Boiled Perogies are Amazing with Incognito Braces!

For those committed Incognito Jacqui readers out there, you know today’s Tuesday which means it’s tutoring day for me.  I spend two hours after work helping a young girl to read, and she is doing so great!  Her spelling’s coming along, too.  I’m so proud of her!

The thing is, when I’m done at 7 p.m., I start making dinner, so I try to keep it simple on Tuesdays.

Today?  Well, I made perogies.  And these aren’t any perogies.  They’re homemade pockets of wonder that are made with love by….a Polish guy on Dundas St.  I made perogies once, but in all honesty, they took me so long to make, and weren’t any better than his.

The resealable bag my pre-made perogies come in. P + CH = Potato and Cheese. Delicious and easy to chew.

The best part about these perogies is that they come in a resealable sandwich bag.  So when I buy them, I stick them in the freezer until I want to eat them and they look like I made them.  And boiled perogies go down soooooo easily with Incognito Braces.

I couldn’t help but remember when I bought these (about two weeks ago) and I came into the restaurant.  It was hot, and there were about half a dozen men aged 65+ huddled around a table playing cards (not even eating perogies).  There was air conditioning, but it wasn’t on, so let’s face it.  It. Smelled. Awesome.

I came up to the counter and the owner totally saw me and acknowledged I was there with a glance and a smile. He was sitting in the corner peeling potatoes over a bucket.  He proceeded to peel three more potatoes…then made a loud hoarking sound…then he helped me. 

I couldn’t stop laughing! 

Mmmmm.....perogies.....great food if you have braces! I only ended up eating half of those (eyes were bigger than my stomach).

Most people would be totally turned off, but it just made me realize how authentic the whole thing was.  He’s totally himself…and makes great perogies.

If you want to make boiled perogies that look like mine, here is what I did:

Perogies

1 package of pre-made, frozen perogies (you can make them if you want!)
Dash of salt
1 Tbl. margarine (or butter)

Topping

1 lb. of bacon (if you like bacon)
1 large white onion (if you like onion)
Sour cream

How I Make Perogies

1. Boil about 2.5 L of water with a dash of salt. 
2. When you see a rolling boil, spin the water with a spoon and add your perogies (I did two dozen tonight). 
3. Stir occasionally (once or twice) as they cook (perhaps thaw is a better word?).
4. Wait for perogies to float to the top of the water (takes six to eight minutes). 
5. Test one, make sure it’s cooked all the way through (it should be if it floats).
6. Remove perogies with a slotted spoon and place on a plate.
7. Spread a thin layer of margarine on the perogies (should melt – awesome).
8. Add topping below and a scoop of sour cream.
9. Enjoy!

How I Make the Topping

1. Cut one pound of bacon into thin strips.  I cut using the width of the bacon strips and make them five to seven millimetres wide.  One centimetre just seems a bit too wide.
2. Chop onion into fairly small pieces (think “fried onions for a hot dog” size).
3. Place pre-cut bacon pieces in a large frying pan and cook to desired “doneness.”  At the same time fry the onion until just past the clear stage (more of a golden colour, but not super-fried).  Note: I find my onion takes longer than my bacon, so you may want to start the onion first.
4. Combine onions and bacon to make the topping.