New Year's Day Dinner

In my family we have a tradition - eating black eyed peas for luck in the coming year. I have always gagged (and I don't mean just turned up my nose, I mean GAGGED) when those peas came my way. I managed to stomach one black eyed pea just to go with tradition. Ew. Sorry Dad....


This year - I'm bucking traditions! No more gagging. I had a hankerin' for some pierogies and a really yummy roasted chicken. And I wanted to spend some time cooking.


Rocket Man introduced me to pierogies of the frozen variety. I thought I could make them better and tastier - from scratch. Why not try? I also love to make a yummy roasted chicken - herbs, lemon, garlic, carrots, etc. Makes my stomach warm and my heart happy. Success! I can't wait to try making this dinner or a variation again!! Maybe salmon or steak as the meat next time? 


Pierogies

Dough

• 2 cups flour, plus more for rolling dough
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup butter, softened and cut into small pieces
• Filling of your choice- Loaded Potato Filling recipe below
• Egg wash for sealing 
• Olive Oil for sauteing

Mix together flour and salt in medium bowl. In a small bowl beat the egg and add it to flour mixture. Mix in butter and sour cream and combine well until the dough is no longer sticky. I mixed this by hand with no problem - using my hands to really get the consistency I wanted.  Form a ball with the dough, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes  to overnight. Refrigerate for a maximum of 2 days. I could only wait 30 minutes. I was too excited. Okay, maybe 29 minutes.


Filling

• 8 to 10 petite red potatoes (leave the skin - it adds flavor!)
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic (whole and peeled)
• 1/4 cup cold milk
• 1/4 cup sour cream 
• 1/8 cup butter
• 1 package of bacon bit (I cheated... but they were real bacon!)
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Wash and then boil potatoes with whole garlic cloves until tender.  Remove from heat and drain. Add in milk, sour cream, bacon, butter, cheese. Mash until creamy and season with salt and pepper as desired. You may wish to add more milk or sour cream to achieve correct consistency. This made a large batch - set it aside to eat later in the week. Who doesn't love some comfort food during a hectic week?


Assemble 
Roll out dough between two pieces of plastic wrap until 1/16" thick. Cut circles of dough using a circle cookie cutter, biscuit cutter, or drinking glass. I used a Tupperware dumpling maker, and it gave me good sized pierogi. Place a tablespoon of filling (or less, depending on the size of your dough) on each circle, brush edges with egg wash and fold dough over to create a semi-circle. Press edges of dough together using a fork, and a bit more of egg wash to really stick. 


Cook
Boil a large pot of water. When at a full boil, drop in a handful of pierogi at a time. Boil for 7-8 minutes. Watch for pierogi to float and then remove from water and pat dry. Repeat with desired amount of pierogi as you make room removing each finished piece. In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat. Add pierogi in a single layer, and turn when nicely browned and crispy.




To tell you the truth, I was a little scared as I went to make these - they seemed so involved. They weren't. They were time consuming. And took a little patience. But they turned out really, really tasty. Rocket Man loved them. He loved my chicken, too. You really can't go wrong with a great roast.