huzzah gender roles!

[oh man, cabbage looks like brains]

yesterday was cold. drizzly, overcast, windy. kind of nasty and certainly the type of weather which commands a lie-around-the-house day.

despite the grueling schedule of the fourth season of doctor who, lazing about and drinking pbr, i needed a project. adam had already adopted the need to move out shelves, cabinets and ephemera from the storage room, and since he had already called the heavy-lifting, dust-inhaling, grunting work, i opted for the kitchen.

now, this has taught me something that i [half-heartedly] knew before - shop-bought dumplings are a godsend. or perhaps ravioli, samosas, pot stickers and pierogi would be transformed into a rare and luxurious treat.

my eyes had been opened to the glorious tastiness of pierogi while in poland, and while i could have bought frozen ones in chicago, why the hell not. let's roll out some pierogi.

they came out ok. i improvised the filling and took a dough recipe from the omniscient askmefi, and they were a little tough - i had used a blend of whole wheat and bread flour for the dough, which i think contributed to that. next time, less gluten.

the filling fell a little flat for me too - cabbage needed to be shredded, not just chopped, and certainly more spices - although, as a girl born and raised in a proud tradition of delicious mediterranean cooking, i don't have any sort of intuition towards eastern european tastes.

either way, smothered with sour cream and maggi hot sauce, they were pretty good - although i have a long way to go before mastering old-baba secrets.

puppy-dog and computer kept far away from flour and butter


hey! let's pretend we're polish unionworkers in chicago! pretentious?!? you betcha.

pierogi recipe

filling :

(1/2) head of red cabbage, shredded
(10-15) medium brown mushrooms
(1) med onion
an obscene amount of butter
1 tsp celery seeds
pepper

fry up onion in butter. when golden, add mushrooms, cook until liquid evaporates, then add cabbage until tender. took about 20 minutes all together.

set aside to cool while you make the dough

dough : (taken from this post on mefi)

(2) cups white bread flour
(2) cups whole wheat flour
(2) eggs
(1 1/2) cups water

make well in the flour in a bowl, crack in eggs, scramble them up with a fork, then incorporate into the flour. add enough water to make a dough, for me it was about 1 1/2 cups. knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and non-tacky. let it rest for 5 - 10 minutes and it will be a lot easier to roll out.

separate dough into (4) sections. roll out one at a time, cut out circles with a biscuit cutter or glass. add about 1 tsp [we made little guys], fold over, crimp edge with your finger.

add in batches to a large pot of boiling salt water - cook for about 2-3 minutes until firm to touch.

add yet more butter to a saute pan and fry until golden on both sides. serve with fried onions, sour cream and maggi hot sauce with a side of pbr!