What is Cheese & Potato Pierogi?
Cheese and mashed potatoes with seasonings, wrapped in a pasta dough and cooked in boiling salted water. They can be served at that point, or pan-fried until golden. They have a soft texture and a rich, savory flavor. Cheese and potato pierogi can be served with sour cream and fried onions.
Ingredients
All purpose flour comes from wheat and though wheat is cultivated all around the world today, it was first cultivated in Turkey 10,000 years ago. All purpose flour is white in color and has a soft texture. This incredibly versatile flour is used in everything from breads, cakes, pastries, crackers, pasta, sauces and much more because of its pleasing and mild flavor that is slightly nutty and buttery. The gluten protein is what helps hold together breads and other products, part of what makes all purpose wheat flour so popular.
The potato is a starchy vegetable and tuber that forms under the soil. There are a number of varieties of potato, including Russet potatoes, the yellow colored Yukon Gold, and many others that are purple, red, small and large. All potatoes have a very thin skin, though baking potatoes have a slightly sturdier skin. The potato is hard and inedible until cooked. It can be boiled, baked, fried or cooked any number of ways and is an extremely versatile starch vegetable. The texture of a cooked potato is soft, while holding its shape and has an earthy and sweet flavor that is extremely bland, until salted.
Eggs are an incredibly versatile protein and binder. Most eggs used in cooking come from hens and are usually unfertilized. Eggs are oval shaped and roughly 53 mm in length and 40 mm in width. Eggs have a hard, but thin and delicate shell that is brown or white and occasionally green. Inside is the clear and glossy white, with a slimy texture and in the center is the yellow opaque, round shaped yolk. Once cooked, the whites become opaque. Eggs can be scrambled, fried, boiled, and more. They are used in desserts and baked goods as a binder. Egg is also used as a wash to glaze items or dip meat into before breading it. The flavor is mild and sulfurous. It has many uses.
Cheddar cheese is an aged dairy product made from cow's milk and has an off white color and a dense texture. Some varieties are pale yellow or orange. It is made into a wheel and is often sold as a small block, in slices or grated. The flavor of cheddar is sharp and pungent. It is a popular cheese in the Western world and melts nicely.
Water is a substance and chemical compound made up of hydrogen and oxygen. It is clear, fluid, flavorless and odorless. Water is a necessity in nearly every aspect of life, including cooking, baking and hydrating the human body. Water can be served as a cold beverage, or at any temperature comfortable to the mouth and skin.
Sour cream is a dairy product made by fermenting cream with lactic acid bacteria. The healthy bacteria thickens the cream, resulting in a thick and creamy product with a white color. Sour cream is thicker than yogurt and has a tangy flavor that is milky and mild. It is used as a condiment and as an ingredient in dips, cakes and more.
Garlic powder is made from dehydrated garlic cloves that have been ground into a super fine powder. This powder is a pale yellow/golden color and is used to flavor foods. It works well in a pinch and can be used in many of the same ways that fresh garlic is used. The flavor is milder than raw or cooked garlic and is spicy, pungent and nutty. Garlic granules are another form of dehydrated garlic, but rather than powder it is coarser and has the same function. It is often used on top of fresh pizza, as a light dusting.
Onion powder is made from the bulb vegetable, onion. Onions are round with a thin, papery skin covering their many layers of juicy and crunchy flesh. This flesh, which is white, yellow or red is made by taking dehydrated onion pieces and then grinding them into an extremely fine powder. The powder is a pale golden/tan color. Onion powder has a flavor that is milder than fresh onions, but highly flavorful in a richer and more concentrated way. It tastes both sweet and mellow, with a spicy edge. Onion powder is used as a seasoning for savory dishes.
Salt is a mineral composed mostly of sodium chloride. It is the main flavoring used in food and is naturally occurring in certain foods, such as cheese, beets, meat and celery, plus many others. Salt is white and has finer granules than sugar. Many commercial salts include iodide, while others exclude it. Most salts are white, while some are naturally pale pink with minerals. Salt brings out the flavor of something and can create a tangy mouthfeel, if used in excess.
The peppercorn plant grows in tropical climate and produces tiny black fruit. The fruit is dried and become hard. At this point it is ground into a textured powder comprised of black and grey dots. It has a flavor that is spicy, pungent and sharp. Pepper is an extremely popular spice, especially in Western cuisines and lends a gentle heat to dishes. There are different varieties of black pepper and the flavor changes subtly because of this.
