Food Network Monthly Cookalong: Pierogi Truck Dreams (Part 4)

One last pierogi and I promise it is worth the wait! After all those savoury pierogi, I'm sure you will be craving something a little sweet. How about Apple Strudel in pierogi form? Yeah, that's what I thought too...SUPER YUM! It seems like a match made in heaven and while rolling out pierogi dough is tough and takes awhile, it doesn't compare to trying to roll out some strudel dough the size of your kitchen table. In this one, I used traditional flavours but stuffed them in the same pierogi dough I used for the rest (and yes, I mean the dough from the Potato Pierogi from Vegan Brunch) then fried them just like the others and served them dusted with powdered sugar and a drizzle of caramel sauce. What happened after I took the photo? Home made vanilla ice cream is what happened and I highly recommend adding it the warm strudel pierogi when you are serving. The heat from the strudel melts the ice cream just slightly and the caramel adds just a little more richness and sweetness. Is this dessert a low calorie, everyday treat? Heck no! But it is something you should treat yourself to sometime when you feel like a little decadence.

Apple Strudel Pierogi

Filling

4 small apples, peeled and diced small (I used Gala)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup turbinado sugar

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped small

1 tsp cinnamon

scant 1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cloves

1/2 cup bread crumbs (I toasted some whole wheat sandwich bread and then used a spice grinder to make the crumbs)

zest of 1/2 an orange (preferably organic since you are eating the skin and don't forget to wash it!)

To Serve

Powdered Sugar to dust

Vanilla Ice Cream

Caramel Sauce

1. In a medium sized bowl combine all the filling ingredients. Let sit for about a half an hour to let all the flavours mingle.

2. Using your prepared dough circles, start filling each with about a tablespoon of the filling making sure to scrape up the side of the bowl and leave behind most of the liquid. I found it easier to hold the dough circle in my hand and kind of cup it when filling these as opposed to on the table in front of me. Place them on a baking sheet lined with floured wax paper and when you are finished, place them in the freezer for about two hours (more is fine) to make it easier to handle when you are cooking them.

3. To cook the pierogi, follow instructions from previous Cheeseburger Pierogi post (steps 4 and 5).

4. To serve, place a few pierogi in a bowl (or a basket like we did) and then sprinkle with powdered sugar. To go even further into Yummy-Town, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce drizzle.

Makes enough to fill 21 pierogi

Food Network Monthly Cookalong: Pierogi Truck Dreams (Part 3)

This one is so simple, I feel bad calling it a recipe but I really feel you need to try it out! It's more of a delicious combination than a recipe. Poutine is a big deal where I live. We are very close to Quebec where it has it's roots and you can find it on just about every (I might dare to say all) chip trucks here in Ottawa which are the most popular kind of food trucks here. I honestly had never heard of it until I moved to Ottawa though I hear it has reached Newfoundland now with versions of Newtine with stuffing and peas on fries being created.

I haven't had poutine in a long time...probably about two years since that's how long I've been vegan. I decided to give Daiya mozzarella shreds a try on top of Potato Pierogi covered in the gravy from the Shepherd's Pie pierogi I posted yesterday and oh my...what a treat! I went easy on the Daiya (as you can see from the picture) because I have only just started to like it and find it works best if you use the less is more approach. It tasted just as yummy as I remember poutine tasting, still getting that creaminess from the melted cheese and full of umami flavour from the gravy. I always liked mine with a little ketchup which went on right after taking this photo. Definitely not traditional but hey none of this really is, now is it?

So to really lay it out...make and cook some Potato Pierogi (still from Vegan Brunch, cooked using the same method as the others), place them on a plate (or in a basket like we did) and then sprinkle on a bit of mozzarella Daiya, cover that with hot gravy (from yesterday's post of Shepherd's Pie pierogi) so it will melt the Daiya and enjoy!

Food Network Monthly Cookalong: Pierogi Trucks Dreams (Part 2)

This next one seemed to immediately lend itself to pierogi form considering our usual ones are filling with mashed potatoes. I decided the best way to mix the "meaty" filling and mashed potato was to serve a few of each together smothered in gravy. I mean what doesn't taste great smothered in gravy right?! So to make these ones, you will have to make a batch of Isa's Potato Pierogi from Vegan Brunch and mix and match with these. We always have a few bags of them in the freezer, you should too, they make excellent quick suppers this way.

Shepherd's Pie Pierogi

Filling

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced

1 large onion, finely diced

1/2 lb frozen vegetarian ground crumbles (I used PC Blue Menu brand but Gardein would work as well)

1 cup beefy broth

1 tbsp reduced sodium tamari

Capful of Kitchen Bouquet (optional, just for colour really)

1/4 cup frozen peas
Salt and Pepper to taste

Gravy

2 med-large onions, diced

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup all purpose flour
4 cups beefy broth

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tsp yellow miso

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp Kitchen Bouquet (optional, again just for colour)

1 tsp reduced sodium tamari

Pinch dried thyme

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Using a large saute pan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil then add in the carrot, onion and vegetarian crumbles. Pan fry it, stirring occasionally until the onions are softened and starting to caramelize just a bit. Add in the broth, tamari, Kitchen Bouquet (if using) and frozen peas. Continue to cook, reducing down the broth until there is little broth/liquid left. Remove from heat, taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Let cool before filling the pierogi and again I froze these for about two hours before cooking.

2. Make the gravy while they are freezing. Start with a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium high heat. Add the onions and olive oil and saute the onions until they are starting to caramelize since that's where the flavour is going to come from. Once caramelized, add in the flour and stir with a wooden spoon. You want to make a roux, so you will cook the flour in the oil until it is starting to turn light golden brown. Keep stirring it so it doesn't burn in places. Switch to a wire whisk and slowly pour in the beefy broth while constantly whisking. Continue to whisk and add in the garlic, miso, nutritional yeast, Kitchen Bouquet (if using), tamari and dried thyme. Cook until thickened to your liking. Carefully taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm while you cook the pierogi, occasionally stirring to avoid a skin forming on top.

3. To cook the pierogi, follow instructions from previous Cheeseburger Pierogi post (steps 4 and 5).

4. To serve, place a few Shepherd's Pie pierogi and a few Potato Pierogi on a plate (or in a basket like we did) and smother in warm gravy!

Makes enough to fill 21 pierogi

Food Network Monthly Cookalong: Perogi Truck Dreams (Part 1)

I've seen a few pierogi food trucks on Eat Street and I gotta say...I have no clue how they make pierogi into fast food! It is a labour of love that always takes me a full day and I only make about 120 when I do a big batch. I'm guessing the secret lies in a dough sheeter or maybe some magic or maybe they have someone's grammie hiding in the back mass producing them. I swear I remember one truck saying she served over a 1000 some days!

I loved pierogi before I was vegan but never would have considered making them myself until I realized it wasn't easy to find a vegan version commercially. I'm so glad I found a recipe in Vegan Brunch and decided to take the time to learn how to make them. I think I enjoy them more now knowing the effort I put into them and I love that I can customize the fillings. After seeing a few food trucks do them, I started to think about what kind of pierogi I would want to make if I were on a food truck. Ryan and I had a brainstorming session and came up with tons of ideas but the ones that stood out were Cheeseburger, Shepherd's Pie, Poutine and Apple Strudel. I decided Father's Day would be a perfect date to try them out. We would have a pierogi feast! I have to say on the other end of the whole thing that maybe I should have been a little less ambitious but it was all worth it once I tasted them and heard the mmms around the table!

For the dough, I use Isa's recipe from Vegan Brunch with the only change being that I use olive oil in place of  the canola oil. Not because I think it's better, just that I buy big ol' bottles of olive oil at Costco so I always have lots on hand. Once you have made your dough, rolled it out and cut the circles you can stuff them with these tasty new fillings! Just because of the length each recipe will take I will be making four separate posts, one for each recipe. (The cooking method for the pierogi is always going to be the same so I will just refer to Step 3 and 4 from this post in the other recipes.)

Cheeseburger Pierogi

Filling
1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 lb frozen vegetarian ground crumbles (I used PC Blue Menu brand but Gardein would work as well)

1 small onion, finely diced

1/4 cup beefy broth 

1 tbsp reduced sodium tamari

3 tbsp dill pickle, finely diced

1/4 cup cheese sauce (use your favourite and make extra to top them with, I recommend the cheese sauce from Hearty Vegan for the Irish Nachos)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Olive Oil for frying

To Top Them

Ketchup 

Mustard

Burger Sauce (Vegenaise mixed with a small bit of ketchup, mustard, chopped dill pickle and some pickle juice from the jar)

Cheese Sauce (again use your favourite still recommending the one from Hearty Vegan)

Finely Diced Dill Pickles 

1. Using a large saute pan over high heat, warm the olive oil and then add in the frozen crumbles and onion. Pan fry it, stirring occasionally until the onion is slightly softened. Add in the beefy broth and tamari and continue to cook, letting the broth reduce until there is almost none left.

2. Remove from heat and stir in the pickles and cheese sauce. Taste and add salt and pepper if you feel it needs it.  Let cool, then fill pierogi. After filling and shaping, I froze them for about two hours which made them easier to handle for the cooking process.

3. To cook, bring a large pot of water to boil. Place a few pierogi in the pot and boil for just a few minutes. You want them to float. Remove them from the water and place on paper towel just to remove the water on the outside but don't leave them too long or the paper towel will start to stick. Once dried, place them on a sheet pan that is either lined with parchment/wax paper or lightly oiled.

4. After you have boiled all the pierogi, get a deep saute pan and pour in olive oil until you have about two inches in the pan leaving more than two inches of pan above the oil. This is a food truck dish so we are going to deep fry (click here for deep frying tips) these suckers! Heat the oil until it shimmers. Fry them in batches of four or five, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Flip them after about thirty seconds or so and cook until the outside is bubbly and light in colour on both sides. My mom and I argue over this, she likes them really browned, I like them lighter, the choice is yours. It should only take a few minutes to fully cook them. Remove from the oil and place on a paper towel lined baking sheet. Keep them in a 200F oven to keep them warm while you fry the rest.

5. To serve: Place a few pierogi down on the plate (or basket like we used), smother in your favourite cheesy sauce, squirt a few lines of ketchup and mustard over the top, sprinkle the top with finely diced dill pickles and serve the burger sauce on the side for dipping!

Makes enough to fill 18 pierogi

Pierogi Making

One thing that being vegan has really taught me is about trying new things and putting a little more effort in in the kitchen. I don't spend all day on every meal but I definitely have learn a few new recipes that take a little more time. We love the pierogi from Vegan Brunch so much that I don't just make a batch...I make four or five times the recipe and freeze them for quicker weeknight pierogi cravings. Mac calls these potato pockets and requests them often. I have slightly changed the recipe over time since I'm trying to sneak in as much nutrition as possible when he likes something so now while boiling the potatoes I add in a head of cauliflower and a can or two of Eden Organics Garbanzo Beans. Mac doesn't notice and now I can't eat mashed potatoes without these additions any time because they don't taste right without. I made a big batch on the weekend and took pictures along the way. Here is a pictorial day in the life of a pierogi.

Rolling out the dough and cutting into perfect little circles

I've worked up to being able to handle six at a time

Giant bowl of mashed potato...nom!

The station I set up when I'm ready to fill

Pierogi army all lined up

We like them a little bit fried in olive oil

Mac getting ready to dig in

Finished plate - served up with peas, sauteed cabbage and onions and a simple dipping sauce
of Vegenaise, horseradish, lemon juice, paprika, cayenne and S&P

MMMMM! Get in my belly!