The pierogi infatuation

So we all piled in the car a few weeks ago to go for a drive. It wasn't that nice outside, but the kids were getting over colds and we had all been stuck in the house and just wanted out. We ended up in a small town about 45 minutes away, that has a fantastic little mennonite restaurant. The make the best peanut butter chocolate pie ever. Ever. But we hadn't eaten lunch yet and although had the kidlets not been in the car I'm sure I would have just had pie for lunch, I needed to set a somewhat good example. So we had the pierogies. Not just pierogies, but probably the best pierogies ever. Ever.



We got home and a few days later both T and I were contemplating driving back to the restaurant for another helping of doughy goodness. I set out to find a recipe that would keep us from driving 45 minutes every couple of days.
After tweaking and fine tuning we came up with this little gem. Oh there is no doubt we will be making the trek again for pierogies and pie, but at least we have these that come pretty darned close.

Dough:
One 8 ounce tub of sour cream
3 cups all purpose flour
3 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder

Filling:
2 cups dry curd cottage cheese (you can get this at Safeway)
1 egg yolk
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste

White Gravy
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup thinly sliced onion
2 tbsp bacon bits


Dough:
Mix together sour cream and eggs until smooth. Mix together dry ingredients and then into the sour cream/egg mixture. Add more flour as need to form a slightly sticky dough. Roll out on roulepat or very lightly floured surface. You want it to stick slightly to the board to make it a little easier to get the dough nice and thin. Cut out with a drinking glass.

Mix together all ingredients for the filling and spoon a portion into the cut out dough circles.
Press together the edges to seal in the filling. I found that I would press together the edges with my fingers and then use a fork to make sure I had it sealed well.

To cook just drop them into salted boiling water for 5 minutes or so, or until dough is soft.

To make the gravy.
Add the sour cream to the melted butter in a sauce pan and whisk until smooth. Add sliced onion and bacon and allow to simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes.


Boil as many as you want and add the gravy on top. You don't need much gravy, it is rich, but man alive it is GOOD!

**Pierogies can be made, frozen and dropped into boiling water and cooked for about 10-12 minutes, which makes this a perfect recipe to do in advance**

Celeriac Soup

Who knew such goodness could come from such an ugly little root?


Celeriac, or Celery Root. I hate celery, but love this soup.
It is the perfect cold winters day food. Curl up all day in front of the fire with a good book while this sits on the stove waiting for you.


Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter
4 small or 3 medium celeriac roots
4 leeks
1 small potato (red, white or yellow)
4 cups of stock (I prefer homemade if possible, but the organic low sodium one from Campbells is pretty decent)
Pepper to taste

5 year old Balderson Cheddar, shredded.


Hack the celeriac apart. Okay, no it looks like it needs to be hacked at, but just slice off the outer shell and get all the nubby bit off. There will likely be dirt all over the place, just rinse the celeriac off and chop into 1cm cubes. Cut the leaks into into thin slices.
Melt butter in a pot and add leeks in, sauté them until they're soft. Add in the celeriac and cook slowly.
Peel and cube potato and add to leek/celeriac mix
Add salt and pepper (I add a lot of pepper)
Add the stock.
Turn down the temp to allow a simmer until potato and celeriac are soft.
Can add more salt & pepper to taste. I usually add a little more pepper to mine.
Put into blender (in batches if need be) and blend on high until smooth.
Rinse out pot you used to cook in and return blended portions to it and mix together.

Just before you serve, add a small handful of the super sharp cheese and let it melt a little into the soup.

Oh so tasty.

Homemade Bread

Is there anything better than homemade bread? Fresh, warm out of the oven and covered in butter, or slathered in peanut butter and honey a la T and t styles. We've been trying to eat healthier and I've been trying to have our family eat things that don't contain preservatives, fillers and things I can't pronounce. There are some things that have been tough to move away from, not only money wise but ease as well. But some things have been easy to replace, like warm, soft homey bread.
I went looking for a bread recipe that I could make myself and bake in the oven, opposed to a bread machine recipe. Again, this is a mix of a bunch of recipes I found, tinkered with to make my own.
The bread is a little yeastier than I normally like, and higher in calories than some on the grocery shelves, but it goes fast and it has a super short list of ingredients. Perfect.



Whole wheat flax sunflower seed bread

1 1/2 cup warm water
3/4 tbsp sugar
3/4 tbsp bread machine yeast (this is what I have in my house, but I guess any dry, active yeast will work)
3-3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (works with white flour too, if you go to make it and find your almost out of whole wheat)
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (these can be omitted easily if you're not a seed person)
1 tbsp oil plus some to grease the pan and bowl(vegetable or canola)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Mix 1/2 cup warm water with sugar and yeast and let sit about 5 minutes until foamy.
Add to the yeast the rest of the water, 2 cups of flour, flax, sunflower seeds, oil and salt.
Mix in a Kitchen Aid mixer with the bread hook (or by hand, if you are so inclined) keep adding 1/4 cup of flour to the mix until the dough becomes a little stiff.
Turn up the mixer to high (or knead by hand) and let mix until dough becomes elastic. (about 7-10 minutes)
Put into a greased bowl and allow to rise until doubled (about an hour or so)
Knock down and let rise again.
Knock down and roll out into a rectangle as wide as the pan you plan on baking the loaf in and about 10 inches long.
Roll into tight log and place into a greased loaf pan.
Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 25 minutes.
You might need more or less time depending on your oven.

Voila tasty, homemade bread.
I just keep mine either under a tea towel, or in an old bread bag. Keeps for about 3 days.

Bison Burgers

Yes, I said bison, like buffalo, like those large woolie things you see in pictographs and the flintstones.
I am NOT a game person, hunting creeps me out, but bison is not gamey at all and is a leaner, tastier version of beef.
It really is good. It isn't all that much more expensive than lean ground beef here in the prairie provinces.
This isn't so much a recipe as a suggestion to BBQ something a little different.
My favourite way these days is seasoned just with a little garlic, salt and pepper. Grilled and then topped with Chèvre cheese and some Sharwoods mango chutney. (please don't tell my mom I love chutney, she will never let me hear the end of it, we used to torment her mercilessly when we were growing up about how gross chutney was)

Happy grilling!

Welcome to the world!

We welcomed a new addition to our family over the weekend. Sunday afternoon little b was born. She is perfect in every way. No sleep and wondering when I can shower again has taken over my life. I love it. t has been fantastic so far and loves every inch of her. My mom was visiting for a wedding and since little miss b was more than a week late, had to leave to go home :( just after her birth. So now it is just us and life is pretty much perfect.

HAT PANTS!

I made t some pants today. He loves them and I haven't been able to get them off of him since having him try them on. You see they are Cat in the Hat pants. Well Dr. Seuss pants really, complete with red and white stripes and Cindy Lou Who, the grinch, Horton, Nick, Sally and Fish. It is wonderful when you can make something so simple that your child loves so much. I will get a picture later. I have to admit, I am kind of jealous. I'd like a pair of hat pants too.

French Onion Shepherds Pie

So this morning my husband put in his request for dinner. He usually leaves it to me to figure out, so when he makes the decision I get all excited for not having to use valuable brain cells figuring out what's for dinner.
He wanted Shepherds pie, an easy thing to do. Some ground beef, some potatoes and veggies and voila, dinner.
I got a little creative and ended up with a fantastic version!
Enjoy!

1 pkg lean ground beef
1 pkg ground bison (it's good, beleive me!)
chopped garlic to taste (I used about 2 cloves)
1 1/2 cups of French Onion Soup (with the onions strained off if you have a small child with an aversion to peices of onion)
1-2 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 cups frozen veggies of choice
6 medium sized potatoes
1/4 cup (or more to taste) of Brie cheese
2 tbsp butter

1) Brown beed, bison and garlic together and drain of extra fat.
2) Peel and cook potatoes. Once cooked, mash potatoes and mix in butter and brie.
3) Strain onion peices from the soup and put into a pot on medium heat. Mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and add to soup. Stir until thickened.
4) Mix onion soup, meat and veggies into the dish you plan on putting into the oven.
5) Top with mashed potatoes
6) Bake for 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Serve yum!
The kid loved it and the manchild had 2 servings before I finished one. Always a good thing.