It's... it's pierogi nirvana.

[philosophercat]

And it's beautiful! O_O

*floats away on a cloud of yummy, buttery, eastern European goodness*

...PS. I also have a fabulous, fresh baked (I baked it!) baguette in the kitchen. Bwahaha! And, suffice to say, it is a very good idea to put marbled cheese into your pierogi filling. *nods*

Comments

[elspethdawitch.livejournal.com]

I was just saying to Chris today that I wanted to start baking baguettes or at least pitas...just to have fresh bread around when I wanted it...

[philosophercat.livejournal.com]

I can't make my way into the kitchen just now, but I think this is the recipe I used. My advice is to beat it up real good in the kneading phase. I was too gentle and instead of being dense and chewy, it just spread out into more of a biscotti-like form. Still tasty nevertheless.

http://busycooks.about.com/library/lessons/blbread1013.htm

I also have a good recipe for white bread if you'd like that too. I'm still trying out sourdough recipes. I found the really great one from the Family Creative Workshop books and I can't wait to give it another try.

[philosophercat.livejournal.com]

There's also this recipe for Palestinian saj bread. I made it without the curved surface and it turned out like a savory flatbread. Tasty!

http://www.palestine-family.net/index.php?nav=6-23&cid=10&did=4176&pageflip=1

I need to get some more olive oil if I'm going to keep up with Mediterranean cooking. It's a 5th food group in Palestine. ^_^ (Really. I just saw a recipe which was just: take some bread, take some extra virgin olive oil. Dip the bread in the oil. And bon appetit!).

[elspethdawitch.livejournal.com]

Olive oil is its own food group in Greek cooking too. I love pouring some good oil out on a plate, shaking a little salt on it, and dipping some good bread in it. Mmmmm.

You know what else I just saw a recipe for? "Tahinomeli": you take one part tahini and one part honey, and stir, it'll keep in a jar for a few days. Or apparently the more traditional way is just to smear some tahini on the bread with a fork, then drizzle some honey on top, without mixing it. It shoooould taste like halva, kind of (for obvious reasons).

Something I want to make again is pasteli, which is just sesame seeds and honey, in strips. Mmmmm....

The saj bread recipe looks good...I also noticed some other recipes in the side column - stuffed zucchini, macaroni with bechamel sauce, okra with tomato sauce, kufta with tomato sauce...we Greeks all make the same or similar dishes. Pastitsio is macaroni and ground beef covered in bechamel. We make "keftethes" as meatballs, but make bigger ones with some different name (you varlakia?), baked in tomato sausce - my dad serves them with homemade french fries rather than rice, but still, same thing. We make chicken, potatoes and carrots in the oven, but we add lemon to it, not allspice and cardamom. But yeah, very similar cuisines...probably thanks to the Ottomans...

[philosophercat.livejournal.com]

In an only slightly related note- I found a recipe for lamb cooked in grapes. o_O Palestinian food- and culture- is very Greek. It's never clear whether it is due to the Ottomans or the Byzantines. The dancing is also pretty much the same.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

Ooooh. How much do I envy you right now, even though my tummy is full of fried chicken and baked potato?

[philosophercat.livejournal.com]

Because of the pierogi or the baguette? ;)

Yahoo has surprised me with what appear to be actually delicious recipes. Including THIS. (http://food.yahoo.com/recipes/food-and-wine/105B4875-FD34-41CD-B7F865AE745E80B5/lamb-chops-with-rosemary-and-grapes)

[firynze.livejournal.com]

The pirohy! I have bread dough in the fridge, but the pirohy I've not had time to make...!