I thought I’d try out Cook’s Country Pittsburg Potato Cheddar Pierogi Recipe because it seemed easy and you don’t need a pasta machine for the dough.Cook’s Country tells a nice little story about how they learned about the pierogi from Pittsburgh’s Polish Hill Neighborhood. According to about Pittsburg.com the Pierogi is eaten there 11 times more than anyplace else in the country and many Pierogi shops are in business there. I thought the dough recipe was very unusual because it uses bread flour and sour cream so I thought wtfork I’ll give it a try. I didn’t make any changes to the dough and I thought the filling was a little bland possibly due to not using a better sharp cheddar instead of the store brand I used. I grated in 1/2 of a banana pepper to add some flavor and a tiny bit of heat to the filling. After I boiled the pierogi I took them one step further and crisped them up in a pan a little with some butter with some onions.

I’ve read that not always but often most people will eat the fresh made pierogis just boiled and often it’s the leftover pierogi that get eaten fried. In the past I worked with a Polish Cook at a restaurant and he always served the pierogi deep fried with crispy onions and they are very tasty that way too.

Cook’s Country say’s this recipe makes about 30 pierogi but I got 44 and would have gotten maybe another dozen but I wasn’t about to re-roll out the scraps thin. I did however use the rolled out extra dough and made thick chewy tasty noodles.  I had about one cup of extra filling left too. I summed up the directions to simplify.

Filling

1 lb russet potatoes cooked and pealed

4 oz sharp cheddar cheese shredded

2 Tablespoons butter

salt and pepper to taste.

Directions

While potatoes are hot mix everything together till smooth and set to the side.

Dough

2 1/2 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup sour cream

1 large egg

1 large yolk

salt

Directions

Whisk dry ingredients together. Get your stand mixer out and the dough hook on. Mix on Medium high for 8 minutes. Transfer to a floured bowl cover with wrap and refrigerate.

Roll dough and 1/8 inch thick. (I found it was much better to roll the dough in maybe thirds because the faster you work with the dough the better it seals) Use a 3 inch cutter and add a small spoon full to the center of each circle. Then seal shut and keep going.

Get a pot of water on with salted water and boil your pierogi and enjoy. You can freeze pierogi that might want to save for latter or you might want to boil them all freeze leftovers and fry what you want for dinner. Either way serve with some caramelized onion and a little sour cream.

Thank’s to Cook’s Country that is a good recipe!

This is a great recipe but I recently figured out that they come out EVEN BETTER if you chill the filling. I had leftover cheesy potatoes that I wanted to make into Pierogi. The cold hard filling scooped out with my meatball scoop was just right. The pierogi were much easier to fill and look much better too.

This post is too old for me to add a photo.

My husband thinks I make the best tuna salad in the whole world so I made a casserole that is similar to the way I usually make tuna salad.

This is a very unique original recipe and I doubt anyone did what I’ve forking done here before. Casseroles normally are made with cheese but I didn’t want to use any cheese in this recipe because cheese would spoil the flavor with my recipe and I needed something neutral so I used my secret ingredient that is great for casseroles and low fat thick but seem rich kind of sauces…….drum roll…….Silken Tofu. It’s healthy it’s low fat and adds that perfect something. For this recipe you wouldn’t want to use high end tuna for a casserole recipe unless your pockets got no bottom so I think the best choice is wild caught chunk light tuna. I normally make tuna salad with fresh lemon juice and the zest but I was all out of lemon so I used lime and it added the acidity that was needed.

Ingredients  for about 12 servings

12 oz egg noodles cooked al dente ( about 4-5 minutes in salted water)

13 oz chunk light tuna drained

12 oz artichoke hearts rough chopped (I used frozen thawed)

1/2 cup olives stuffed with pimentos rough chopped

1 Tablespoon capers

1 cup scallions rough chopped

1 apple in thick shreds

teaspoon kosher salt

teaspoon black pepper

4 XL eggs

18 oz silken tofu package drained and cut up

1/2 cup lime juice

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 Tablespoon garlic confit (roast garlic with extra virgin olive oil covered for about an hour and whip)

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 and 1/2oz fresh basil rough torn (Save some for the top for serving)

non stick cooking spray

6 teaspoons reduced balsamic vinegar (1/2 teaspoon per serving) finish with a drizzle

6 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil (1/2 teaspoon per serving finish with a small drizzle

Directions

Set your oven to 350 degrees F and get a 1/2 foil pan and spray it with non stick spray.

In a large mixing bowl combine your noodles, tuna, artichokes, olives, capers, scallions, apple, one teaspoon salt and one teaspoon black pepper and set to the side.

I used a stick blender and first blended the tofu with the lime juice till smooth. Then add balsamic, garlic, salt and pepper and blend again. Now add the eggs and blend.

Add the blended tofu mixture and mix well into the large mixture and lastly mix in the fresh basil.

Transfer to your 1/2 pan and covered with sprayed foil so it doesn’t stick to the casserole.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about one hour 20 minutes depending on your oven. At this point the noodles aren’t crispy on the top.

Chill to set.

Portion and heat to serve.

Finish with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and some torn fresh basil.

This is the kind of enchilada sauce that is the real kind and not like the gringo kind that is sweeter with tomatoes. This is the version where you fry the dried chili pods, then rehydrate them ,puree them, strain them and cook them some more. If your still interested here’s the forking recipe.

Ingredients that makes about 18 ounces and I’d say that is about 8 servings

2 oz. guajillo chili pods – stems removed broken down

2.5 oz. California chili pods – stems removed broken down (New Mexico chili pods would also be good but my store had California so that is what I used)

1 large sweet onion chopped

3 garlic cloves chopped

1 1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon oregano

3 Tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

4 cups water

1 Tablespoon masa flour

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

pinch cinnamon

pinch cayenne

Directions

In your sauce pan on medium high heat add the dried chili pods, onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, oil, and salt.

Fry about 10 minutes on medium high heat.

Now add water and bring to boil and simmer about an hour.

Blend everything in the pot a stick blender will work best.

Strain and push all you can threw the strainer.

Discard the remaining stuff in the strainer.

Whisk in the masa, vinegar and sugar.

Cook on medium high heat until it boils and then reduce to simmer and let it go about five minutes.

Finish with a pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne.

Enjoy!

 

I enjoyed a scrumptious cilantro lime marinated chicken sandwich recently at The Scottsdale Beer Company and they added jalapeño jam and avocado aioli to the sandwich and it was amazing. Last week I published a Cilantro Lime Chicken Meatloaf recipe that taste very much like the same sandwich. You might want to enjoy some Jalapeño Apple  Jam either on grilled meats, a sandwich with avocado, on the Cilantro Lime Chicken Meatloaf or with cream cheese.

This jam recipe is somewhat reduced in sugar. I used an apple to mellow the jalapeño peppers and to add natural sweetness. The lime juice and apple also added natural pectin so running to the store and buying pectin isn’t necessary.

The First batch I made is the Chunkier Jam on the right. The recipes are very similar except the liquid in the clearer jam on right was water and the blended jalapeño jam was apple cider vinegar. The two jams came out tasting very different to me. The Jam on Left has a more mello jalapeño heat and more apple taste…still spicy and not as sweet. The Jam on right is much hotter and much sweeter.

The jalapeños I used were from the same batch and were nice ones that were fruity with a medium heat.

Ingredients for the sweeter & Hotter Chunky Jam (more preserve like) on the right side. Makes about 10 servings.

1 1/2 cups jalapeños chopped with stem removed

1 apple pealed cored and chopped

3/4 cup water

1 Tablespoon lime juice

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Directions combine in sauce pan on medium heat and stir occasionally and when thickened remove from heat and put in a sterilized container.

Ingredients for The Jam on left that is blended, less sweet and with less heat and has more of an apple taste  makes about 12 servings

2 cups jalapeno peppers chopped with stems removed

1 apple pealed chopped cored

1 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons lime juice

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Directions

Blend the jalapeño peppers, apple, lime juice and vinegar together.

Get your sauce pot on medium high heat and add everything. Stir occasionally. When the mixture starts to boil turn the heat down to medium. Continue to stir occasionally and your mixture is done when it thickens. (about 20 minutes)

This is a very delicious light and refreshing salad that’s different. There are exotic spices in the tasty almonds and the cheese I used is fat free farmers cheese that is light and different. The dressing is so tasty you can almost drink it. My recipe does make slightly more dressing than you need so pour to taste and I slightly added more nuts than you need so feel free to pick at the nuts and save a little dressing for latter. This is a super delicious salad that you will make over and over again.

Ingredients for about 4 servings

1 blood orange that you supreme

1 red grapefruit that you supreme

1 cucumber – pealed, cored and sliced

1 celery rib pealed and sliced

1 cup (packed) red cabbage shredded

1/4 scallions chopped

1/4 cup (loose) fresh basil torn

8 oz fat free farmers cheese (add to salad once plated)

1/2 cup almonds – slivered and blanched or use regular almonds that you boil for a couple minutes and then rub the loose skin off

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

pinch cardamon

pinch black cardamon

1 Tablespoon garlic confit (garlic roasted till melted tossed with extra virgin olive oil ((I whip mine so it’s smooth like butter))

2 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoon poppy seeds

1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika

Fresh ground sea salt to taste

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Set your supremes in a small bowl set a side. In a larger bowl combine the cucumber,celery, cabbage and scallions and set to the side. Mix in most of your torn basil and leave a few leaves for decoration if desired.

Set your oven to 300 degrees F

You need a baking sheet and a small bowl. Put the almonds and oil in the small bowl and mix well. Add the sugar, cayenne and cardamons and mix well and spread out on your baking sheet.  Place in the oven and in about 20 minutes they should be lightly browned and tasty. Pull them out and set to the side.

In a small mixing bowl add the garlic confit and dijon and mix well. Slowly add the oil and keep mixing till it’s emulsified. Don’t clean your 1/2 cup measure and use it for the honey because your honey will slide out clean. Add honey and mix well. slowly add the vinegar and mix well. Now add poppy seeds, paprika and fresh ground sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste to finish the dressing.

Get the salad mixture and mix with dressing till is coated to your liking. You should have about a quarter cup or a little more extra. Plate the salads and carefully add the supremes. Top with small scoops of farmers cheese and top with almonds and serve right away!

YOU and your Guest will Forking LOVE This one!

 

This Asian Inspired Radish and Carrot Salad is light and refreshing and not too acidic or too sweet. This salad is something most people will love. I was inspired to make this salad from remembering tasting a similar salad from some budget Asian Buffets I’ve been too. If you never tried a budget Asian Buffet it’s possible that you’ve never tried this kind of salad because I never have seen this kind of salad at any Asian Restaurant I ate at.

In my area the Budget Asian Buffet is almost a thing of the past. Several years back Budget Asian Buffets were popping up like mushrooms everywhere. For around only $10.00 a head the  budget Asain Buffets offered over a hundred items of foods to pick from and some of these places started out being ok or good for the price. As time pasted most but not all of these buffets seemed to  lower quality of food preparation until they were out of business. The budget buffets I used to go to are all gone now but several are still around.

The one salad that most of these places prepared was a carrot and radish salad that I enjoyed. I think my recipe is very close to what I tried just maybe slightly less sweet. I cut the radish and carrot with a 1.5 strip slicer and a 3mm strip slicer. I cut the carrot into thinner pieces than the radish because the carrot is harder than the radish. At the buffets the radish and carrots were much thicker and possibly cut with a shoe string potato slicer. Cut them however you like. I do note that this salad should be mostly radish and less carrot but my photos picked up the carrot more than there was.

Ingredients for about 4 servings

1 large daikon radish – pealed

1 medium-large carrot pealed

1 Tablespoon  kosher salt

2 garlic cloves (mashed on a garlic plate)

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

1 scallion – cut in thin slices

pinch shredded red pepper

Directions

Use the 3mm strip slicer and shred up the radish. Use 1.5 strip slicer to shred up the carrot. Add salt and mix well. Add remaining ingredients mix well chill and enjoy!

 

I had this really delicious Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich at the Scottsdale Beer Company in Scottsdale AZ so I was inspired to create similar flavors in a meatloaf. The sandwich was made with cilantro lime marinated chicken and was topped with jalapeño jam and avocado aioli. It was just forking scrumptious. I made a jalapeño-apple preserve and a basic guacamole to go with this meatloaf.

Ingredients makes 12 servings

1/2 cup lime juice

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon cumin

1 Tablespoon chili powder

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 cup cilantro chopped

1/2 medium/large onion chopped

7 garlic cloves sliced thin

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 lbs plus 10oz boneless chicken thighs hand chopped

3 XL eggs beaten

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups whole wheat panko

non-stick cooking spray

Directions

Set Oven to 350 degrees F. Blend your first eleven ingredients. (lime juice, extra virgin olive oil, cumin, chili powder, sugar, red pepper flakes, cilantro, onion, garlic black pepper, and salt.) Set to the side. In a large bowl add your chicken, eggs, remaining salt and pepper, panko and blended mixture. Pour into your non-stick sprayed loaf pan and cover with foil. In my oven the meatloaf took one hour to be done.

This came out FORKING AWSOME.

Ingredients for about 10 servings

2 1/2 lbs cucumbers with the ends trimmed or just use yellow squash (I used a mixture of both and I actually like the yellow squash better for this recipe)

1/2 sweet onion thinly sliced

3 lemongrass stalks (peel off hard outer leaves and cut in 1/3rds and crush stem to release flavors)

2 Thai Chili’s cut in half long ways

thumb size of fresh ginger cut in slices (I removed skin)

5 garlic cloves slightly crushed

10 kaffir lime leaves

1 lime juice and zest

1 Tablespoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

2 dried Asian red chili pods lightly crushed

1/2 teaspoon cumin

fresh nutmeg a few scrapes 4-6

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons Tuong gia vi (Golden Valley Soy Sauce) on Food Network a local Thai Restaurant Owner said that this sauce is essential to Thai Cookery so here it is.

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon natural coconut extract

2 1/2 cups rice wine vinegar

3 cups water

teaspoon black peppercorns

Directions

Place cucumbers in a sterilized jar or container. Everything else goes in a pot that you bring to boil and reduce to timer for around ten minutes. Pour over cucumbers and set in refrigerator for at least 5 days and enjoy.

After about a week they look like this

They are tasty. The yellow squash that I pickled with the cucumbers is actually better than the cucumbers. They absorbed more flavors.

 

 

This mustard recipe is spicy but not too spicy and has some texture. You do need a spice grinder for this recipe.

Makes about a cup of mustard. Makes about 16 servings

4 Tablespoons of dark mustard seeds

2 Tablespoons of yellow mustard seeds (save one tablespoon to add at the end)

1 allspice berry

6 juniper berries

1/4 cup sherry

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons pulverized garlic

1/2 teaspoon espelette pepper

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

2 Tablespoons water

fresh ground sea salt about 10 turns

fresh ground black pepper about 15 turns

Directions

To your spice grinder add dark brown mustard seeds and one Tablespoon of the yellow mustard seeds, the allspice berry and the juniper berries and grind.

Get a small mixing bowl and add your ground spices, sherry, vinegar, garlic, espelette pepper, turmeric, remaining yellow mustard seeds, water, salt/pepper and mix well. Let sit for two days and enjoy.

Even if you never had a potato knish before……..you will forking love them….. if you enjoy potatoes. My husband had his first potato knish at a restaurant we went to a little over a year ago and enjoyed it. With both of us growing up on the East Coast it’s hard to believe he lived his whole life never trying a knish. All the grocery stores I shopped at when I lived on the east coast all sold the knish in the deli department.

The knish is an eastern european savory hand pie. The most common filling is mashed potato. Other popular varieties include kasha (buck wheat groats), liver, and rice.

That restaurant where we tried the potato knish closed and most of the few places we tried knishes afterwards  weren’t as tasty or even good. I had some extra potatoes and some chicken fat in my freezer so I thought I’d make potato knishes. I accidentally created another masterpiece! This recipe is FORKING GOOD! Far better than any knish I ever had before….

I note in none of the grocery stores I shopped at in Phoenix carry  knishes in the deli department. I wrote before about many of the different foods sold in east coast supermarkets compared to Phoenix area supermarkets. The deli department in Phoenix grocery stores also do not carry Italian nougat, store made fruit leather, health salad, real pastrami and also aren’t equipped with bread slicers for slicing bakery quality breads. I could forking go on and on…..

Now back to the knish.

My twist is a very tasty tender but firm crust and I season the potatoes when I cook them.

This recipe makes about 20 mini potato knishes about 10 servings.

You will have about a cup of extra potato filling that you can use with the seasoned potato water for soup or just eat with dinner.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour plus another Tablespoon or two for rolling the dough

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup schmaltz

1 XL egg beaten

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons cold water

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups sweet onions chopped fine

3 Tablespoons schmaltz

2 lbs russet potatoes

1/2 onion skin removed

1 elephant garlic clove pealed

Tablespoon (heaping) kosher salt

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

a few pinches of ground white pepper to taste

nonstick spray for pan

1 XL beaten yolk with a shelfful of water as egg wash

Directions heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl add your flour, baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add beaten egg, schmaltz, vinegar, 2 Tablespoons water, mix well roll into a ball cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

In a small fry pan fry up your onions with three Tablespoons schmaltz on medium turning down to slow heat till tender. Season with salt, black pepper and a pinch of white pepper to taste.

Cook pealed potatoes and depending on size cut in half or thirds and boil with salt, banana pepper, garlic and onion till fork tender. (about 15 minutes)

When done THROW OUT the onion banana pepper and garlic because all their flavor went into the water and potato. (optional keep the flavored water because it’s great to make soup with or add to a bread recipe)

Hand mash the potatoes and add the onion mixture. Taste and add fresh ground sea salt, fresh ground black pepper and some ground white pepper to taste.

Get your dough and a rolling pin and a mat for rolling dough. Pinch off about a teaspoon of dough and roll it as flat as you can with a slight dap of flour. (p.s. I used only that much flour for the whole recipe) It doesn’t have to be perfect and none of the dough I rolled out was in a perfect shape. It just comes out great anyway.

Use a meatball scoop  to scoop out potato mixture

Pull up ends of dough over the potato and set them on baking pans sprayed with non-stick spray until done.

Now wash them with the egg wash.

Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Serve with home made spicy brown mustard. That recipe with be published shortly.

I think these are the best forking potato knishes I ever had. The crust is delicious and is so thin but sturdy and the potatoes are really awesome. This recipe is better than restaurant quality……not sure if I should have given it out……..