- [Babish] This episode is sponsored by Cash App.
When your personal finances connect you to your funds
and the things that matter,
that's money and that's Cash App.
You know what else is money?
The sound of brown ground round,
the selfless act of potato ricing
and whatever this feeling is.
That's money, that's Cash App.
Download Cash App from the App Store
or Google Play Store today
to add your $Cashtag to the 80 million and counting.
(calm music)
All right, so the first step
in the direction of homemade pierogies
is homemade pierogi dough,
an enriched, easy to work with pasta dough
that starts with 650 grams of all-purpose flour
and about a teaspoon of kosher salt
tiny whisked to a state of combination
then over on the stove top, we're barely melting one stick
or about 115 grams of unsalted butter,
adding one cup or 240 mil of water
hopefully bringing the ambient temperature of the mixture
to about 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
Now, as we so often do, we're gonna add the wet to the dry
along with some more wet, two large room temperature eggs.
Go ahead and beat that together with a fork
slowly incorporating more and more of the flour
into the mixture until you just can't fork it no more
and you gotta switch to hands.
Now, this should be a soft tacky dough
but as you start to bring it together,
you might discover that it needs more flour or water.
Basically, if it's sticking to your hands, needs more flour.
If it's tough, dry and crumbly, it needs more water.
Add more 50 to 25 grams at a time
or a few tablespoons at a time
until it's soft, tacky, bouncy and supple,
kinda like a dough for a loaf of sandwich bread.
Once you've kneaded it for about five or six minutes
and the gluten is well developed,
you can place it back in the bowl
and cover it with a moistened towel keeping it hydrated
and letting it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature
giving the gluten an opportunity to relax
before we make like Ludacris and roll out.
Sorry.
We're dividing the dough into four pieces
keeping the others covered until ready to roll
and one hunk at a time rolling to a thickness
of about one 16th of an inch or one and a half millimeters
then we're using a three and a half inch
or a 8.8 centimeter biscuit cutter
to cut into rounds ready for shaping and filling.
As you can see, I'm laying these out
on layers of parchment paper
and I'm gonna keep 'em covered in the fridge
until they're ready to fill.
Speaking of which, we gotta make some fillings
starting with perhaps the most classic
and essential, potato.
As you can see, I have here four large Yukon Gold potatoes
that I've peeled and chopped into one inch pieces,
covered with cold water, seasoned with salt,
brought to a boil and cooked for about 12 minutes
until completely tender
then once very thoroughly drained, you can either mash them
or for an ultra smooth consistency, rice them.
Either way, you wanna break them down
into a mashed potato state of being
before adding eight ounces or 225 grams of cheese.
Traditionally, farmer's cheese or Cork.
You can just use cream cheese in a pinch
or the soft tangy cheese of your choice.
Don't forget to season generously with kosher salt
and gently mix until evenly combined
and no streaks of cheese remain
and that's all there is to it.
You just gotta let this cool at least to room temperature
or for a few hours in the fridge before filling.
Next up, the ever popular mushroom and sauerkraut varietal
for which we're gonna need half a finely chopped onion,
12 ounces or about 340 grams of finely chopped mushrooms
and one cup or one metric handful
of drained and dried sauerkraut lightly chopped
to make sure that there aren't any long stringys.
Now over on the stove top, I'm gonna cook the mushrooms
in a few tablespoons of unsalted butter
then after about seven to 10 minutes
depending on your mushrooms,
once all of their liquid has been released and evaporated
and they're starting to sizzle,
we're adding the chopped onion
and sauteing for an additional three to five minutes
until everybody's nicely caramelized, adding our sauerkraut
and cooking for an additional few minutes
until any added liquid from the sauerkraut has evaporated.
Season to taste with kosher salt
and likewise let cool room temperature.
Next and last, a simple ground beef filling
and I do mean simple.
One pound or 450 grams of crumbled ground beef
that we're gonna brown
in a few tablespoons of neutral flavored oil.
Ideally, try not to overcrowd the pan
so it doesn't boil and steam.
One slightly brown but still pink in parts,
we're gonna scoop it out using a slotted spoon
and saute another chopped half onion in the remaining fat
for about three to five minutes
before adding a crushed clove of garlic
sauteing for an additional 30 seconds or until fragrant
then adding the beef back to the pan
along with a half cup or 115 mil of beef stock
then cooking this guy for about another five minutes
until most of the beef stock is evaporated
but it's still a little saucy.
Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
Set aside and let cool.
Now, finally, it's time to fill.
As you can see, I'm using a little ice cream scooper
for consistency sake
placing a big dollop in the center of the dough round
and gently stretching the dough across its center axis
pinching it first in the center
and then around the outside edge to seal shut.
Now, this is a very soft, malleable dough
so you don't need an egg or water wash to seal your dumpling
but you do kinda wanna press and smear the edge closed
so that nobody explodes in the boiling water.
Now, the other filling's a little bit more crumbly
and unwieldy but the procedure is very much the same.
Keep going until all your dough's been dumped.
Now these guys are ready to cook and prepare as is,
get tightly covered and refrigerated for up to overnight
or get placed loose in the freezer like this
until frozen solid about four hours
then plopped in an airtight bag
and frozen for up to three months.
If preparing from frozen,
you just wanna boil them for 30 to 60 seconds longer
to make sure that they're heated through.
Now, pierogies are most often served
with sour cream and applesauce.
If you feel like making your own sour cream for some reason,
we got this recipe from Bigger Bolder Baking
where we're combining a cup of heavy cream,
a quarter cup of milk and a teaspoon of white vinegar
tiny whisking to ensure homogeneity
and covering with a few layers of cheesecloth
secured by a rubber band.
Now, you wanna let this guy sit out for at least 12 hours
illustrated here by this seamless television style swap
after which you can see our cream has thickened
to a drizzleable consistency.
Now, this isn't real sour cream.
It's more like crème fraîche
but it's still gonna make for an excellent condiment
for our rogies.
Next up, applesauce
and this is one more worth making yourself
because you can control the sweetness.
As you can see, I've got six large baking apples
that I've peeled and chopped into one inch pieces
which I'm gonna combine in a large wide saucepan
with a quarter cup of white sugar, a teaspoon of kosher salt
and half cup of very fresh water.
Cover and bring to a simmer
lowering the heat to maintain a simmer
for about 20 minutes with the lid on.
Pop the lid off, give everybody a solid mash down
to an applesauce like consistency
and cook for an additional 10 minutes lid off
or until any excessive liquid has evaporated
and there you go, pierogi perfect,
semi-savory, homemade applesauce.
Now, before we set up our pierogi cooking station,
I'm gonna saute an additional half chopped onion
about five minutes or until lightly browned
and then positioning a nonstick pan
preheating with a a few tablespoons of neutral flavored oil
next to a pot of well salted boiling water.
You can of course just boil and serve pierogies as is
but I like them lightly browned.
Once the pierogi have cooked for about 30 seconds
or 60 to 90 seconds if they're frozen,
we're gonna fish 'em out,
shake off as much excess water as possible
and plop them into the skillet.
All that water can cause some serious oil spatters
so make sure that you drain the pierogi as best you can.
Fry on one side for about a minute until lightly browned,
flip and repeat before plating up and serving immediately.
To serve, I'm gonna scatter our sauteed onions
over top the rogies,
drizzle generously with our sort of sour cream
and scatter with fresh parsley, chives or scallions.
And there you have it, a perfect plate of pierogi,
one of my very favorite comfort foods
prepared to the most delicious extent possible.
Like I said, the dough for these guys is very forgiving
so if you're looking for a good
introductory pasta course, this is it.
Hope you guys give this a try for yourselves
and I hope your 2023 is off to a great start.
Thanks again to Cash App.
That's money, that's Cash App.
Download Cash App from the App Store
or Google Play Store today
to add your $Cashtag to the 80 million and counting.
(calm music)