15 October 2015 / 16 Comments

Mum’s best PIEROGI + trip to POLAND

The last few weeks were bonkers.I mean, TOTALLY!I gathered together everything I know about food photography and styling, blew up my comfort zone and travelled to Nothern Irleand to share my knowledge during a live(!!!) online course in front of the camera(!!!!!). It was CRAZY!And I LOVED it!
The thing about sharing is that you can give away everything you have and everything you know, and more always come back to you…And after what I’ve recently experienced I feel like the richest person in the world.

I thought I know myself well,but I learnt more….It turned out that I store more energy in my body than Three Gorges Dam Power Plant,that my voice doesn’t sound like my own when it’s recorded and that I say ”you know” way too often!

I also learn that a pink lipstick is a woman’s best friend!That the currency in N.I. is pound sterling and that I didn’t need to buy and bring with me any Euros (You should see my face when I was paying for a taxi!I dye my hair blond for a reason ;))That there are no shops open after 6 p.m.,only pubs, which is not a bad thing I suppose…..ohhh and that the Guinness only tastes so good in IRELAND!

I found out that staying in the apartment situated opposite the night club during a Freshers’s week is not the best idea and that there is no chance I can fall asleep with 100 students singing outside my windows even if I try meditation, relaxing music or piling 4 pillows over my head.(HUGE THANKS to the team for moving me to a different hotel the next day!!!But of course their could never predict that my new room would have a broken key system and a humming radiator!All turned out well though.Ufff!After my polite explanation that I needed a quiet room, they put me in the beautiful apartment with the best view of the city you can imagine and a massive bed!!!I was doing my happy dance in a hallway!)

I fell in love with Ireland and with people I met, their kindness, hospitality and sense of humour.Oh and I fell head over hills with Irish accent too!

I realized too that I have a pretty good relationship with that girl I see in the mirror every morning and that it’s good to be friends with yourself πŸ™‚ And most important…that I have amazing people by my side, who always support me,love me for who I am and who make me a better ‘me’.I would never do it without you and I love you more that you can imagine! ;*

If you watched the class or are going to watch it….I hope I showed the real me….imperfect, a little crazy and totally in love with food and photography!I also hope that you enjoyed those three days with me and that somehow I infected you with my passion and inspired you to learn more!If you are interested,find more information on engage.co or Engage facebook page where you can find an interview with me and some behind the scenes πŸ™‚

I wanted to say HUGE THANK YOU to ENGAGELIVE for giving me this opportunity and for making me feel like home.HUGE THANK YOU to Rachel Jane Cam and Eva Kosmas Flores for contributing to my class.You are the best!

 

Right,so let’s talk about today’s post.I promised you I would share more pictures from our last visit to Poland, remember?It was a long time ago but I really couldn’t wait to show you the place so close to my heart and share mum’s best pierogi recipe πŸ™‚

So let me take you for a trip….

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I find Poland easy to love…Its flavours,sounds,scents,colours and surroundings fill every corner of my childhood memories….and my rebellious teenage years too πŸ™‚ Its breathtaking views always melt my heart….and the food….what can I say…..it makes me soooo HUNGRY!

Did you know that pierogi is the tastiest food ever invented on this planet?Now you know πŸ™‚

And what is better than a mum’s recipe? Two mums best recipes combine into one,of course!
So this pierogiΒ  is a combination of the tips given by my mum and my mum-in-law.And I’m giving you all the secrets away!Believe me,it can’t get any better πŸ™‚ SMACZNEGO!

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RECIPE:

makes 50

INGREDIENTS:

For the dough:
300g plain flour + for dusting
1 egg
20g butter,melted
120ml warm water
pinch of salt

For the filling:
500g potatoes,cooked
500g polish curd cheese(you can get it from a polish shop or if you are UK based,they sell it in ASDA :))
4 medium onions,chopped
1 tablespoon of oil
fresh dill, chopped
freshly ground salt and pepper
optional: 200g bacon, chopped and fried

Serve with fresh dill and chopped and fried onions.
You can also add some chopped and fried bacon :0

PREPARATION:

Heat the oil on a frying pan, add onions and fry until gold.Mash the potatoes with the cheese, add the fried onions and mix together.Form 50 equal balls.Leave on the side.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Prepare the dough,sift the flour onto a clean surface(or in a bowl), make a well,crack the egg in the middle and add add butter,salt, and pour the water slowly combining all the ingredients with a wooden spoon and then with your hands.Knead for 5 minutes until the dough is soft and elastic.
If it’s still sticky add some more flour.Not too much because the dough will get too hard.

Divide the dough into four parts.Cover them with a cotton towel so they don’t dry out.Roll out the first one onto a lightly floured surface(quite thin – around 3mm),cut out circles very close together using (7cm/2,75β€³) glass, cutter or jar. Put shaped into a ball filling on each circle,holding it in your hand, fold into a half-moon and pinch edges, forming a well-sealed crescent.Transfer each one onto a lightly floured surface.

Do the same with the other parts.

Working in batches, transfer pierogi to the boiling water. They will sink to the bottom(stir them carefully so they don’t stick to the bottom, but be careful not to brake the dough) and then rise. Once they have risen, cook through, about 2 more minutes. Transfer pierogi into a bowl using a slotted spoon and drizzle with melted butter.

Serve with fried onions and fresh dill.

Mum’s secret:

1.Roll out the dough quite thin.When it’s too thick it will be hard when cooked.

2.More filling, the better πŸ™‚ That’s why ”filling balls” come handy πŸ™‚

3.Cook potatoes the day before if you can.When you do this the potatoes will ‘dry’, which makes the filling much better!Watery filling is something you want to avoid πŸ™‚

4.Use good quality curd cheese.

5.To avoid pierogi sticking together(if you don’t eat them all straight away :)), take them out of the water and scatter them around on a big baking tray so they don’t touch one another.When they cool down, place them in one dish.To warm them up, cook them on a frying pan with a little butter or place them in the preheated oven.

16 Comments

  1. Bea, I love that you had a great trip to Northern Ireland. The class was fab. I didn’t get to see too much of it as I was off at work most days. But, your passion for the food and photography certainly jumped off the screen.
    And the trip to Poland looks gorgeous! I have to admit I’ve never made perogi before but with the recipe wisdom of your Mum and mother in law I can’t go wrong!

    1. Thank you so much Debs!!!I’m so happy that you enjoyed the class!<3 Thank you for taking part! I would love to hear what you think about pierogi,if you make them!

  2. Just discovered your blog and I’m glad I did. Beautiful photos and recipes. I’ve always wanted to try a pierogi as I have a Canadian friend from Ukraine who kept telling me how these are. Is there a substitute for polish curd?

    1. Hi!Thank you so much!!!I must admit polish curd cheese works the best for this recipe,but if you can’t get it from anywhere I would suggest to use good quality ricotta.Polish curd is more dry than ricotta,so to avoid watery filling I would place the ricotta in colander wrapped in a muslin cloth for a day before mixing it with potatoes.I have never tried it though,but I think I will to see how it works.Let me know if you have any more questions!Happy pierogi making πŸ™‚ and warm hugs from England xxx

  3. I actually haven’t tried pierogi before and that’s a shame! It looks so comforting~And about North Ireland–it’s so interesting that nothing’s open after 6pm. Many times lots of shops and stores close (or used to when I was a child) in Argentina around that time, so it’s interesting to learn about all these countries and cultures!

    1. Ohhh Ellie you must try them!Pierogi are so good!And I couldn’t agree more with you,it’s so amazing that we can learn so much about other countries!

      1. Hi Bea, I love your recipes especially the Poppy Seed Challah rolls. Just delicious. I have been looking for this recipes forever. I particularly like your Polish recipes. We spend a lot of time in Polish in the autumn, my favorite time. Thank you again, looking forward to trying more.

  4. Hi, your blog is great! I am just curious whether yeast can be used in this recipe, and if it cannot, why?

    The recipe looks devine, I can’t wait to try it!!

    1. Hi!I’m glad to hear you love the recipe!The pastry should be quite thin so that’s why you just wouldn’t use yeast in this recipe.Hope that helps πŸ™‚

  5. Bea , My grandmother made these too ,she was Hungarian . I love making them too,but What a blessing to have old country recipes .
    Something I have always cherished. Thank you for sharing your grammas pierogi recipe.
    I like the hint for potatoes ,and the idea of making balls.

    1. Thank you so so soooo much for stoping by Sonja.Makes me really happy you like this post, which is so closed to my heart.

    1. Hi Kris!So sorry to reply with such a delay!The course is available on engagelive.co πŸ™‚

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