(light music)
- Look at those noods.
(light music)
Hey guys we're at Baba's Pierogis in Gowanus Brooklyn
and I'm really hungry.
Really excited to make some pierogis.
(techno music)
The eastern European dumpling is typically filled
with potato, cheese, and/or sauerkraut.
Here, the chefs stuff them with crazy fillings
like bacon cheddar, jalapeno, and even mac and cheese.
- Right here we've got some dough
that's based on my grandmother's recipe.
- Okay.
- The recipe that she adapted
when she immigrated to the states in the sixties.
- [Lauren] And Baba, is that grandma?
- Yes.
Baba means grandma.
- How thin are we goin'?
- [Helena] We usually like to see through it.
- It's actually not as hard as I thought.
Can you see me?
- And the second part is to cut out the shells.
Right over, nice and slow,
but put a lot of pressure on.
- Ah.
- You alright?
- Yeah.
Are they alright?
- Oh yeah, absolutely.
- [Lauren] They're like little flowers.
- Typically you would not put mac and cheese in a pierogi,
but we don't care.
We're gonna do it and we love it.
Classic American cheese situation.
It's very creamy, we make it here stove top,
not out of the box.
- Okay.
Who thought of this crazy, thing?
- It was not Baba, it was definitely
like a drunken night at our local bar.
- It's I mean it's like carbs on carbs on carbs
and it sounds like heaven.
- While you're like kind of holding this down
you can use your fingers on the side
to like lift up the dough on the side.
- [Lauren] Mine doesn't look quite as pretty.
- It looks pretty good.
That's the best one I've seen.
- I made a pierogi.
If you think mac and cheese is crazy, get this.
They make dessert pierogi here too.
Obviously, we went with the chocolate.
What kind of chocolate are we working with?
- This is chocolate hazelnut.
We have added a few things too
to give the chocolate a little bit of a crunch.
- So what is the crunch in here?
- We use rice krispies.
- Can I try this?
- Yes please.
- They look like just chocolate candies.
- Absolutely.
- It almost sounds kind of like a crunch bar
with the rice krispies.
- Yes, yes, yes, yes.
- But like a better version 'cause the hazelnut.
So good.
I know you said these were easier, but um.
Mine's not sticking together.
My mom, I would make empanadas with her.
- Is that right?
- Every Christmas eve
and they just look very similar to hers.
- Right, right.
Well, you know, every culture
has like some form of like dumpling or like a pocket food.
My grandmother made these every Friday,
she still makes them,
you know we'd all be in the basement like waiting
for her to make these pierogis that she spent all day making
and then we would like eat in about ten minutes.
- That's always how that goes.
- Yeah.
After you make all the pierogis they get cooked up.
- [Robert] This is our pasta cooker.
- [Lauren] Yes, scary jacuzzi.
- [Robert] Yeah, you don't wanna put your hand in there.
- [Lauren] Okay.
- [Robert] We're gonna fry these up,
these are the mac and cheese.
- So you helped like make all these recipes.
- Yes.
The classic pierogis we tried not to
fray away from too much.
- [Lauren] Got it.
- Grandma's sauerkraut, that's grandma's sauerkraut.
- You can't.
- We didn't wanna mess with that.
- Touch grandma's sauerkraut.
- So as long it's above 210.
- [Lauren] Okay.
- It's gonna be boiling.
If they're fried it stays in the boiler for one minute.
If they're boiled we boil them for two minutes all together.
So then straight from the pot cooker into the frying pan.
Alright, and then we're gonna hit the heat again.
- [Lauren] Now that's a nice sound.
- And we use brown butter with our boiled
so they're really delicious, so people.
- Wow.
(whoa)
Wait, brown butter after?
- Yeah we toss them in brown butter.
Some people swear by the fried ones
and some people swear by the boiled ones.
(light music)
- They're so cute.
Look at this golden crust.
I can almost hear the crunch that's gonna happen
when I bite into it.
It's gonna be good.
So we're just boiling these ones.
- Right.
- We're not pan frying them.
- Nope.
- And then Bob mentioned something about some brown butter.
- [Helena] Yes.
- Brown butter makes everything, everything better.
You can see the mac and cheese.
You see the little elbows poking through the dough
and you can smell the brown butter.
It's got like a nutty aroma to it.
Oh my god.
Gorgeous.
- And the final step is the flag.
- Mac and cheese is cooked
and now it's time to do the chocolate.
(frying pan)
You can definitely tell that these guys are chocolate.
- Yeah and you'll definitely be able to smell it soon too.
(smelling)
- Chocolate.
- [Helena] We like a golden fry on these, on both sides.
Put some whipped cream on there.
Then we like to put some powdered sugar on top.
- I am so excited.
Dangerous.
We have three different pierogis to try right now.
Look at this situation.
I can't even.
The mac and cheese classic boiled,
tossed in brown butter and sprinkled with chives.
Then the mac and cheese that is fried
and it looks like this is sour cream for dipping.
Look at that crispiness.
And then we have the fried chocolate hazelnut for dessert.
The expectations are really really high right now.
I don't know how to describe this.
It's just a really nice, thin noodle
just covering perfectly creamy mac and cheese, it's insane.
This would be hard to stop eating.
Next, fried.
Boom.
Mm I like the fried.
The crunch just really balances the creaminess
of the mac and cheese.
Last but not least we've got the chocolate.
I'm very excited about these ones.
Melty, gooey chocolate.
Cheers.
This is one of the best things I've ever eaten.
There's the melty, gooey chocolate
and then there's the slightly crispy rice krispies.
It's insane.
This is dangerous for me to be around this right now.
Guess I'm gonna have to eat all these.
Make sure to like and subscribe to Delish
and I'll see you guys next time.
(space music)