Work and personal life, Otto. Trying to mix the two can lead to a whole lot of trouble. It’s a fine line to walk when things are going well, and it’s potentially explosive in both spheres when anything goes wrong in one.
I don’t know what ivylass had in mind, but I could imagine dating someone who was also, more or less, your father’s employee…could become akward. If things don’t go well, and she still has to show up at your house one a week?
That said, I agree…give her some (hmmm…now that sounded skeevy. Sorry :)).
I got the basics of the recipe off the Food Network site, then adapted it a little to suit my own tastes.
Casing:
3 cups flour
3/4 cup lukewarm water
2 tablespoons magarine
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
Stuffing:
2 and 1/2 pounds potatos
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3 tablespoons jalapeno pepper, minced
1/3 cup grated cheese (I used Kraft Mexican mix cheese, but most any should work well.)
To make the casing dough, mix the flour, egg, room temperature water and margarine, and the salt. Knead for seven to ten minutes, once the dough is fully mixed. Once the dough is kneaded let it rest at least half an hour. According to Food Network the dough can be refrigerated for up to two days with no adverse effects. I made the dough up in advance, then the next day worked on the stuffing.
When ready to stuff the shells roll out the dough to approximately one eighth to one quarter inch thickness, then cut out circular shells. I used a coffee mug for my cutting tool, which made the shells about 3 and 1/2 inches in diameter, smaller pierogie can be made using approximately 2 inch circles. If, like me, you decide to roll out your dough ahead of finishing the stuffing - make sure you flour them properly… or you’ll have half your shells sticking to each other when you’re trying to fill 'em and you have to stop and reroll them. :o (Though I doubt you’ll be doing a quadrouple recipe like I was.)
To stuff the shells take about a tablespoon of the potato mix and place it in the center of the dough, then pinch the dough closed around it. Like any other filled pasta you have to make sure that you don’t have air bubbles around the stuffing, when it comes time to cook them you’ll find that you’ve got potato grenades not pierogies, if you don’t take the time now to make sure of this. Once stuffed you can cook them immediately, if you wish, in boiling water for about 7-10 minutes, then serve, or freeze. If freezing the recipe I used suggested dipping the new made pierogies in cold water - I don’t know for certain why they suggest this, but I suspect it helps make for an effective seal of the pinched edges of the pierogie.
To make the potato mix, begin by peeling and then dicing the potatoes into moderate sized chunks. Cover with water, and add about a tablespoon of salt, boil, until the potato is thoroughly cooked. Let the potato cool, and while that’s happening, melt the butter in another sauce pan. Once the butter is melted add the onions to saute them. If you want you can saute the onions until they’re carmelized, but it’s not necessary. Once the potato have cooled enough to handle, mash them, then add the onions and butter. Mix and season, then add the cheese and the minced jalapenos. Use the stuffing as directed above to fill the pierogie shells. If you have stuffing left over (as I did) it makes a very acceptable side dish all on it’s own.
Enjoy!
Wow–that looks yummy!
Go ahead and give her the peirogis! As long as there aren’t any strings attached, there’s nothing wrong with it. There’s something sexy about a man who can cook (and pierogis are really impressive).
ME
That’s not skeevy at all. I don’t know what you’re worried about…