Appetizer — Pirogi (Latvian Bacon Rolls) by dvdlee

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Appetizer -- Pirogi (Latvian Bacon Rolls)
Submitted by dvdlee on December 09, 2004 at 10:36 am

DESCRIPTION
Appetizer -- Pirogi (Latvian Bacon Rolls)

SUMMARY
Yield 0 File under Family / Ethnic / Regional

INSTRUCTIONS
Latvian Relatives remind me of the sterotype of Greek Relatives (as shown in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding) -- they eat, drink, sing, dance and eat and drink constantly in a nonstop frenzy at any celebration - at weddings they go on for almost 30 hours in one big long party!!!

Here is one version of Latvian pirogi (bacon/onion filling). The base recipe is taken from "Latvian Cooking" published by the Ladies Auxiliary of the Latvian Relief Society of Canada, Inc., 6th printing, 1990. It's been modified to taste like 'grandmama's back home" though. (I've tried to capture the 'handmade' alterations, so it might not match -- but will be close!)

1/2 cup warm water (90F)
2 teaspoons sugar
5 teaspoons SAF yeast
2 cups scalded milk
1/2 cup oil or lard
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
6 cups all-purpose flour (more or less)

In a small bowl, mix 2 teaspoons sugar with water, then add the yeast. Wait 10 minutes for the yeast to proof.

While the yeast is proofing, scald the milk and place in a large bowl. Add salt, 2 T. sugar, oil or lard, and mix well. (If using lard, the lard should be melted by the hot milk before continuing.)

In another bowl, mix eggs and sour cream together. When milk mixture is cold, add the eggs/sour cream, yeast mixture, and 2 cups flour. Beat thoroughly. Add another cup of flour and continue to beat the soon-to-be dough. Let this mixture rest for 10 minutes covered with a damp cloth or plastic clingfilm.

Resume mixing and add almost all of the rest of the flour (reserve 1/2 cup). The dough will be very stiff, but quite sticky. When the dough begins to form a ball, turn out onto a floured board and begin to knead. Add additional flour to the dough if needed. Knead between 5-10 minutes with occasionally 'crashing' the dough down on the board.

(Crashing is a kneading technique where you grab the dough and THROW it down on the counter/kneading board -- then you pick it up and do it again. I usually crash it at least 5 times for a session. It really develops the gluten!!)

Of course, you can use a stand mixer to prepare the dough. It should pass the windowpane test.

Place dough in a oiled bowl; spray with oil and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise around 1 1/2 to 2 hours until doubled in bulk.

Deflate dough down, cut in half. Take one half of the dough and roll into a long strand, around 20" long. Cut into even pieces about 1" long. With your hands, flatten each piece in a patty -- around 3-4" in diameter (enough to hold around 1 to 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of filling. (DvdLee -- I've cheated and used a rolling pin to flatten it out almost all the way, with 1 or 2 rolls of the pin -- but I was commanded that you HAVE to finish patting it out by hand!)

Put filling in the center of the dough and fold in half. Fold edges up and seal well. (You can use a fork if you want to.) You are producing very small 'turnovers' (or meat pies or empanadas). Bend the rolls into a cresent shape. (They are ready to bake as soon as a baking sheet is full.)

Preheat oven to 400F.

Place on a greased baking sheet (or one lined with parchment paper or a silpat). Just before baking, brush tops with a egg wash (1 whole egg, beaten) and just barely pierce the top with a fork (to release steam). Bake for around 35-40 minutes until a golden brown. Cool on a rack -- then serve either warm or at room temperature.

2 lb. lean raw bacon, diced very fine
1 onion, minced fine
1/2 to 1+ teaspoon ground allspice (either ground fresh, or from a freshly opened container -- this is the one measurement that is really uncertain)
A liberal addition of ground black pepper
Salt to taste (yes, they taste the filling while raw to make sure it's well-flavored!)

The best way to prepare the bacon is to hand-dice it (yes, its a horrible amount of work). A food processor has been used on frozen bacon, but the results were declared to be 'not as good'. Take your pick of methods!! (I didn't help with this part!)

Blend everything together, taste until you think its really savory and good.

You do NOT cook the filling -- it is stuffed in the pirogi raw -- it will cook during baking and all of the lovely fat will be absorbed by the dough....

These really do taste good! But they are a lot of work. EVERYBODY helps make pirogi -- then they are eaten with salad, with roasted meat, with coffee, with vodka, with cognaq, with champagne (!!) -- and by themselves as a 'snack'. You can divide this recipe in half (unless you're having a major party - I would recommend that!)

Baked pirogi freeze well. Put them inside a freezer bag -- then put that inside another bag. Be sure and press out as much air as possible. Defrost in the fridge -- then eat at room temp or briefly heat in the oven.

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• This topic was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by rottiedogs.

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