Pierogi still popular after all these years

Pierogi have maintained their popularity, evolving from a modest Eastern European food to include such international culinary twists as a chipotle dipping sauce and cheddar cheese fillings. Yet for some, these pillows of stuffed dough are best made and served the way they have been for centuries.

"I'm a pierogi traditionalist," says Carolyn Jarosz of Mount Prospect. Growing up in Villa Park, Jarosz watched her mother, Daniese Sprague, make pierogi using a recipe of her mother's. After she married, Jarosz ate pierogi made by her mother-in-law, Helen Jarosz.

"She made a plum pierogi using a special plum that was about the size of a golf ball at Christmas and Easter time," says Jarosz. "It was delicious."

After her mother-in-law died, Jarosz looked for the recipe but could never find it.

"I don't know if it was ever even written down," she says. "My mother-in-law made many things from memory."

Pierogi (the plural of pierog, even though we use the word to refer to one and to many) date back to 14th-century Poland. They were imported, through Russia, from the Far East - making them a kin to the stuffed buns found in dim sum restaurants. Pierogi were originally just served on holy days, holidays, at weddings, funerals and on name days, an Eastern European tradition of celebrating the family saint's birthday. Today they are served every day.

Jarosz does have the recipe from her maternal grandmother, Ann Dellahan, who was Croatian. As good as they are, there's something so be said for the time involved in preparing the heirloom recipes. So Jarosz, a busy working mom, buys her pierogi already made at Kalinowski Sausage and Deli in Mount Prospect.

"They make the old-fashioned ones," says Jarosz. By that she means the fillings seem consistent with ingredients, such as sauerkraut, beef, potatoes, farmer's cheese and mushrooms as well as plums or prunes, that might have been found in an Eastern European pantry decades ago.

"They're a lot more modern fillings like cheddar cheese, but they didn't have cheddar cheese in Poland," she says.

Daniese Sprague, who now lives in Stevensville in southwest Michigan, still makes her noodles from scratch but she waits for her daughter to visit to bring pierogi (as well as sausage and other Eastern European delicacies) from what she terms "that Polish store."

"I used to make pierogi using my mother's recipe when the kids were young," says Sprague, the mother of five. "Most Slovakian countries made pierogi."

Sprague claims pierogi are easy to make and the fillings she liked to use were simple - farmer's cheese sweetened with a little sugar, plum or apricot butter and sometimes, sauerkraut. After forming the pierogi, she boiled and then sauteed them in a frying pan with butter. After they were browned, she served the cheese and sauerkraut pierogi topped with a dab of sour cream and sometimes fried bits of bacon. The plum or apricot filled pierogi, more like a dessert, were dusted with powdered sugar after frying.

The Pierogi Place in Rolling Meadows capitalizes on these Old World comforts, serving a variety of pierogi with traditional fillings such as sweet cheese, meat and potatoes. Yet they mix things up with combos of sauerkraut and mushrooms and potatoes and cheese. Pillows stuffed with cherries, blueberries and strawberries also fill the menu.

"Those are dessert pierogi," says Pawel Niemczyk who works at the Pierogi Place. "We serve those with whipped cream or powdered sugar."

Beyond offering sauteed onions, bacon and sour cream as a topping for the dinner-style pierogi, the Pierogi Place also has a chipotle sauce that Niemczyk says they make in-house. And they offer both a traditional sweet cheese and the more Americanized cheddar cheese filling.

Alexandra Foods Company makes pierogi fresh every day and sells them, at a discount, at their outlet store, 3300 N. Central Ave., Chicago, next to their kitchen.

"Our pierogi are made by hand daily," says Justina Janiak, a manager at Alexandra's.

Janiak also mentions that the women making their pierogi are Polish.

"We offer 15 types of pierogi and we also make other Polish foods too such as finger dumplings that you put in soups such as borscht," says Janiak. Alexandra Foods Company also make blintz's, crepes, pyzy - round potato dumplings filled with meat or cheese - and a mini dumpling called uyszka among a list of other Eastern European foods.

With the rising cost of foods, more families are looking for economical dinners and pierogis fill the bill. The family-owned business, started by Alexandra and Mark Dembicki, sells packages of 12 uncooked pierogi for $2.70; the more packages you buy, the deeper the discount. And while their pierogi may be traditional, the company has an up-to-date and easy to use Web site, www.alexandrapierogi.com.

"It's a lot of time and work to make pierogi," says Janiak. "It's better if people come here and buy them."

Pierogi Casserole

10-12 potatoes, boiled and mashed

¾ pound cheddar cheese, shredded

2 onions, finely diced

2 sticks butter or margarine

Salt to taste

1 pound lasagna noodles, cooked and drained

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking pan.

In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat cheese and mashed potatoes, beat with a mixer. Sauté onions in butter or margarine until soft.

Add one-third of the cooked onion mixture to potato cheese mixture. Salt to taste.

Place a layer of noodles in dish, then a layer of the potato mixture. Repeat, ending with noodles. Pour remaining two-thirds of onion mixture over all. Cover with foil and bake until heated through.

Serves 10.

@Recipe nutrition:"Brass Tavern Cookbook: A Collection of Nostalgic Recipes Commemorating the Establishment in 1845 of The Brass Tavern & Inn"

Ann Dellahan's Pierogi

Dough

3 eggs

1 cup lukewarm water

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups flour (about)

Filling

1 pound dry cottage cheese

1 egg

1 tablespoon flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

For the dough: Beat eggs, water and salt. Add enough flour to make a dough, but one that is not too stiff.

Knead about 20 minutes. Then let stand for 20 minutes under a bowl, then knead again for about 10 minutes. On a floured surface, roll inch thick.

For the filling: In a medium bowl, gently mix cottage cheese, egg, flour, salt and sugar.

Cut dough into 2- to 2-inch squares. Fill center with about 1 teaspoon of filling. Fold in half and seal edges with a fork. Cook gently in boiling water 12-15 minutes or until pierogi comes to the top.

Serve immediately or let cool and gently sauté in butter.