Category Archives: Ukrainian

101 Recipes of Old Russia, International Foods, Pierogi, Pyrohy/ Pierogi/ varenyky, recipe, Russian, Russian Cookbook, Ukrainian

Varényky or варе́ники (Pierogi)

Cheese filling
Check out this recipe
101 Recipes of Old Russia

Varenyky in Ukraine are a popular dish, served both as a common everyday meal and as a part of some traditional celebrations, such as Christmas Eve Supper, Ukrainian: Свята вечеря (Sviata Vecheria). [c In some regions in or bordering modern-day Western Ukraine, particularly in Carpathian Ruthenia and Galicia, the terms varenyky and pyrohy are used to denote the same dish. The name pyrohy is also common among Canadian Ukrainians. This can be attributed to the history of Ukrainian and Rusyn immigration to Canada, which came not from the Russian Empire, but predominantly from the former Austria-Hungary, where the local dialects had many common words with Polish, German, Romanian, and other Central European languages.

Traditional Ukrainian varenyky with sour cream (smetana)

In other regions of Ukraine, the names pyrohy and pyrizhky refer to baked pies and buns as opposed to the boiled dumplings. The name of a popular type of Polish pierogi, pierogi ruskie (“Ruthenian pierogi”), is related to Rus’, the historical region and naming of Eastern Slavs and the ancient kingdom from which Ukrainians descend.

Varenyky are considered by Ukrainians as one of their national dishes and plays a fundamental role in Ukrainian culture. Contrary to many other countries that share these dumplings Ukrainians tended to use fermented milk products (Ukrainian: kesla moloko or Ryazhenka) to bind the dough together however today eggs tend to be used instead. Typical Ukrainian fillings for varenyky include cottage cheese, potato, boiled beans, mushy peas, sauerkraut, plum (and other fruits), potato and cheese, cabbage, meat, fish, buckwheat.

In Ukraine varenyky are traditionally eaten with sour cream Ukrainian: сметана (smetana) and butter, as well as with fried onions and fried pieces of bacon and pork fat, Ukrainian: shkvarky. Whilst traditionally savoury varenyky can also be served as a dessert by simply substituting the filling of the dumpling to a sweeter one. Dessert varenyky fillings include sour cherry, blueberries, sweet cottage cheese, billberies and other fruits. The central regions of Ukraine famous for their more unusual varenyky, Poltava being known for its flour varenyky filling-the dumplings are filling with a mixture of flour, lard and fried pieces of bacon .

Ukrainian varenyky filled with sour cherries as a dessert

Varenekyky are so favoured in Ukraine that every year there is a festival commemorating them at the Ukrainian ski resort town of Bukovel in the Carpathian Mountains. In 2013 a snow monument to varenyky was made in Bukovel and applied for the Guiness Book of Records as the biggest snow varenyk in the world.

In Ukraine varenyky are not just a national dish, but also played a symbolic and ritualistic role. Ukrainian ancestors equated varenyk with a young moon since they have a similar shape and used the dumplings as part of pagan and sacrificial rituals. For example cheese varenyky would be sacrificed nears water springs and years ago Ukrainian peasants also believed that varenyky helped bring a rich harvest, so they took homemade dumplings along to the fields.[

101 Recipes of Old Russia
Print Recipe

Varényky (варе́ники)

Cuisine: Russian, Ukraine
Keyword: Pierogi, Russian, Ukrainian, Varenyky, варе́ники

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 2/3 cup cool water

Instructions

Preparation

  • Mix flour and salt, add egg and water to make a dough.
  • Set aside for 1/2 hour.
  • Roll out onto a floured surface until thin.
  • Cut into 3″ rounds and fill with filling of choice
  • Fold over dough and seal

Cooking

  • To cook drop in a large pot of boiling water a few at a time.
  • Boil rapidly for about 5 minutes.
  • Lift out with slotted spoon, drain and coat with melted butter.
  • Serve with sour cream.
101 Recipes of Old Russia
Print Recipe

Potato Filling

Cuisine: Russian, Ukrainian

Ingredients

  • 4 cooked potatoes
  • 1 onion
  • butter
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

  • Mash 4 large cooked potatoes.
  • Add 1 medium chopped onion which has been browned in little butter.
  • Season with salt and pepper
101 Recipes of Old Russia
Print Recipe

Sauerkraut Filling

Keyword: Varebyky

Ingredients

  • 1 can sauerkraut
  • 1 onion

Instructions

  • Rinse contents of one can of sauerkraut with water to remove salt.
  • Rinse again and squeeze dry.
  • Chop finely.
  • Saute 1 medium onion in a little oil and add to the kraut.
  • Saute covered for about 10 minutes.
  • Season with salt and pepper.
  • Allow to cool.
101 Recipes of Old Russia
Print Recipe

Cheese filling

Cuisine: Russian, Ukrainian
Keyword: Pirgoy, Varenyky

Ingredients

  • 2 cups farmer’s cheese
  • 1 small package cream cheese
  • 1 egg
  • salt

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients together.
101 Recipes of Old Russia
Print Recipe

Fruit Filling

Keyword: Varebyky

Instructions

  • Fresh berries, pitted cherries and plums can all be used.
  • Sprinkle lightly with flour to thicken juice
Varényky full pageDownload
Varényky 4×6 cardsDownload
Varényky 3×5 cardDownload

International recipes Dominion grocery stores, recipe, Ukrainian, Ukrainian

Holubtsi (Cabbage Rolls)

A cabbage roll is a dish consisting of cooked cabbage leaves wrapped around a variety of fillings. It is common to the cuisines of the Balkans, Central, Northern, Eastern Europe, and Iran, as well as West Asia and Northern China.

Meat fillings are traditional in Europe, often beef, lamb, or pork seasoned with garlic, onion, and spices. Grains such as rice and barley, eggs, mushrooms, and vegetables are often included. Pickled cabbage leaves are often used for wrapping, particularly in Southeastern Europe. In Asia, seafood, tofu, and shiitake mushroom may also be used. Chinese cabbage is often used as a wrapping.

Cabbage leaves are stuffed with the filling which is then baked, simmered, or steamed in a covered pot and generally eaten warm, often accompanied with a sauce. The sauce varies widely by cuisine. Always in Sweden and sometimes in Finland, stuffed cabbage is served with lingonberry jam, which is both sweet and tart. In Eastern Europe, tomato-based sauces or plain sour cream are typical. In Lebanon, it is a popular plate, where the cabbage is stuffed with rice and minced meat and only rolled to the size of a cigar. It is usually served with a side of yogurt and a type of lemon and olive oil vinaigrette seasoned with garlic and dried mint.

Popular among Europeans, and traditionally served among the Jewish on Simchat Torah, stuffed cabbage is described by Gil Marks to have entered Jewish cooking some 2,000 years ago. Recipes vary depending on region; Romanians and northern Poles prefer a savory sauce, while Galicia and Ukraine favor sweet-and-sour, for example. 

-Via Wikipedia

 

Print Recipe

Holubtsi (Cabbage Rolls)

Servings: 24 rolls
Author: Dominion

Ingredients

  • 1 large cabbage
  • 1 cup long grain rice
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • t tsp salt
  • 3 strips cooked bacon diced
  • 1 1/2 cups diced onion
  • 1/2 lb ground pork
  • 1/2 lb ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 1/2 cup tomato juice
  • salt
  • pepper
  • sour cream

Instructions

  • Core cabbage. Place head in a deep pot of boiling water. Let stand until leaves are soft and pliable. Remove from water, separate leaves. Return head to boiling water if inside leaves require softening. Pare down hard center rib on each leaf.
  • Add salt and rice to the 1 cup of boiling water; cover and turn off heat. Let stand until rice absorbs all water.
  •  In a large frying pan prepare the bacon, remove and sauté onion in bacon drippings until tender. Add pork and beef, cook until lightly browned. Combine with rice; cool slightly then add beaten egg, garlic salt, and pepper.
  • Line bottom of a large baking dish with cabbage leaves.
  • Place a heaping mixture of the meat mixture onto a cabbage leaf. Roll once, tuck in sides and roll completely. Arrange rolls in layers in casserole. Season each layer with salt and pepper.
  • Pour tomato juice over rolls. Cover with 2 or 3 cabbage leaves.
  • Cover tightly. Bake in a 350° F (180° C) oven for 1 hour. Uncover. Continue baking and basting for another 1/2 hour.
  • Serve hot with chopped crisp bacon, sour cream or tomato sauce.

Notes

These cabbage rolls freeze and reheat well. Additional tomato juice may be required to reheat.

Printer-friendly copies:

 

food, International Foods, Pyrohy/ Pierogi/ varenyky, recipe, Ukrainian, Welcome to Our Kitchens

Varenyky (pierogi)

Varenyky

Dough:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoons salt
  • 2/3 cup cool water

Mix and knead lightly. Cover with towel and set aside.

Fillings:

Potato:

  • Mash 4 large cooked potatoes
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 large chopped onion
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together the potatoes, chopped onion and cool.

Sauerkraut:

  • 1 ½ lb sauerkraut
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1 large onion
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse sauerkraut with hot water to remove salt. Rinse cold. Squeeze dry, chop fine. Saute onion in oil. Add sauerkraut. Saute covered 10 minutes. Season. Cool.

Cheese:

  • 2 cups farmer cheese
  • Salt to taste
  • 4 ounces cream cheese
  • 1-2 Tablespoon sour cream if mixture is dry
  • 1 egg

Combine all of the above ingredients

Fruit:
Fresh berries, or pitted cherries, plums, or stewed prunes or apricots can be used. Sprinkle lightly with flour to thicken juice.

To form Varenyky:

1. Roll dough thin. Cut rounds with inverted water glass.
2. Hold round in palm of hand. Place spoonful of filling in center. Fold in half
3. Press edges to seal.
4. Lay on dry kitchen towel and cover

To cook:
Drop in large pot of boiling water a few at a time. Boil rapidly about 4 minutes. Lift out into colander and rinse with hot water. Drain. Coat with melted butter. Keep hot. Serve with sour cream.

Welcome to Our Kitchens– St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Church

Printer friendly copies:

welcome to our kitchen

Help Ukraine

To help defend Ukraine from the Russian invasion, and to help those volunteer soldiers that have been crippled, maimed, or disabled, please contribute.

You can make a donation to the IRS tax deductible 501C3 charity:
Ukrainian American Freedom Foundation (UAFF)
Medical and Self Defense Account # 1100443653
c/o Ukrainian Federal Credit Union
562 Genesee St. Buffalo, NY 14204 USA.  Questions: (716) 856-4476. Prevous Fundraisers Report Click HERE

Glory to Ukraine! Glory to her heroes!

Слава Україні! Слава героям!

food, International Foods, Pyrohy/ Pierogi/ varenyky, recipe, Ukrainian, Welcome to Our Kitchens

Pyrohy (Pierogi)

Pyrohy (pierogi)

Dough:

  • 5 cups flour
  • 3 oz. Cream cheese
  • 1 ½ cup warm milk
  • 1 stick (¼ pound) butter

Mix cream cheese with flour. Melt butter in warm milk. Add to cheese and flour mixture. Mix well and let dough stand for 1 hour. Roll and cut into rounds. Fill with prepared filling and pinch closed. Drop in boiling salted water a few at a time. Cook until pyrohy come to surface. Drain. Do not rinse.

Filling:

  • 1 pound farmer cheese
  • 2 eggs

Mix cheese and eggs until well blended. Add salt and sugar to taste.

Patrica Schunke- Welcome to Our Kitchens, St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church, Buffalo, NY

Printer Friendly copies

welcome to our kitchen

Help Ukraine

To help defend Ukraine from the Russian invasion, and to help those volunteer soldiers that have been crippled, maimed, or disabled, please contribute.

You can make a donation to the IRS tax deductible 501C3 charity:
Ukrainian American Freedom Foundation (UAFF)
Medical and Self Defense Account # 1100443653
c/o Ukrainian Federal Credit Union
562 Genesee St. Buffalo, NY 14204 USA.  Questions: (716) 856-4476. Prevous Fundraisers Report Click HERE

Glory to Ukraine! Glory to her heroes!

Слава Україні! Слава героям!