Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!

Happy New Year to everyone and Merry Christmas to those who are Ukrainian! Unless I'm back home, I don't make it a habit to celebrate Ukrainian Christmas which falls on January 7th. I laughed at the thought that if a Ukrainian wanted to make a New Year's resolution on January 1st such as "eat less carbs", they'd be screwed.

I remember when I was a kid, we'd have Christmas Eve dinner on the 6th, which would consist of 12 traditional dishes (none of which would contain meat). There'd be things such as cooked whole wheat kernels, fish, cabbage rolls, beets, mushrooms, potatoes, beans, bread and perogies. Carbs...and lots of them. It's in my blood.

The baba in me emerged and I decided to make some perogies this past weekend, using my late grandma's recipe that my aunt passed to me. Although I could have rolled the dough a little thicker, she must have been around in spirit because they tasted pretty darn good.

Makes 3-4 dozen

Making the Filling

4 medium yukon gold potatoes
1 bay leaf
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 ounces cheddar cheese

Peel and cut the potatoes into even pieces. Cover with cold water and add about 1 teaspoon of salt per liter of water. Bring the potatoes to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until tender. In the meantime, grate the cheddar cheese. Once the potatoes are done, drain and reserve the water. Rice the potatoes while they're hot and add the grated cheese. Stir well to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside to cool.

Making the Dough

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1 cup warm reserved potato water
1 tablespoon vinegar

Place the flour and salt into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Form a well and add the potato water, grapeseed oil and vinegar. Stir to combine and form into a dough. Turn out onto a counter top and knead until smooth, about 5-10 minutes, adding more flour, if necessary. Keep the dough slightly tacky (don't add too much flour or the dough will become too tough). Place into a clean bowl, cover the surface of the dough with a piece of plastic wrap and cover the bowl with a cloth towel. Let rest for about 2 hours.

Once the dough has rested, divide into 4 portions. Roll out onto a floured surface to about 1/4" thick. Don't roll the dough too thin, especially if you plan to fry the perogies (they'll get too crunchy). Cut out rounds with a 2 to 3 inch cookie cutter. You can even save the extra pieces of dough to cook and/or fry as well! Fill with about 1 tablespoon of the potato filling. Fold and stretch the dough in half, making sure to pinch the seam very well so they don't open up during cooking.

Once filled, place onto a towel-lined tray and cover with another towel to prevent them from drying out. Alternatively, they can be placed onto a parchment lined tray and transferred to the freezer to cook in the future. Once frozen, transfer to a sealed plastic bag and freeze for two to three months.

To cook the perogies, bring a large pot of cold, salted water (1 teaspoon per liter) to a simmer. Add a few perogies at a time. Stir gently so they don't stick to the bottom. Simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes until the perogies float to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon and serve immediately or transfer to an oiled baking sheet to cool in the refrigerator (if frying). The perogies brown better if they are cool (or cold) prior to frying.

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat and add some butter. Fry the perogies on both sides until golden. Serve immediately with sour cream, fresh bacon bits and slow-cooked, golden onions. Enjoy! Click here for a few more pics.

Tagged as: [ recipes ukrainian ]

Top 10 Dishes for the Fall Season

Fall has to be one of the best seasons. How can't it be with all of those warm, comforting dishes? Click through to Rouxbe's Blog to see a few of our favorite fall recipes.

Tagged as: [ comfort culinary fall recipes rouxbe video ]

Rouxbe Cooking School is Coming SOON!

It's so close, you can smell it! We have been working around the clock to release the first few lessons of the world's first-ever online Cooking School. As it nears, everyone at Rouxbe is becoming more and more excited.

The Rouxbe Cooking School will launch the first part of its content at the end of June / first week of July. Additional courses will be released regularly over the next several months.

SPECIAL OFFER: Sign up for an Annual Membership ($99 USD) and you will automatically be upgraded to Lifetime Membership ($199 USD) status on June 28th. This includes access to our new Cooking School. Offer is only good until this Friday, June 27th at Midnight PST.

Check out Rouxbe's Blog for a sneak peak at what's cooking.
 

Tagged as: [ culinary nwcav online recipes rouxbe school techniques ]

Lemon-Cranberry Scones with Lemon Fondant

I recently woke up at 3am from my first-ever root canal which had gone bad. I couldn't sleep, so I thought why not bake? I made one of Marcelo's favorites - lemon-cranberry scones. Even though I couldn't chew very well, the cake-like texture, along with the lemon fondant, melted in my mouth.

Scone Ingredients: 140 ml whole milk 2 large eggs (100 ml) 1 tsp lemon zest 120 g unsalted butter 100 g sugar 320 g cake flour 80 g bread flour 10 g baking powder 3 g sea salt 1/2 cup dried cranberries 1 large egg (for egg wash)

To make the scones, first preheat your oven to 340º degrees Fahrenheit. Whisk the milk, eggs and lemon zest together and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar until light. Sift the dry ingredients together and fold them into the mixture. The texture should be crumbly, so don't over mix.

Lightly fold in the milk mixture just until combined; then add the cranberries. Dust the counter top with flour. Gently divide the dough and shape into two rounds, so they are about 1 inch high. Cut into triangles and transfer to a baking sheet. Brush lightly with egg wash and bake until light golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.

Lemon Fondant 3/4 cup fondant 1 tsp. egg white zest of 1/2 a lemon 1-2 tsp. lemon juice

While the scones are baking, place the fondant in a bain marie. Heat over low heat and add the lemon zest, lemon juice and egg white. Stir to combine and bring the mixture just above body temperature.

Once the scones are done, place them onto a cooling rack and let cool slightly. Drizzle with the lemon fondant and enjoy.

Makes about 12.  

It's important not to over work the dough. Be gentle with it and work quickly. Avoid over-baking - bake just until they are light golden brown underneath.

Tagged as: [ pastry recipes scones ]

How to Make Fondant

Fondant is that sweet, shiny glaze which appears on many pastries and baked goods. Its creamy texture melts in your mouth and it also helps to keep baked goods moist. It's fairly easy to make and will store indefinitely at room temperature in a sealed container. You can also pour a thin layer of water on the surface to prevent it from drying out and forming a crust.

To make approximately 1.5 cups of fondant, you will need the following ingredients:

500 grams granulated sugar
250 ml water
50 grams glucose

To begin, use a very clean pot and bring the water and sugar to a boil until it reaches 113º C (235º F). Skim off any foam/impurities that may rise to the surface. This should take at least 10-15 minutes. Once the sugar reaches that temperature, add the glucose and continue to boil until the temperature reaches118º C (244º F). Immediately take the pot off of the heat and place into an ice bath to stop the cooking process.

Carefully pour the hot syrup onto a marble or granite counter top. Using a bench scraper, move the sugar around to bring down the temperature. 

As you continue to agitate it, it will go from a clear syrup to a milky-white consistency.

As you work the sugar, it will eventually become crumbly.

When you have reached this stage, begin to knead the sugar, as you would dough, until it is nice and smooth. You don't have to knead it this far, but you can see that it becomes soft again.

Once you're done, transfer the mixture to a container. The fondant can be stored indefinitely and can be used a bit at a time.

To use fondant:

To use the fondant, you'll need to warm it slightly. Place the amount you're going to use into a bain marie over low heat. Bring the temperature up until it's just above body temperature. Whisk in 1-2 teaspoons of egg white and a few drops of lemon juice.

For flavoring, I added a bit of lemon zest to match the flavors for my baked goods, but you can use any flavoring or extract, and even add food coloring. It's also nice to keep it plain.

Tagged as: [ fondant howto icing pastry recipes sugar ]