One of the things I love to make are Pierogi's. If you are not familiar with what they are . . . they are an Eastern European Dumpling with is made with a type of pasta dough covering and a potato based filling.
The filling can have mushrooms in it with the potato, or meat, sauerkraut, cabbage or cheese, or sometimes even a mixture of several of those . . . but almost always it will have potato.
They are kind of like Eastern European Ravioli . . . and you boil them in lightly salted water and then fry them in butter with onions. Served up with a dollop of Sour Cream, they are a real treat!
I normally make my own from Scratch following a recipe given to me by a Hungarian friend many, many years ago. (If you click on that it will take you to the recipe and some tasty photos of them.)
We enjoyed making them together on my first Christmas in Calgary Alberta. It was my first ever Christmas far away from my family.
Pierogi for Christmas was a family tradition of hers. It was really a lot of fun for me to learn how to make them from scratch, being taught not only by a person who knew what she was doing but who was a good frien.
I have had this Pierogi Lasagne recipe in my to do file for quite some time now. I think I originally printed it out from the Mr Food site, but I can't be sure, as it was a copy and paste job.
I finally got around to making it the other day and let me tell you . . . it was F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!! It tasted just like the real thing, with a lot less faff!
There was no rolling out and filling dumplings, or boiling them. There was no frying them in butter. You simply fry some onions, boil some lasagne noodles and make some mashed potatoes.
The potatoes are mixed with cheese and some of the fried onions, and then layered with the noodles in a baking dish, and baked. It was really easy!
The recipe does make a rather lot and it says you can freeze it, but in all honesty . . . I have never actually tried to freeze it. I have to say up front, I have never liked the texture of potato dishes once they've been frozen.
To that end, I was able to successfully cut the recipe down to a third the original quantity, serving only 4 so that was great! We had it fresh one night, served up with a salad and then we had the leftovers reheated for a quick supper the day after with some vegetables.
It's probably not the healthiest meal in the world. Mostly because of the cheese and fried onions . . . but it's probably a lot healthier for you than regular pierogis because you are not sauteeing anything but the onions in fat.
And in fact, I cut the amount of oil used to fry the onions down quite a bit as well, only using 1 TBS for the whole lot, which divided between 4 servings would be quite considerably less.
Using half fat cheese for the filling, and low fat sour cream for the garnish meant that it wasn't all that bad for us. It was cheap to make, filling and incredibly tasty!
We both enjoyed it very much . . . even the pasta hater in the house!
*Pierogi Lasagne*
Serves 12
Printable Recipe
This is
fantastically delicious! It's also very easy to make and quite
economical. It's also quite easy to cut the recipe down. I cut it
down by a third today and it was fabulous.
1 package of lasagne noodles, cooked as per package directions
2 TBS vegetable oil
5 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 dessert spoons of cream cheese
8 ounces grated strong cheddar cheese (2 cups)
6 cups of warm mashed potatoes (seasoned to taste with salt and pepper, a bit of nutmeg, a knob of butter and some warm milk)
Heat
the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onions.
Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until they are lightly
browned. Don't let them burn. Reserve several TBS to sprinkle over
the top of the casserole. Stir the remainder into the mashed potatoes,
along with 3/4 of the cheddar cheese and the cream cheese. Taste and
adjust seasoning as desired.
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 by 13 inch glass baking dish.
Cover
the bottom of the dish with 1/4 of the noodles. Top with 1/3 of the
potato mixture, spreading it out with a fork. Top with another fourth
of the noodles. Repeat with 1/3 of the potatoes. Top with another
fourth of the noodles and then the remainder of the potatoes. Top with
the last of the lasagne noodles Sprinkle with the remainder of the
cheese and sprinkle with the last of the sauteed onions.
Bake for
25 to 30 minutes, until heated through and golden brown on top. Let
stand 5 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.
Optional: Garnish each serving with a dollop of sour cream.
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I just love vegetables. They are one of my favorite things to eat. When my dinner comes . . . the vegetables are the first thing I tuck in to. I can honestly say . . . I have NEVER met a vegetable I did not like and fall in love with.
I am an especially big fan of root vegetables . . . beetroot, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, turnips, swede . . . Jerusalem artichokes, sweet potatoes. Oh my . . . I love them all. And they are so very good for you too!
Grown beneath the ground where they are able to absorb tons of nutrients and minerals from the soil, they are a delicious form of complex carbohydrate! They naturally break down as sugars giving your body much needed energy boosts and the ability to function properly. High in fiber they are low in calories and fat, and they are just loaded with lots of tasty vitamins and nutritional goodies!
I really do love them, (I can't say that enough!) but I especially love them roasted! Roasting them helps to bring out their natural sweetness and nuttiness . . . and well . . . I just think it brings out the best in each of them. I have never met a roasted root that I didn't immediately fall head over heels with! 'Tis absolutely true. Cross my heart and hope to die.
I found this delicious recipe in one of my cookbooks, called The Delicious Cookbook. It is a book put out by one of my favourite cookery magazines, Delicious magazine . . . and this book is every bit as good as it's title makes you think it is. It's just chocker block full of tasty recipes! I got mine free for subscribing to a magazine. I can't remember which one, but I just love , LOVE it!
This dish was really easy to throw together and helped to use up some stale sour dough bread I wanted to use up. I always have parsnips and carrots in my vegetable drawer. I also always have walnuts. Who knew that these things would taste so wonderful when put together in such an imaginative way!
The walnut sauce is amazing and so very simple to throw together . . . stale bread, vinegar, oil, fresh parsley, seasoning and . . . toasted walnuts. Fabulous!
It was fabulous hot and freshly made . . . but it also tasted very, very good cold. There are only two of us and I found myself picking at it the whole rest of the day. In short . . . I couldn't leave it alone. This is a new favourite around here and I hope that it will become a new favourite of yours as well!
*Roasted Parsnips and Carrots with a Walnut Sauce*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe
You'll want to use smaller carrots and parsnips for this delicious side dish. Each mouthful brings you the delightful sweetness of the roasted root vegetables, along side the tang of a fabulous dressing/sauce. This is just wonderful!
500g of small carrots (about a pound)
500g of small parsnips (about a pound)
3 to 4 TBS olive oil
sea salt
For the walnut sauce:
1 to 2 slices of stale sourdough bread
2 TBS red wine vinegar
100ml of olive or walnut oil (about 1/3 cup)
100g walnut pieces (3/4 cup)
generous handful of flat leaf parsley leaves
1 clove of garlic, peeled
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Wash and scrub the parsnips and carrots. You can peel them if you like, but it's not necessary. Divide them amongst two large rimmed baking sheets. Drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with some sea salt. Toss to coat. Roast for 20 minutes. Remove them from the oven and give them a stir and then return them to the oven and continue to roast until they are tender and beginning to caramelize. (up to 20 minutes longer.) The oil will be slightly infused with the colour of the carrots and some of the sweetness of the vegetables. Don't discard it. Keep it to drizzle over the finished dish when you serve it. Keep the vegetables warm.
While the vegetables are roasting make the walnut sauce. Tear the bread into bits and place it into a bowl. Mix together with the vinegar and half of the oil. Add about 2 TBS of cold water. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes, until the bread is soft. Squash it with the back of a spoon into a paste.
Place the walnut pieces onto a baking tray. Place in the oven to toast for about 10 minutes. Remove and shake off as much of the skins as you can by shaking them gently in a metal colander. (The skins will fall through the holes, so do it over the sink.) Roughly crush the nuts with a mortar and pestle, or rolling pin. (Don't use a food processor, you want them coarse, not fine.)
Roughly chop the parsley and garlic, Toss it in with the bread mixture along with the nuts, and the remainder of the oil. Season to taste. Place the roasted vegetables along with any of their juices onto a serving platter. Drizzle with the walnut sauce and serve immediately.
If you are looking for a deliciously different type of bread to serve with your winter casseroles, soups or stews . . . look no further! These are fabulous.
These are rich and buttery . . . with a delicious crunchy texture from the cornmeal.
Add to that a delicious tang from the buttermilk, and you have a true winner.
They go together quick and easy and can simply be patted out and cut into squares. I cut the recipe in half because there is only Todd and I, with no problem at all. They turned out perfectly.
Three days later and we had the last of them warmed up with our supper tonight and they were still lovely. I have chosen to brush them with buttermilk and sprinkle them with some flaked sea salt and coarse black pepper, but you could also just brush them with the buttermilk and sprinkle them with some coarse demerara sugar.
They would be fabulous for breakfast done this way and served along with some butter and your favourite preserves.
I do hope you will give them a try. I'm sure they'll become a favourite in your house too!
*Cornmeal Scones*
Makes 16
Printable Recipe
Crisp and lovely. Great with soups, stews and other savoury dishes.
200g of plain flour (2 cups)
170g of cornmeal (fine polenta, 1 cup)
2 TBS granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp fine seasalt
4 ounces cold butter, cubed (1/2 cup)
250ml of buttermilk (1 cup)
More buttermilk to brush on the top, plus some flaked sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 220*C/420*F/ gas mark 7. Have ready a large baking sheet, lined with baking paper.
Whisk the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt together in a large bowl. Drop in the butter. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients using your finger tips or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the centre. Add the buttermilk all at once. Stir with a spoon to moisten. (you may need a bit more buttermilk if the mixture seems too dry.) Tip out onto a floured surface. Gently knead 4 or 5 times. Pat out into an 8 inch square, 3/4 of an inch thick. Cut into 2 inch squares. Place the squares 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Brush the tops lightly with more buttermilk and sprinkle with sea salt flakes and coarse black pepper.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until well risen and lightly browned. Serve warm.
With much of the country blanketed in snow and cold temperatures, today is a the perfect day to cook up a nice pot of soup. Hand warming and soul enriching soup. We haven't gotten any snow here in Chester, not yet anyways . . . but it is wet and it is cold, and a hot bowl of soup is more than welcome.
Back home they laugh at me when I tell them that it's cold here and that it's -2 or -3. Cold to them is -27! I am glad that it doesn't get that cold here, but cold is relative. Cold to me is cold . . . and it doesn't matter if it is -2 or -27. When you're cold . . . you're cold! End of.
This is a simple soup that is prepared quickly using simple ingredients. Leeks, potatoes . . . vegetable stock . . . and the Stilton that I have leftover from Christmas. It's tasty and hits the spot perfectly . . . with a little hint of richness from the cheese, which tips it over from ordinary to extraordinary . . . well it does for me at any rate.
Todd likes to have his with a couple slices of thick white bread . . . I prefer crackers . . . but I also love it with a nice scone or two.
Equally at home in a mug as it is in a bowl . . . I like to crumble my scone over top. My ex boss would call that being common.
I'm not bothered. I don't mind being common. I'm just happy I have soup . . . and a scone. So there!
*Potato, Leek and Stilton Soup*
Makes 4 to 6 servings
Printable Recipe
Proof positive that the humblest of ingredients can be simply turned into some very special.
25g butter (2 TBS, scant)
2 medium leeks, trimmed, thinly sliced and washed thoroughly
250g floury potatoes (the type of potatoes you would use to make mash. 4 -5 medium potatoes)
(Peel and cut into thick slices)
1/2 litres of hot fresh vegetable stock (generous 5 cups)
2 bay leaves, broken in two
100ml single cream or evaporated milk (scant half cup)
fine sea salt and ground white pepper to taste
125g Stilton cheese, rind removed and crumbled (plus extra to serve) (1/2 cup)
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium/low heat. Add the leeks. Cook, stirring occasionally, without browning until softened. Add the potatoes, stock and bay leaves. (I crumble the bay leaves slightly to release more flavour.) Season to taste with fine seasalt and white pepper.
Bring to the boil, cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are well softened. Remove from the stove. Fish out and discard the bay leaves. Add the stilton and cream. Blitz with a stick blender, or in a regular blender (in several batches and with care) until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
Ladle into heated bowls. Crumble some additional Stilton over each bowl. Serve.
It's always very handy to have a few recipes in your recipe repertoire for easy do ahead meals. I especially like these types of things for Sundays, because I am usually starving by the time I get home from church. Sundays is normally the day I make a do ahead casserole that I can just heat up . . . or I use the slow cooker. It's what works for me!
This is one of my favourite make ahead casseroles. It is not Todd's favourite make ahead casserole . . . because, as you know . . . the silly man HATES pasta! (I think it's a texture thing, but don't quote me on that!) I LOVE pasta, as you also know . . . and so every once in a while I just have to have some! Yes, today was torture Todd with pasta day!
Actually I do try not to torture him with it very often . . . and usually when I do make pasta, I am sure that I have something in the cupboard I can just heat up for him like a steak and kidney pudding (YUCK!) which he adores. It's only fair.
There is this program on Saturday mornings called oddly enough, Saturday Kitchen! (Took a genius to name that I think!) They usually have a celebrity guest on board, and they are asked what is their food heaven and food hell. Then they draw and it's up to the draw whether they will have to experience their food heaven or hell.
I would hate that myself . . . although I am thinking that pretty much anything would be food heaven in James Martin's presence . . . but I digress. (Look at those eyes ladies! Now that's what I call a tasty dish . . . and he is the master of desserts!)
My point is . . . Pasta is Todd's food hell and my food heaven . . . and steak and kidney pie would be his food heaven and my food hell, coz there would be no way on earth you could EVER tempt me into eating kidney. Sorry. I'm squeamish about that. After learning about them in cooking school, I am never eating a kidney.
Anyways . . . this casserole is my idea of food heaven. It's make ahead. It's easy. It's pasta. It's cheesy. It's delicious. What more could you ask for! It's like an easy, meatless lasagne . . . without any fuss.
*Tasty Pasta Bake*
Serves 8
Printable Recipe
A delicious pasta bake that you put together the night before and then bake the next day to serve. The perfect make ahead dish.
16 ounces of uncooked pasta
(1 pound)
1/4 cup of sour cream
8 ounces cottage cheese (1 cup)
4 ounces cream cheese (1/2 cup)
1 small onion, peeled and minced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp black pepper
28 ounces pasta sauce (tomato and basil, Bolognese, whatever you have. Homemade is best
but jarred works well also) (2-400g jars)
1 cup of chopped vegetables (peppers, mushrooms,olives etc.)
4 ounces grated cheese (a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella works fine) (1 cup)
Cook your pasta in lightly salted water, just until al dente. Drain well, rinse, drain again and then set aside.
Stir together the sour cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese, onion, Parmesan cheese, garlic salt and pepper. Set aside.
Butter a 9 by 13 inch glass baking dish. Layer in the ingredients as follows. 1/'2 of the cooked pasta. The cottage cheese mixture. Any vegetables you are using. The remainder of the pasta. Pour over top the pasta sauce. Sprinkle with the grated cheeses. Cover tightly and place in the refrigerator overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 1/2 hour before you want to cook it.
When you are ready to cook it, preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Place the casserole dish into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Delicious!
Note: the leftovers taste even better and if you wish you can make this in two casseroles and freeze one for a later date.
Just before Christmas, the people at Eddingtons sent me the cutest Sweet Heart Cookie Cutter. I fell right in love with it. I love heart cookie cutters to begin with . . . and to have a spring loaded one which not only cuts out the cookies but stamps words from the heart on them . . .well that's just the best thing ever!
I do love cookies which have words stamped on them. Somehow cookies which have a message on them just taste . . . well . . . tastier!
They're cuter that's for sure, and just in time for Valentines Day too, although in truth you shouldn't have to wait for a holiday such as Valentines Day to tell your sweetie pies that you love them!
It operates with a very simple to use push spring thingie, which worked like a charm. I had to fiddle with it a bit to figure out how to switch the stamps, but I got there in the end. They stamped out really nicely.
Isn't that just A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E !! I know!! I love YOU too!!
Sweet Heart Cookie Cutter available at Planet Bake for only £6.95. Now, I call that value for money! I just love it. Many thanks to Miriam and Eddingtons for sending it to me!
I chose to make these scrummy homemade Digestive Biscuits for my baking experiment and first use of this lovely cookie cutter set. I thought they would showcase the words perfectly . . . and who doesn't love a tasty Digestive Biscuit???
They're a real favourite biscuit around here I have to say. I'll take a nice and tasty digestive biscuit over a custard cream or a bourbon biscuit any day of the week. There is just something so wholesomely moreish about them! They're practically an institution in the UK!
I adapted the recipe from a little cookie book called "Cookie Magic," by Kate Shirazi, delicious little bites to eat. A donation goes from every book sold to the Battery Hen Welfare Trust. I love thinking that I am doing something good when I buy a book.
They are not quite the same as Digestive Biscuits . . . they are a bit more buttery, but they are incredibly moreish and crisp. Perfect dunking cookies. I found myself quite unable to resist reaching for just . . . one . . . more. My friend April made some HOMEMADE Graham Crackers recently. She called them regular Graham Cracker's older more sophisticated cousin . . . and that's just what these are too. The older, more sophisticated cousin of the Digestive Biscuit . . . I do hope you will give them a go. You'll positively love them, adore them even!!
*Almost Digestive Biscuits*
Makes about 24
(Depending on how large you cut them)
Printable Recipe
My take on the ever popular Digestive Biscuit. Not quite the same. Think of them as the Digestive Biscuit's city cousin. Just as addictive and scrummy, but just that little touch more sophisticated.
100g wholemeal flour (2/3 cup)
40g plain flour (1/4 cup)
1 TBS oats (not the old fashioned kind)
1/2 tsp baking powder
120g butter, softened (9 TBS)
100g soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup packed)
up to 4 TBS whole milk
Preheat the oven to 190*C.375*F. gas mark 5. Line several baking sheets with baking parchment. Set aside.
Mix the flours, baking powder and oats together in a bowl. Set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together until light. Add the flour mixture to this. Stir in the milk, adding it one tablespoon at a time, only using enough to give you a thick dough. You don't want it too sticky nor too dry.
Tip out onto a lightly floured board, and knead lightly until you have a nice smooth ball. Roll out 1/8 inch thick and cut into rounds. Carefully lift onto your prepared baking sheet. Prick with a fork.
Bake for about 15 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. Scoop onto a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
OH SO SCRUMMY!!!
Up next . . . something deliciously savoury!
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