I brought my Master Chef Oleshi here.
I got two left hands, but I can roll dough.
So here we go.
(Oleshi laughs)
Okay.
So while Jason is rolling the dough,
I'm going to start boiling the varenyky.
Make sure that your water, it always has salt in it.
Yeah.
It's always harder to salt at the end
and add what you need.
And you just gently toss them in.
(rolling pin thunks)
Always make sure that they're double crimped.
You never want them to open up.
And you bring that to a gentle boil.
While Jason's doing the dough,
I'm just gonna make the filling.
And so here we have already cooked potatoes.
I like to keep them whole
because I don't want them to be super moist.
Yes.
'Cause I don't want them to pop open.
You spend so much time crimping
and bringing everything together,
that if they explode, you get a little bit of,
you know, a little sad and disappointed in your effort.
So right into here
I'm just going to add my caramelized onions.
Mm. Ah, yes!
Wow. Yeah.
That's the only way you can make 'em.
That's the thing!
Flavor! Yeah.
And then we're gonna do,
this is our classic filling of our potato filling.
At Veselka we use farmer's cheese.
(dishes clink)
Always season up, salt and some pepper.
Nice.
Remember, this is gonna go through a cooking process.
So some of that salinity is going to leave.
So you really wanna make sure that you're seasoned up.
And Jason's doing, look at his fabulous job and cutting.
Wow. Yay!
I'm not joking. I'm not joking.
This doesn't happen.
So I'm gonna show you how to crimp a pierogi.
You take your filling, about a tablespoon.
Yeah, me and Jason are gonna switch.
About a tablespoon filling.
You wanna put a smack dab in the center.
You wanna make sure that none of the filling
is touching the edges.
Again, I have mentioned that you don't want it to explode.
You definitely don't want it to explode.
So I take one, put it in my hand,
use my finger as a fulcrum and I start to crimp.
I like to do three rounds of crimping.
And there you go.
And then I'm gonna switch back.
I'm gonna get my pan hot with some butter.
I'm gonna add some caramelized onions.
Ah.
Oh my God, I wish I had this now so, so much.
(Rachael and Jason laugh)
And then we're gonna just pop in as the finishing touch.
Oh!
These are lovely beauties.
So lovely.
Even though I make these all the-
Now, could this be a chicken Kyiv here, honey?
We're gonna have some chicken Kyiv.
I understand, but I still wish I had that.
(Rachael laughs)
I know. That'd be good for dessert for sure.
Mm. No, the appetizer baby.
Oh, and dessert.
You know, have a sour cherry.
Mm. Mm, mm, mm.
So beautiful, you guys.
So I'm gonna plate some up for you right now.
One of the favorite ways I like to eat them.
Chef, what's your second favorite cuisine?
What do you love to cook
when you're not making Ukrainian food?
Ooh, that's a tough one.
That's tough, right?
It is very tough.
Like I said, I love, you know,
with the varenyky, I've made them seasonally
and I like seasonal food.
So, whatever's happening.
I love to shop at the farmer's market.
That's what inspired us to make different-
Yeah, me too.
To make the different varenyky.
So here you go, Rachel, this is how we like to serve it.
A little dill.
(gentle music)