Masses of Perogies

Perogies are a sensitive topic to me. This is because I come from Saskatchewan, the breadbasket of North America, home to the largest population of Ukrainians outside of the Ukraine, and smack dab in the middle of a perogy, cabbage roll and kielbasa vortex. My mother-in-law made four kinds of homemade perogies for Christmas: buttered cheese, onion-and-butter cheese, cheese with cream sauce, and cheese with mushroom dill cream sauce. I've only just lost the weight. You can get perogies at the rink, deep-fried perogies at the pool, and perogies for brunch. There is a perogy section in the freezer aisle at the grocery store. My mother gathers at her neighbor's place for perogy-making day: bacon, onion and cheese-flavoured. Vera, my mom's neighbor, has six deep freezers. San Francisco was a horribly rude wakeup call of perogy deprivation. In desperation, I mixed up my first batch in a kitchen equipped with two pans and cutlery stolen from my roommate. My husband and I ate them on the floor, washed down with a Molson. Still, the sour cream, butter and egg dough was horribly rich and tore easily and my filling was lumpy. There had to be a better way. My mom-in-law pointed me towards the oil-and-egg dough that most ladies use back home. I lifted this recipe from the Growing Alberta website and never looked back. It works like a dream, stretches forgivingly and cooks up soft. The sight of masses of plump-bellied perogies floating in hot water never ceases to make me smile greedily.

Perogy Dough
Makes about three dozen.
3/4 c. warm water
2 tbsp. oil
1 well beaten egg
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Mix water, oil and egg. Sift flour and salt. Add liquid to flour and mix well. Knead on board until dough is smooth. Cover and let stand two hours in a warm place. Later, roll out dough, cut into rounds and place a small spoonful of filling in the centre. Fold over and pinch to seal.
To cook, place perogies in boiling water with 3 tbsp. oil. When they float to the top they are ready. Scoop out, toss with butter/oil to prevent sticking together. Serve with fried white onions and sour cream. To freeze, coat generously with flour and freeze individually on pans, then in freezer bags.

Potato and Cheddar Filling
2-1/2 lb medium red or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut in half
2 c. mild or medium Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tbsp. salt

Boil potatoes till soft; drain well. I then placed the pan over the heat to dry off any excess moisture. Rice the potatoes to remove lumps and mix in cheese while hot to melt the cheese. Add salt to taste.