I SAY PEROGIE - YOU SAY PYROHY - NO MATTER HOW YOU SAY IT - THEY ARE GOOD.

I am of Polish, German and Lithuanian heritage and I am married to a Ukrainian so you could just call me United Nations. One of the staples in our home that the whole family loves are perogies. That is the English pronunciation and the ethic pronunciation is pyrohy. I will share with you today the recipes for these delicacies and who knows perhaps you will become a fan. In Ukrainian they are called Varenyky.

Perogie Dough:

1 1/2 cup warm water 4 1/2 cups flour
3 tbsp. cooking oil 1 tsp salt
1 egg

Combine water, cooking oil, and egg, blend well. Then about 3 1/2 cups flour and the salt. Knead dough well as you would if making bread. Then add the last cup of flour, kneading until soft and smooth. Put in a lightly oiled bowl, and cover. Let dough rest for 20 minutes.

Roll out on a floured board, thinner than for pie crust, and cut out with a round cookie cutter. I use a glass. The size of your perogies will vary with the size of cutter you use. Put approximately one teaspoon of filling on the circle - fold circle over making a half circle and start pinching the edges well to seal in the filling. Place the finished perogies in lines on a clean towel until you are ready to boil them.

Potato and Cheese Filling

1 medium onion, chopped 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup butter 1/4 tsp. pepper
3 cups mashed potatoes 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (or my favorite is
Velveeta as it melts quicker)
You can also use 1 cup of cottage cheese in place of the other cheese if you desire.

Saute onions in butter, add to mashed potatoes. Add salt, pepper and whatever cheese you have chosen. Mash well. Cool the mixture thoroughly before starting to make your perogies.


Sauerkraut Filling

1 qt sauerkraut 1/2 tsp. salt
1 medium onion 1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup oil

Cook sauerkraut, about 20 minutes or until done. Drain and press out water. Saute onion in oil until golden. Add sauerkraut, salt, and pepper. Fry for 10 minutes. Cool before using filling for your perogies.

Meat Perogies (Lithuanian Dish)

1 lb. of lean ground hamburger 1 large onion chopped
1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup of instant rice 1/4 tsp. celery salt
1/4 tsp. parsley flakes 1 tsp. oil

Cook your rice as suggested on package. Let cool. Chop your onion and saute in oil until soft.
Cool onions as well. Mix the RAW hamburger, with the onion and rice and all of the seasonings.
Refrigerate to make sure everything is cold before you start making your perogies. Then start to use as your filling in perogies. The boiling of the perogies acts like a little pressure cooker and cooks the hamburger inside the dough.

BOILING YOUR PEROGIES
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Gently load your perogies into the water. I use a collander and gently kind of slide them into the water. You must gently stir the whole time. I use the back of a wooden spoon so the sharp edges don't cut into the dough. Gently keep stirring so that none of them stick to the bottom and break. You will keep stirring until they all start to rise to the top in the water by themselves. I keep boiling them for a while (especially the meat ones) until I feel they are cooked. Using your handled collander once again, gently pluck them out of the water and place into a large roaster. Pour a little oil over them (about 1/4 cup) and kind of flip them in the roaster to get them all a little oiled so they will not stick together. Now, you can either eat them boiled with sour cream and onions and butter or some people love them fried. The top picture is fried. Bottom picture is boiled. Saute your onions in butter for topping or you can add chopped up bacon fried with onions too. Either way - you will walk away from the table happy, but full. Sour Cream is a must for topping perogies.

Hope this will give somebody who has never eaten perogies the desire to try them.