when you do the stuffing you said you add sausage to it...i do as well....sweet sausage, raisins, green apples(either diced for crunch or minced for a tart flavor that goes well with fresh sage in your bread crumb mixture) and believe it or not when you are baking the stuffing in the oven, tin foil the top with some slices in the foil to get that bread nice and moist and with about 10-15 minutes left of cooking time remove the foil and sprinkle a lil cinnamon on top and bake the last 10-15 minutes with butter and cinnamon melted on top of your sweet sausage stuffing with the foil now removed...has always been a big hit with the family for the last 5 or 6 years i have been bringing it to thanxgivin dinner
i found over time with many different runs in the kitchen and obviously testing it out on different palates that the spicy sausage itself w/fennel takes away the true taste of stuffing...which lets be honest, it's all about the fresh sage...don't get me wrong...hot sausage is incredible in so many ways...i personally found and like i said b4 w/testing out with many people, that the sweet sausage gives you and your palate more taste to the rest of your ingredients....and spot on with your onions, celery, broth, and sage...
and o yeah...one more thing for your stuffing...in the body of your stuffing crushed walnuts/////take out a blender or food processor and just pulse some walnuts...you know, give your stuffing some more crunch and body..some folks are allergic to nuts...so you back off....but if they aren't, go to town...and with that said...that's when it's time to mince those green apples up...so to let the walnuts be your crunch...cheers and have a great holiday////ps..it may seem like lots of odd herbs and spices and many textures getting together...but if you are gonna give it a dry run this weekend...see what works best for you and your taste...but like i said...the last few years this has been a hit...
My mother has been making these during the holidays forever and a day. They are an amazing appetizer type dish while watching the football games.
Latvian Pierogi
Ingredients: 1 lbs. bacon
1 large yellow onion
1 1/2 tsp. black pepper (add more to your personal
preference.)
2 loaves of frozen white bread dough
1 egg
4 cloves garlic, Minced. (optional. this is not part of
my family's original recipe)
*Makes one batch, which depending on how big you make your pierogi can range from 20-40 per loaf of bread. When making this for a family or work gathering - double up on it all and make 2 actual batches.
(Note: you can do steps 1-3 and refrigerate mix the night before and finish pierogi the next day if you dont have a lot of time.)
Directions:
1. Chop bacon and onion into finely chopped pieces and mix in
a bowl with the pepper. (Mix the garlic in if you are using it.)
2. Put mixture into a skillet on the stove on medium-high heat,
and cook until bacon is almost done cooking and the onion is
more translucent. Stir occasionally so bacon doesn't burn.
3. Drain as much grease out as you can, then put mix into a
large bowl and let cool.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Meanwhile, thaw
bread dough. (usually 3 min on defrost in the microwave or
follow the instructions on the breads packaging)
5. Cut loaves in half the long way. Then take each half and cut
into 13-15 slices or however many depending on how big
you want to make your pierogi.
6. Flatten a piece of the dough, and put some mixture in the
middle of it. Fold one end over to the other and pinch the
ends closed. (be careful that your fingers are not too
greasy otherwise the pierogi might not stay closed.)
7. Grease a cookie sheet and put the closed pierogi on it.
8. Put the egg into a bowl and mix it. When it is decently mixed,
brush the raw egg to cover the top of the pierogi. Egg will
not have any effect on the taste but it helps the finished
pierogi look shiny. You can make the pierogi without the egg,
it will still taste good, but will look dried out and not so pretty.
9. Bake in the oven 15-20 min or until light brown on the tops.
10. Remove from oven when finished and let cool for a few
minutes. Even if bread is ok to touch, the inside might still
be too hot to eat. Use Caution.
11. Pierogi can be refrigerated or frozen to keep for a later
date. They are usually eaten at room temp or after
re-heating. (if you re-heat in microwave, do so only 10
seconds at a time, heating them too long makes them
weird and then too hard.)
Latvian Pierogi
Ingredients: 1 lbs. bacon
1 large yellow onion
1 1/2 tsp. black pepper (add more to your personal
preference.)
2 loaves of frozen white bread dough
1 egg
4 cloves garlic, Minced. (optional. this is not part of
my family's original recipe)
*Makes one batch, which depending on how big you make your pierogi can range from 20-40 per loaf of bread. When making this for a family or work gathering - double up on it all and make 2 actual batches.
(Note: you can do steps 1-3 and refrigerate mix the night before and finish pierogi the next day if you dont have a lot of time.)
Directions:
1. Chop bacon and onion into finely chopped pieces and mix in
a bowl with the pepper. (Mix the garlic in if you are using it.)
2. Put mixture into a skillet on the stove on medium-high heat,
and cook until bacon is almost done cooking and the onion is
more translucent. Stir occasionally so bacon doesn't burn.
3. Drain as much grease out as you can, then put mix into a
large bowl and let cool.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Meanwhile, thaw
bread dough. (usually 3 min on defrost in the microwave or
follow the instructions on the breads packaging)
5. Cut loaves in half the long way. Then take each half and cut
into 13-15 slices or however many depending on how big
you want to make your pierogi.
6. Flatten a piece of the dough, and put some mixture in the
middle of it. Fold one end over to the other and pinch the
ends closed. (be careful that your fingers are not too
greasy otherwise the pierogi might not stay closed.)
7. Grease a cookie sheet and put the closed pierogi on it.
8. Put the egg into a bowl and mix it. When it is decently mixed,
brush the raw egg to cover the top of the pierogi. Egg will
not have any effect on the taste but it helps the finished
pierogi look shiny. You can make the pierogi without the egg,
it will still taste good, but will look dried out and not so pretty.
9. Bake in the oven 15-20 min or until light brown on the tops.
10. Remove from oven when finished and let cool for a few
minutes. Even if bread is ok to touch, the inside might still
be too hot to eat. Use Caution.
11. Pierogi can be refrigerated or frozen to keep for a later
date. They are usually eaten at room temp or after
re-heating. (if you re-heat in microwave, do so only 10
seconds at a time, heating them too long makes them
weird and then too hard.)
