them. The larger the potatoes, the less mushy and more firm the salad will be in the final product. Boil the potatoes in salted water until just soft - you want them to stay firm enough to hold their shape while tossed, but soft enough to eat. No mashed potato consistency here though - you'll end up with a mayonnaise and potato mush.When ready, drain the potatoes and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

While the potatoes are still hot, drizzle the dressing over the potatoes. The trick is to pour just enough for the potatoes to absorb, but not to make them greasy or leave a puddle on the bottom. Start with a smaller amount and work your way up, tossing when needed to coat. Once fully coated, cover and place in the fridge overnight.

The next day, add the celery, scallions, and egg to the potatoes. Also mix in the mayonnaise. There should be just enough to coat the potatoes. Place in the fridge, covered, for a few hours or as longs as you can stand it to let the flavors mingle.

Spring Onion Green Potatoes - Two Ways

Now that I'm back to being myself (post licensing exam - part I), I am feeling like I have more time. Today, we went to the Daytona Beach Farmer's Market. It's a weird place, but to get great deals on local veggies and fruits, it's well worth the trip. The awesome kettle corn doesn't hurt either. We needed to get some onions for a the week and they had a bounty of spring onions. I picked one up and brought it home.

Source

I was putting away our food and chopped off the green part, since it was cumbersome in the veggie drawer. Not yet sure that these greens were garbage, I saved them figuring I could figure out something to do with them. After a little research, we decided to use them in some leftover mashed potatoes. Always up for an experiment, we decided to try it two ways.

The first batch we prepared like onions or leek, wilting and caramelizing the greens and then adding them to the potatoes:

The second batch received chopped raw onion greens tossed into the potatoes as is - sort of like chives:

And the winner is:

It's a tie! Nick liked the wilted onion better because it tasted richer, sort of like a pierogi. It did have a more buttery flavor, probably from the oil used to saute the greens. I preferred the raw greens. I felt it gave a more crisp, onion-y flavor and didn't taste as heavy and rich as the wilted greens.