Cuisine: European

Sausage, Bacon & Perogy Casserole

Casseroles are my go-to dish when I have a busy day ahead of me! They’re simple to make and Brion & I just love them. You can prep them ahead of time and then just pop them in the oven for a nice hot meal that is ready when you are or cook them and reheat in the microwave.

This perogy casserole makes life simpler by relying on frozen perogies. This recipe starts with ingredients you may already have in your kitchen, such as frozen perogies (either store bought or homemade), onions, bacon, Alfredo sauce and cheese. The onions, bacon and perogies are browned in a skillet along with some garlic, then layered into a casserole dish with the Alfredo sauce. The final step is a generous amount of cheddar cheese. Bake your casserole until golden brown, then dinner is served.

There are a lot of flavors of frozen perogies in grocery stores these days that you can try this casserole with such as cheese, onion, potato, garlic, bacon, etc. All of which will help switch up the flavor to keep it a little new and different each time you make it. 

Perogies are truly one of the world’s best comfort foods and as an added bonus, casseroles are an inexpensive way to stretch those food dollars and still taste delicious. 

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 Sausage, Bacon & Perogy Casserole
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Course Main Dish
Cuisine European
Keyword sausage, bacon & perogy casserole
Servings
Ingredients
Course Main Dish
Cuisine European
Keyword sausage, bacon & perogy casserole
Servings
Ingredients
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
  2. In a saucepan over medium high heat, cook bacon for 4-5 minutes or until slightly crisp. Remove from pan & drain on paper towel.
  3. In a pot of boiling, salted water cook perogies for about 3 minutes. Drain. With a spatula gently stir perogies with a TINY bit of butter just to keep them from sticking to each other.
  4. In the saucepan with bacon drippings, place onion & sauté until translucent. Add garlic & sausage; sauté for a couple of minutes. Remove from pan to a dish. Add half of the perogies to the pan & cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until browned. Repeat the process with remaining perogies. Place bacon, onions & garlic in the pan & stir to combine.
  5. Spread 1/3 cup of the alfredo sauce over the bottom of a 9 x 9-inch baking dish. Place 1/2 of the perogy mixture on top of the sauce.
  6. Add another 1/3 cup of the sauce, then use the remaining perogy mixture to create another layer. Spread the remaining alfredo sauce over the top of the perogy mixture, then top the casserole with shredded cheese. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese has melted & started to brown.
  7. Top with green onions & serve.

Chicken, Veal & Shrimp Pastetli (Vol-Au-Vent)

Pastetli were invented in the early 1800s in Antonin Carême’s pastry store in Paris, France where they’re called vol-au-vent, French for ‘windblown’ to describe its lightness. While they’re served as an appetizer in France, they’re eaten as a main meal not only in Switzerland but also in Belgium and the Netherlands. It is also from the Netherlands where the Swiss name Pastetli origins from. The Dutch call them pasteitje (little pastry). From there it came to the German Pastete. Just to add a little complication though, a Pastete in Switzerland is rectangle cake shaped puff pastry pie filled with sausage meat, mushrooms in a creamy sauce.

A vol-au-vent is a light puff pastry shell that resembles a bowl with a lid. The shell is generally filled with a creamy sauce (most often a velouté sauce) containing vegetables, chicken, meat or fish. The lid is placed on the filled shell and the pastry is then served as an appetizer, also known as bouchée à la Reine, or as the main course of a meal. When prepared, the pastry dough is flattened and cut into two circles. A smaller circle is cut out of the center of one of the circles, which then will be used as the lid. The circle without the center cut and the circle with the center cut are then joined together around the edges so as the pastry bakes, it rises into a shell with a hole in the top. The lid, which is baked separately, is added later. The pastry shell may be made the size of an individual serving, or it can be made in several different sizes to become a main serving for one or a larger size to be served for more than one.

Vol-au-vents rose to prominence in Paris in the 19th century. In post-war Britain, they were a mainstay of any self-respecting buffet, served to suitably impressed guests alongside welcome drinks at dinner parties. By the 1990s, they had become unfashionable and remained so for decades. Updated vol-au-vents started reappearing in chic restaurants a year or two before the covid pandemic (2020) erupted and have become the retro appetizer or main course to have.

You can even adapt them to make some elegant desserts. Fill with cream and fresh fruit or melt a chocolate orange with a dash of Grand Marnier and orange zest then spoon this quick-fix mousse into the cases and top with sweetened Chantilly cream and chocolate shavings.

For our main course vol-au-vents, I am making an interesting filling which includes, chicken, shrimp, mushrooms and tiny meatballs. Sounds a little odd but is packed with flavor.

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 Chicken, Veal & Shrimp Pastetli (Vol-Au-Vent)
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Cuisine European
Keyword chicken, veal & shrimp pastetli (vol-au-vents)
Servings
Ingredients
Chicken/Broth
Mushrooms
Puff Pastry
Meatballs
Shrimp
Béchamel Sauce
Garnish
Cuisine European
Keyword chicken, veal & shrimp pastetli (vol-au-vents)
Servings
Ingredients
Chicken/Broth
Mushrooms
Puff Pastry
Meatballs
Shrimp
Béchamel Sauce
Garnish
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Chicken/Broth
  1. Add the rosemary, garlic, bay leaves, cloves, chopped celery, carrot and onion to a stock pot. Season generously with pepper and salt. Cut the chicken up: legs, wings and breasts. Also chop up the remaining carcass. Add it all to the pot. Then fill it with water (about 7 cups) until the chicken is fully submerged.
  2. Place the pot over high heat until boiling, then leave it there for 10 minutes. Turn the heat lower and gently cook the chicken for about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the heat and let it cool down for another 45 minutes.
Mushrooms/ Shrimp/ Cheese
  1. Chop the mushrooms into bite-size pieces. Peel & devein shrimp. Grate parmesan cheese.
Puff Pastry Shells
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
  2. Cut (4) 5-inch circles from puff pastry. Beat the egg & prick holes in the large circles with a fork & brush with egg. Cut 12 more RINGS from pastry about an inch wide. Lay a ring on each of the 4 circles & brush with egg wash. Repeat this until there are 3 rings on each large circle. Bake the puff pastry shells for 25 minutes.
Finish the Broth
  1. Remove the cooked chicken from the hot stock. Reserve stock for later. Remove any chicken skin, bones, veins, cartilage, or sinew (discard all this) & pick the cooked meat from the bones. Shred the larger bits up roughly. Then transfer the chicken meat to a large saucepan.
  2. Strain the chicken stock in a fine sieve or colander over a large pan. You should end up with about 6 cups (1,4 l) of chicken stock. Discard the cooked vegetables.
Meatballs
  1. In a bowl, combine ground veal (pork), salt & pepper, egg & breadcrumbs. Mix well and make tiny balls of ½ oz (15 g) each. You should end up with about 20 of them. Cover the meatballs with cling film and store them in the fridge until later.
  2. Bring the stock to a gentle boil again. Once warm, add the meatballs, shrimp & mushrooms. Poach them for about 5 minutes. Then remove the meatballs, shrimp & mushrooms using a slotted spoon. Add them to the shredded chicken in the large saucepan.
Béchamel Sauce
  1. Take the chicken stock off the heat now. In a large saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk well until you get a wet crumble. Gently cook this over medium-low heat for about a minute. Then gradually add splashes of the warm chicken stock until you get a sticky flour paste. Keep stirring. Don't add too much at once or the sauce will become lumpy.
  2. Whisk well. Gradually add more chicken stock (about 3 to 4 cups) until you get a pretty runny sauce. Bring the sauce to a low simmer & cook for 3-4 minutes or until thickened. whisk in Montreal Steak Spice, onion salt, garlic powder, mustard & grated parmesan.
  3. Add the béchamel sauce to the chicken, meatballs, shrimp & mushrooms. Stir carefully. Cover the pan for another 5 minutes and let the vol au vent filling warm through or place it back over very low heat.
  4. Put the vol au vent puff pastry casings onto 4 serving plates. Top with the chicken, meatball, shrimp & mushroom filling. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley if desired. Serve the vol au vents hot.

Lemon Gel ‘Crumble’ Wedges

Nothing says spring more than the zesty, fresh flavor of lemons. I think this lemon dessert is the perfect way to celebrate spring.

Crumbles are a true British dessert, which can be made any time of the year. They are believed to have originated around the time of World War II which brought the world to a standstill; shops were closed, people were left unemployed. As the war progressed, food scarcity became a major scare and due to inflation and rationing, the accessibility to basic food ingredients became a problem. In these hostile times, British housewives came up with many recipes; some of these recipes were lost in time, but some stayed and even gained cult status with time. One such British recipe is that of ‘apple crumble’.

Typically, crumbles use soft fruit like apples, pears, rhubarb or plums, but berries or even a lemon filling can be used. The crumb topping can be made with flour, nuts, breadcrumbs, cookie or graham cracker crumbs, or even breakfast cereal.  

This dessert is very different from the usual crumble. You start with a crumble crust/ topping but the filling is uncooked. It is so nice with fresh lemon juice and zest in it. As it bakes, it becomes almost gel-like and the top crumbles soak slightly into the filling. The flavor of lemon always seems to give such a refreshing taste to everything its used in.

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 Lemon Gel 'Crumble' Wedges
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Course dessert
Cuisine American, European
Keyword lemon crumble
Servings
Ingredients
Crust & Crumble Topping
Lemon Filling
Course dessert
Cuisine American, European
Keyword lemon crumble
Servings
Ingredients
Crust & Crumble Topping
Lemon Filling
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Crust/Crumble Topping
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. In a large bowl, combine all topping ingredients. Mix well with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 cup of topping; set aside. Place remaining topping in a 14 x 4-inch baking pan pressing it up the sides as well as on the bottom. Set aside.
Filling
  1. Mix all filling ingredients well, then pour into crust.
  2. Place baking pan in oven & bake for 30- 35 minutes or until filling is set & crust is golden.
  3. Remove from oven & cool completely. This dessert is best refrigerated overnight or at least 6 hours. Cut into wedges or bars & serve with WHIPPED TOPPING.

Beef Stroganoff French Bread

The original recipe of beef stroganoff did not include paprika or mushrooms, but both are a popular variation on the theme, as is the practice of serving beef stroganoff over egg noodles.

In the 50s and 60s, the famous stroganoff saw quite a bit of popularity in North America, but with the passage of time the image was marred by the availability of canned cream of mushroom soup and poor cuts or pieces of meat that were ‘slopped’ over cooked noodles or rice and is served in school cafeterias.

This dish saw so much popularity, it actually became an iconic food and cuisine. But unfortunately, it was this cafeteria version of this delicious dish that everyone in North America came to associate with the name.

As with so many dishes as time passes, every variation adds a different twist on the classic. In Australia and the UK, the recipe of beef stroganoff is quite similar to that of North America and is simply eaten with rice.

In the British restaurants, beef stroganoff is cooked to a creamy consistency and then served with a white wine while the authentic or original stroganoffs, which are similar to red stews, are generally served with scoops of sour cream.

In Portugal & Brazil, beef stroganoff is better known as ‘estrogonofe,’ and is cooked with tomato paste, beef strips or dices, with mushrooms, onions and with heavy whipped cream.

Chicken Stroganoff, made with the strips of chicken breast is also famous in Brazil, which is known as ‘fricassee,’ and it is served with crispy straws of potatoes & white rice. In Sweden, sausage stroganoff is more common.

Some other variations of beef stroganoff are also made with canned sweet corn, with ketchup and wine. This dish is also served creatively in crepe fillings or as toppings for all kinds of pizzas and with baked potatoes.

I’m making our beef stroganoff with ground beef as well as some of the classic ingredients. Instead of serving it with French bread, we are having it inside the French bread.

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 Beef Stroganoff French Bread
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Course Main Dish
Cuisine European
Keyword beef stroganoff French bread
Servings
Ingredients
Course Main Dish
Cuisine European
Keyword beef stroganoff French bread
Servings
Ingredients
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
  1. In a saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté mushrooms with 1 tsp salt & pepper; add thyme. Cook until mushrooms are golden, approximately 4 minutes. Remove from pan & set aside.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  3. To the saucepan, add butter, onions & garlic & sauté 2 minutes. Add ground beef & cook until browned, approximately 4 minutes. Add flour, paprika & remaining 1 tsp salt. Add beef broth, sour cream & mustard; mix thoroughly & add reserved mushrooms.
  4. Fill hollowed French loaf with stroganoff & top with shredded cheese. Place on a foil lined baking sheet & bake for 20 minutes until cheese is golden & melted.
  5. Sprinkle with sliced green onions & serve immediately.

Polish Easter Placek

I always enjoy researching and baking traditional Easter breads. Maybe its because I have such fond memories of my mother’s Easter bread which wasn’t fancy but just ‘to die for’. This year I decided to try my hand at making some Polish Easter bread called ‘placek’.

Just for the sake of interest I wanted to post some of the various countries and their traditional Easter breads.

  • Babka (Poland, Ukraine, Belarus): a tall, cylindrical bread often baked in a Bundt-type pan and containing raisins and/or candied citron or orange peel, optionally with icing on the top, thus making it much sweeter than Paska, a broad, round, rich, white bread decorated on the top with symbols, including crosses, flowers, braids, wheat, or other designs representing aspects of Orthodox (Eastern) Christianity—made only for Easter to celebrate the rising of Christ from the dead.
  • Placek (Poland): refers to a sweet yeast bread topped with sugary crumble, with or without golden raisins served on Easter. (Pronounced plah-sek)
  • Cozonac (Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia): a slightly sweet yeast bread containing raisins and walnuts or pecans—a type of Stollen.
  • Folar (Portugal): a bread that may be either sweet or salty and is traditionally offered to godfathers, and priests at Easter in imitation of Jesus’ distribution of bread to his disciples at the Last Supper.
  • Hornazo (Spain): a yeast bread meat pie stuffed with pork loin, spicy chorizo, and hard-boiled eggs
  • Hot Cross Buns (Great Britain): a spiced sweet bun containing currants or raisins (and sometimes other dried fruits), marked on top with icing in the shape of a cross, and traditionally eaten on Good Friday.
  • Kalach (Serbia, Hungary): similar to brioche and usually baked in a braid arranged to form a circle.
  • Mazanec (Czech Republic): a sweet bread eaten throughout Holy Week made of dough containing rum soaked raisins and dried fruit, baked as a round loaf, with slivered almonds on top and a decoration made of icing or powdered sugar in the shape of a cross.
  • Osterbrot (Germany): a yeast bread containing raisins and slivered almonds and usually cut into thin slices, spread with butter, and enjoyed at breakfast or at teatime.
  • Paasstol (Netherlands): a fruit-bread containing raisins and usually filled with almond paste (also made at Christmas).
  • Pasca (Romania, Moldova): a sweet bread served with sweet soft cheese that may also be decorated with fruits, nuts, or chocolate.
  • Pasqua (Italy): a cake containing candied peel but no raisins and topped with pearl sugar and almonds before being baked in the shape of a ‘dove’.
  • Pinca (Croatia, Montenegro): a sweet bread loaf with the sign of a cross carved on top before being baked and eaten at the end of Lent.
  • Tsoureki (Greece, Armenia): a sweet holiday bread commonly seasoned with orange zest, mastic resin (from the mastic tree), or mahlab (an aromatic spice made from the pits of the Mediterranean “St. Lucy’s” cherry tree).

Hope you enjoyed reading this info as much as I did.

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 Polish Easter Placek
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Course Brunch
Cuisine European
Keyword Polish Easter placek
Servings
Ingredients
Sponge
Dough
Crumble Topping
Course Brunch
Cuisine European
Keyword Polish Easter placek
Servings
Ingredients
Sponge
Dough
Crumble Topping
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Rate this recipe!
Instructions
Sponge
  1. In a bowl, dissolve yeast in lukewarm milk with sugar & allow to stand until foamy, about 15 minutes. Stir in the flour, then cover the bowl & let the sponge rise until doubled in size, 30 minutes to an hour.
Dough
  1. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter & sugar, then add the eggs in one at a time; beat until fluffy. Add in the salt, nutmeg zest & 1 cup of flour; beat well. When the sponge is risen, add that to the creamed mixture along with the last cup of flour & the raisins. Knead dough until a very smooth, elastic, sticky dough forms.
  2. Using greased hands, place dough into a greased or buttered bowl. Cover the bowl & allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.
Crumble Topping
  1. Cut butter into sugar & flour until it is fully mixed in & crumbly, then stir in the almonds.
Assembly
  1. When the dough has risen, use greased or wet hands to place in greased baking pans. Sprinkle the crumble over the dough, pressing in lightly. Cover the pans, then let the dough rise until doubled or until almost risen to the top.
  2. Preheat oven to 325 F.
  3. Bake for 30-45 minutes until golden brown on top. Let the bread cool on a wire rack,
Recipe Notes
  • I used one 12" x 5 " loaf pan & one 5" x 2" round spring form pan for this amount of dough.

Savory Dutch Baby Pancakes

I’m sure you are probably quite familiar with the Dutch Baby or German pancake. I have featured them on the blog numerous times over the years.

A cross between a pancake and a crepe, a Dutch baby begins with the thin pancake-like batter which is poured into an oven proof dish. When it cooks it starts to rise and puff up. When the edges of the pancake are brown, it is ready to come out of the oven. The center is perfect for adding either sweet or savory ingredients.

The recipe is a basic, universal one that can be adapted in a number of different ways. For example, you could add berries or other fruit to the batter or omit the sugar and vanilla and make a savory version with veggies and different spices.

We haven’t had a Dutch baby meal for a long time so I’m making a savory ones with zucchini, mushrooms & some Italian chicken sausage. Should be good!

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 Savory Dutch Baby Pancakes
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Course Main Dish
Cuisine European
Keyword savory Dutch baby pancakes
Servings
Ingredients
Dutch Baby Pancakes
Fillings
Course Main Dish
Cuisine European
Keyword savory Dutch baby pancakes
Servings
Ingredients
Dutch Baby Pancakes
Fillings
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Dutch Baby Pancakes for 2
  1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
  2. In a bowl, whisk eggs & milk. Add flour & whisk until incorporated. Whisk in parmesan cheese, sliced scallions, parsley, thyme, salt & pepper. Set aside.
Filling
  1. Heat oil in a skillet. Add onions & sauté until translucent. Add zucchini & sauté for 3-5 minutes until zucchini is tender. Season with salt & pepper. Transfer to a bowl. Add another 2 teaspoons of oil to skillet. Add mushrooms & sauté for 5-7 minutes. Cook until mushrooms are tender & most of the moisture has cooked off. Season with salt & pepper; transfer to another bowl. Keep filling ingredients warm will you bake the Dutch Baby pancake,
  2. Add 1 tsp of oil to skillet. Add sliced chicken sausage. Cook until browned. Transfer to another bowl. Add vegetable broth to skillet; whisk in flour & seasoning. Bring to a simmer while whisking until mixture thickens. Remove from heat & keep warm.
Bake /Serve
  1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
  2. Melt 4 Tbsp butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is melted & the skillet is hot, pour in the batter. Carefully transfer the skillet to preheated oven & bake 25 minutes, The Dutch Baby will puff up during cooking, but once it's removed from the oven & starts to cool it will deflate slightly.
  3. When Dutch Baby is cooked, remove from oven & place some of the chicken sausage in it then top with the veggies & the remainder of chicken sausage. Ladle sauce over top & sprinkle with grated cheese & fresh thyme. Serve immediately.

Quiche Lorraine w/ Hash Brown Crust

Quiche seems like a springtime dish, but the truth is its an ‘any season’ dish in my opinion. This version skips the pastry and is built on a crispy, grated, potato hash brown crust.

Hash browns can always be counted on to add heartiness and can be made several different ways, incorporating a variety of ingredients, including leftovers or whatever happens to be on hand in the fridge. Although hash browns are credited as being from the USA, there are similar dishes elsewhere that likely contributed towards the hash browns of today, and should be mentioned:

  • Rösti of Switzerland – like a potato pancake
  • Latkes of the Jewish folks – also like a potato pancake, but with eggs
  • Tortilla de papas (or patatas) of Spain – like an omelet

The original ‘quiche Lorraine’ was an open pie with a filling consisting of an egg and cream custard with smoked bacon. It was only later that cheese was added to the quiche Lorraine. The bottom crust was originally made from bread dough, but that has long since evolved into numerous other ideas such as puff pastry or hash brown crusts.

Although quiche is now a classic dish of French cuisine, quiche actually originated in Germany, in the medieval kingdom of Lothringen, under German rule, and which the French later renamed Lorraine. The word ‘quiche’ is from the German ‘Kuchen’, meaning cake.

The specialty quiche from Lorraine features gruyere cheese, onion, bacon as its primary flavors. The nice thing is, quiche is something that anyone can make and can be served as an entrée, for lunch, breakfast, or an evening snack.

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 Quiche Lorraine w/ Hash Brown Crust
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Course Brunch, Main Dish
Cuisine European
Keyword quiche Lorraine w/ hash brown crust
Servings
Ingredients
Potato Crust
Filling
Course Brunch, Main Dish
Cuisine European
Keyword quiche Lorraine w/ hash brown crust
Servings
Ingredients
Potato Crust
Filling
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Potato Crust
  1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
  2. Thaw & pat dry shredded hashbrowns on paper towels. Lightly toss with remaining crust ingredients. Press into the bottom & up the sides of a 9" quiche pan. Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 F.
Filling
  1. In a skillet, cook bacon until crisp, 5-6 minutes; transfer to a paper towel lined plate & allow to cool.
  2. Wipe out skillet & heat oil. Add leeks & garlic; cook covered , stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes or until tender.
  3. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, heavy cream & smoked paprika. Stir in bacon, leeks & cheese. Spoon mixture into hashbrown crust. Slightly press sliced tomatoes , cut side up, into quiche. Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp each salt & pepper.
  4. Bake until set & golden brown about 20-25 minutes. Let rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
  • To cut out a few calories, I use a low fat milk instead of the heavy cream. It just requires a little longer cooking time but still tastes great.

Potato, Mushroom & Caramelized Onion Perogies

As the days get shorter, darker and colder in the winter, many turn to food as a source of internal warmth and comfort. Besides being essential for life, food brings people together and generally just makes us feel good. This is especially true during the chilly winter months we get here in Canada, where tasty comfort food is more than welcome.

 In 1966 when the term ‘comfort food’  was first used, one would turn to foods that were prepared in a traditional way and reminds the person of their childhood, home, family and friends.

Commonly eaten in the Canadian prairie provinces, perogies, pierogi, perogy – (however you spell it) are a delicious filled dumpling with origins from Central and Eastern Europe. They can be stuffed with potato, cheese, bacon, and more, and they taste absolutely perfect with their typical sour cream topping. There’s also a giant perogy statue in Glendon, Alberta, showing you exactly how important the food is viewed in Canada.

The ultimate in comfort, peasant food or gourmet cuisine, as a main event or side, perogies can do no wrong.

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 Potato, Mushroom & Caramelized Onion Perogies
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Course Main Dish
Cuisine European
Keyword potato, mushroom & caramelized onion perogies
Servings
Ingredients
Perogy Dough
Filling
Course Main Dish
Cuisine European
Keyword potato, mushroom & caramelized onion perogies
Servings
Ingredients
Perogy Dough
Filling
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Perogy Dough
  1. In a bowl, beat egg, soft butter & sour cream together. Add flour & salt, combining until smooth. Scrape dough out of bowl onto a lightly floured work surface & knead dough for 5 - 8 minutes. Wrap dough in plastic wrap & refrigerate until ready to use.
Filling
  1. Chop onions. Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a large skillet & sauté onions until caramelized. Remove from skillet & set aside.
  2. In the same skillet, melt another 2 Tbsp butter & add the chopped mushrooms. Salt & pepper the mushrooms & sauté until they are tender & all the liquid excluded by the mushrooms has evaporated, 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
  3. While you are cooking the onions & mushrooms, peel & quarter the potatoes & place in a small pot. Cover with cold water, bring to a boil, then lower heat & simmer until soft enough to mash, 15-20 minutes. Drain & place in a large mixing bowl.
  4. Mash & whip potatoes with grated cheddar cheese until smooth & fluffy. Fold in the cooked mushrooms & caramelized onions until well blended. Salt & pepper to taste.
Assembly
  1. Remove perogy dough from refrigerator & cut into 24 equal pieces. Roll each piece into about a 3-inch round. Place a heaping Tbsp of filling in the middle of pierogi. Dip your finger in a bowl of water & run it along the edge of the dough. Fold perogy in half, carefully pinching together edges to seal it completely.
Cook & Serve
  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Carefully drop perogies in & boil until all the perogies float to the surface & dough becomes somewhat translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Remove perogies with a slotted spoon, making sure to let as much of the excess water drip off as possible. In a large skillet, heat a Tbsp of butter. Place drained pierogis in skillet. Do not over-crowd so that they can all lightly brown on both sides.
  2. If you wish , you can make a few extra onions & mushrooms for a garnish. Serve with either sour cream or Ranch dressing.
Recipe Notes
  • When making the pierogis, nothing wrong with rolling out all the dough at the same time & cutting your circles with a cookie cutter. I just personally like dividing the dough so I don't have to do any re-rolling with the scraps. Just personal preference.

Charcuterie Boards

HAPPY NEW YEAR’S EVE!

As we prepare to ring in the new year, it seems food is always involved when it comes to some of our cherished times together. Like many traditional foods that are making a comeback, the culinary art of charcuterie (shahr-koo-tuh-ree) has returned.

Generally, when served in a restaurant, charcuterie is presented as an appetizer on a board alongside artisan cheese and nuts.

The nice thing about serving charcuterie at home is that there are no rules! You can keep it as simple as you like or dress it up with fresh or dried fruits, a variety of artisan breads and crackers, olives, spreads like honey, preserves or jams!

Charcuterie design is arguably just as important as the ingredients you include on your board. Anyone can create a visually impressive charcuterie board by keeping these tips in mind.

Start your board by placing any bowls or jars you want to include. This will include dips, spreads and jellies, as well as olives and pickles. Space out the bowls and jars, leaving plenty of space between them for your meats, cheeses and other items. Include any utensils guests will need to pick up items in bowls or spread jellies and spreads.

Once your bowls are on the board, next, you can place the meats and cheeses. Rather than putting all the meats near each other and all the cheeses together, instead, space out the meats and cheeses across the board. For visual variety, try to vary the appearance of your meats and cheeses. For example, some cheeses can remain in a whole wedge while others are sliced or cubed.

Make sure you have an item on hand that offers a bright pop of color. This will help you add some visual interest to your board. Depending on the meats and cheeses you choose, you may find that your charcuterie board has a fairly consistent, earthy color palette that is lacking variety. A pop of color can make all the difference in this situation. Some examples include tomatoes or strawberries for a pop of red or clementine’s or carrots for a pop of orange.

Once your charcuterie board is mostly complete, use any smaller items you want to include, such as fruit and nuts, to fill in the gaps. For large charcuterie boards, rather than put all the nuts together and all the fruits together, be sure to spread them out across the board. Put a little row or pile in one spot and another in a different spot. This helps to create the look of a board that is brimming with variety, like a cornucopia, rather than a compartmentalized platter.

Finally, to give your charcuterie board an extra special touch, use fresh herbs as a garnish. Herbs like rosemary, basil and thyme can add an additional pop of color, can help you fill any remaining bare spots and will also provide some lovely fragrance to elevate the whole sensory experience. Add sprigs of herbs in several spots spread out over the board. You can tuck some sprigs under cheese wedges or bowls to hold them in place.

Since Brion & I are celebrating New Year’s Eve at home this year, we thought it would be nice to have charcuterie to make it special.

Print Recipe
 Charcuterie Boards
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Rate this recipe!
Course Finger Food Buffet
Cuisine American, European
Keyword charcuterie boards
Servings
Course Finger Food Buffet
Cuisine American, European
Keyword charcuterie boards
Servings
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. The following are some suggestions for the most important elements of a charcuterie board:
  2. CHEESES: choose a variety of hard & soft cheeses * Hard Cheeses: manchego, cheddar (white or orange), swiss, gouda, gruyere, parmesan etc. * Soft Cheeses: brie, triple cream, goat cheese, Havarti, cream cheese w/ pepper jelly on top, blue cheese or gorgonzola
  3. MEATS: prosciutto, salami, ham, cured chorizo, capicola, summer sausage, etc.
  4. SAVORY ACCOMPANIMENTS: * Nuts: almonds, candied pecans, pistachio nuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, etc. * Briny, pickled or marinated: olives, cocktail onions, dill pickles, pepperoncini, olive tapenade, bruschetta. * Savory dips & spreads: whole ground mustard, hummus, ranch, balsamic dip.
  5. SWEET ACCOMPANIMENTS: * Fresh fruit & berries: grapes, apples, pears, oranges, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries & strawberries. * Dried fruit: apricots, cherries, figs, pineapple & mango. * Sweet spreads: fig butter, orange marmalade, blackberry jam, etc. * Chocolate: a few pieces of quality chocolate or chocolate covered nuts.
  6. CRACKERS & BREADS: * Choose a variety of crackers, sliced baguettes or mini toasts of different shapes, sizes & flavors.
  7. FRESH HERBS: * Use fresh rosemary, thyme, basil or sage for a nice fragrance as well as a great visual appearance to your charcuterie board.
Recipe Notes
  • These are only suggestions ... remember, your only limited by your imagination!

Benedictine Liqueur Mini Cupcakes

The story of Benedictine dates back to 1510 when a Venetian monk of the Abbey of Fécamp, Dom Bernardo Vincelli, created an elixir intended to support good health. The concoction was so well-received that the Benedictine monks of Fécamp continued the liqueur’s production up until the French Revolution. One of the Benedictine monks had a copy of the recipe for the elixir in a book he gave to a friend for safekeeping during the Revolution. That friend’s grandchild was Alexandre Le Grand.

Over 300 years later in 1863, Alexandre le Grand, a wine trader from Fécamp sought to resurrect it. After a year of attempting to recreate the mysterious brew, le Grand finally succeeded, transforming it into the liqueur it is today. He named it Benedictine, in honor of the monk Dom Bernardo Vincelli, and went on to erect a palace that would house its distillation: the Palais Benedictine in Fécamp.

Its recipe remains a secret, known by a select few and with only three copies in existence, each kept safe in a different locale. It includes a combination of 27 herbs and spices derived from plants from around the globe, including juniper, myrrh, saffron, vanilla, thyme, coriander and more. The ingredients are carefully combined and slowly distilled several times in copper stills that date back to the time of Alexandre le Grand. The liquid is then aged in oak casks for approximately two years and always stored at the Palais Benedictine. With an ABV of 40%, it is classified as a brandy and often served as a digestif after meals or used in cocktail recipes.

During the Middle Ages, about 90% of the population of Europe was the non-landowning laboring class, with the remainder split between the nobility and church. The monks were the keepers of most scientific and medical knowledge, as they were literate and often spent time copying important texts from one monastery to the next. Some monasteries operated hospitals and probably all had medicinal herb gardens and apothecaries (pharmacists) on site to make medicines for themselves and the surrounding community.

The liqueur tastes primarily of honey and baking spices, with citrus peel, herb, and stone fruit notes.

Print Recipe
 Benedictine Liqueur Mini Cupcakes
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Course dessert
Cuisine European
Keyword Benedictine liqueur cupcakes
Servings
Ingredients
Cupcakes
Frosting
Course dessert
Cuisine European
Keyword Benedictine liqueur cupcakes
Servings
Ingredients
Cupcakes
Frosting
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 mini cupcake pans ( 2-inch diameter) with paper liners.
  2. Place sugar & zest in the mixer bowl & blend until moist & fragrant. Add butter & beat until white. Add eggs, one at a time; beating well after each one.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt & baking powder. With mixer on low speed, add the flour, milk & liqueur alternately, scraping down sides of the bowl. Divide cake batter between the 24 paper lined cups.
  4. Bake 16-18 minutes, or until risen & baked through, testing with a toothpick in the center of the cupcake. Remove from baking pan & allow to cool.
Frosting
  1. Combine butter & cream cheese with a mixer until smooth & creamy. Blend in Benedictine liqueur. Slowly add the powdered sugar until you reach the right consistency. If you are using a pastry bag ensure that you have a medium consistency.
  2. Pipe the frosting onto each cupcake then garnish as you wish.