There is this Polish lunch counter in Chicago - Podhalanka on Ashland and Division - that serves a MOUNTAIN of 'em with sour cream for $2.00... (incl. tax).
They really are made by the grannies in the back...
Great stuff!
(Captcha is "comin"... Like "comin" to getcha, a la Hendrix...)
Mr. T's Pierogies? They must be AWESOME potato dumplings that pity the fool that doesn't make it one of their personal food group items under the 'vegetable' heading. Pierogies with little gold chains, bib overalls, and great mohawk haircut. Yes, awesome.
Moyar beewa jona polska, My ex-wife is Polish. The scary kind, from the Goral(hillbilly) region down in the Tatra mountains. I had to educate her in the differences between a pierogie and the real thing, a good British Pasty. A pasty is a giand, hand filling pierogi, fried then baked so they're dry to hold, and available in 10 or 12 different fillings, most of them a medium spicy meat mixture of some kind. The Jamaicans make them out of corn flour instead of wheat, giving them a really jazzy orange color. I bet I could do a good business on a New York street corner peddling pasties. And it's pronounces PAAhstees, not PAYstees. The perfect pub grub, meaty and filling, just the right size and shape to be handy, and the perfect accompaniment to a Guinness or, if you're really lucky, a John Courage stout.
Sigivald, you've met my former mother-in-law! god smiles on us when we cook in bacon fat, and bacon and onions are their own excuse. Daughter number one ran away with this large blond mountain from western Ireland not too long ago. Now she's running his gas stations, and converting them to 7-11 type stores. The Micks love it. She found a little Russian deli in Galway City a few miles away, and is now selling 180 pounds a week of kielbasa on jumbo hot dog rolls. The Irish love them. They're everything that's dear to them in the way of food. Pork, hot, bubbling fat, lots of garlic and salt. Nearly the perfect food, lacking only beef, bacon, and Guinness to cover all the essential food groups.
Congratulations! Mrs. T's potato and cheddar pierogies, sauteed in butter with chopped onions and served topped with sour cream or apple sauce, were always a welcome treat when I was growing up in Yankee Land. Now my darling bride makes them for our brood down here in South Georgia. Wally World carries them, and I've done my best to spread the word to friends, co-workers, and curious checkout clerks. Bring a mess of them to your next potluck; you'll bring home an empty dish!
I had never seen one until I moved way East. My first batch -I boiled them as long as lasagna noodles wherein it was sort of Perogi Soup (aka. . glue).
Og is right. You need to come to Da Region for a good Pierogi (some people say pirohi). Mrs. T's is too doughy. When they're like that, you cut the "ears" off of them, or else you have, yup, a bag of Quickrete in your stomach. Get Kasia's if you can find them in the store. Once again, see if Indy has a European market. The better pierogi makers roll their dough wafer thin, and use real mashed potato, not potato flakes.
Pierogis fried in onions, topped with sour cream, with a glass of Zywiec, and a kielbasa smothered in horseradish. Come up north; we can make a hunky out of you. We have the technology.
I know a place in Wilksbarre Pa. Strong polish community there... and a mom+pop store tucked away behind noplace in the middle of nowhere. 'Mom's Pirogies'.... gently fried in onions and butter....
Eating them is like drinking Long Island Iced Tea. All is well till you try to stand, then the world spins and falls over.
Less is right; boil then fry (in bacon fat if ya got it). Mrs. T's is kinda blah though. We get ours fresh from a local Polish/Hungarian meat market. Back when I lived in the Peoples Republik of New Jersey, the local supermarkets all sold a brand called "Hanks". They were always sold in their own little cubic yard sized cooler at the end of an aisle. They were as good as home-made. I've tried googling them to see if there is some way I can get them here, but I can't seem to find them. Next time I make a pork roll and Yuengling run to NJ I'll have to see if I can find some.
Pierogies...Mmmm...Too bad I don't live closer to you. I'd make you some of my homemade chinese pork dumplings with a ginger vinegar dipping sauce.
ReplyDeletewv: "abear"
*drool*
ReplyDeleteCome by for the Whiting pierogi festival. The real thing is much better, and way less concrete-ey. We'd love to have you.
ReplyDeleteYou need to eat them with either sour cream or mushroom gravy.
ReplyDeleteThere is this Polish lunch counter in Chicago - Podhalanka on Ashland and Division - that serves a MOUNTAIN of 'em with sour cream for $2.00... (incl. tax).
ReplyDeleteThey really are made by the grannies in the back...
Great stuff!
(Captcha is "comin"... Like "comin" to getcha, a la Hendrix...)
Mr. T's Pierogies? They must be AWESOME potato dumplings that pity the fool that doesn't make it one of their personal food group items under the 'vegetable' heading. Pierogies with little gold chains, bib overalls, and great mohawk haircut. Yes, awesome.
ReplyDeleteTried them, they were OK, but haven't bought any since.
ReplyDeleteBut then, I grew up where you went down to the polish church and bought them. Made right there in front of you.
Even my grandmother didn't make her own because of that.
Those were the days.
Moyar beewa jona polska, My ex-wife is Polish. The scary kind, from the Goral(hillbilly) region down in the Tatra mountains.
ReplyDeleteI had to educate her in the differences between a pierogie and the real thing, a good British Pasty.
A pasty is a giand, hand filling pierogi, fried then baked so they're dry to hold, and available in 10 or 12 different fillings, most of them a medium spicy meat mixture of some kind.
The Jamaicans make them out of corn flour instead of wheat, giving them a really jazzy orange color. I bet I could do a good business on a New York street corner peddling pasties.
And it's pronounces PAAhstees, not PAYstees.
The perfect pub grub, meaty and filling, just the right size and shape to be handy, and the perfect accompaniment to a Guinness or, if you're really lucky, a John Courage stout.
They're ever better tossed in bacon fat, with diced bacon and onions.
ReplyDeleteFor that preparation, I suggest just boiling the pierogies, no pan-frying.
I went through college on perogies, ichiban, and caffeine, and I turned out fine. *twitch twitch*
ReplyDeleteSeriously, perogies, yum. I think you just answered the question of what I will have for dinner.
As an aside, there is a giant fibreglass perogie in a small town not too far from here. Cheesiest tourist gimmick ever.
Sigivald, you've met my former mother-in-law! god smiles on us when we cook in bacon fat, and bacon and onions are their own excuse.
ReplyDeleteDaughter number one ran away with this large blond mountain from western Ireland not too long ago. Now she's running his gas stations, and converting them to 7-11 type stores. The Micks love it.
She found a little Russian deli in Galway City a few miles away, and is now selling 180 pounds a week of kielbasa on jumbo hot dog rolls.
The Irish love them. They're everything that's dear to them in the way of food.
Pork, hot, bubbling fat, lots of garlic and salt. Nearly the perfect food, lacking only beef, bacon, and Guinness to cover all the essential food groups.
Congratulations! Mrs. T's potato and cheddar pierogies, sauteed in butter with chopped onions and served topped with sour cream or apple sauce, were always a welcome treat when I was growing up in Yankee Land. Now my darling bride makes them for our brood down here in South Georgia. Wally World carries them, and I've done my best to spread the word to friends, co-workers, and curious checkout clerks. Bring a mess of them to your next potluck; you'll bring home an empty dish!
ReplyDeleteI had never seen one until I moved way East. My first batch -I boiled them as long as lasagna noodles wherein it was sort of Perogi Soup (aka. . glue).
ReplyDeleteBoil 'em, drain 'em, THEN fry 'em up with some sautee'd onions!
ReplyDeleteOMG...
The only thing missing is a quart Zywiec and a couch for a nap.
Og is right. You need to come to Da Region for a good Pierogi (some people say pirohi). Mrs. T's is too doughy. When they're like that, you cut the "ears" off of them, or else you have, yup, a bag of Quickrete in your stomach. Get Kasia's if you can find them in the store. Once again, see if Indy has a European market. The better pierogi makers roll their dough wafer thin, and use real mashed potato, not potato flakes.
ReplyDeletePierogis fried in onions, topped with sour cream, with a glass of Zywiec, and a kielbasa smothered in horseradish. Come up north; we can make a hunky out of you. We have the technology.
I know a place in Wilksbarre Pa. Strong polish community there... and a mom+pop store tucked away behind noplace in the middle of nowhere.
ReplyDelete'Mom's Pirogies'.... gently fried in onions and butter....
Eating them is like drinking Long Island Iced Tea. All is well till you try to stand, then the world spins and falls over.
Less is right; boil then fry (in bacon fat if ya got it).
ReplyDeleteMrs. T's is kinda blah though. We get ours fresh from a local Polish/Hungarian meat market. Back when I lived in the Peoples Republik of New Jersey, the local supermarkets all sold a brand called "Hanks". They were always sold in their own little cubic yard sized cooler at the end of an aisle. They were as good as home-made. I've tried googling them to see if there is some way I can get them here, but I can't seem to find them. Next time I make a pork roll and Yuengling run to NJ I'll have to see if I can find some.
Ed: Naw, but I was taught by a nice Polish (American) girl, who learned to make 'em that way on a trip to Poland.
ReplyDelete