Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado! was our Daring Cooks’ April 2011 hostess. Renata challenged us to think “outside the plate” and create our own edible containers! Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 17th to May 16th at http://thedaringkitchen.com!
I did not submit my creations to the contest, but you're still welcome to vote if you so desire.
I was at first a little daunted by the idea of constructing an edible container, but couldn't help but be inspired by all of the creations other Daring Cooks came up with and posted. I ultimately decided to make pierogies, which then led to the making of blintzes, and one could say that both of these may or may not technically count as edible containers, but I understand each of them to be sufficient for the challenge. After all, the pierogies do consist of a potato and cheese filling encased in a pasta-type wrapper and the blintzes a cheese filling in a crepe wrapper. So, that settles that.
The story goes that I had been wanting to make the pierogies for a while after coming across a recipe in the Daring Kitchen archive. I was taking some time off from working for spring break, and I made it a goal for the week to make the pierogies. After setting out on a mission to find farmer's cheese, I readied for the cooking action. As it happened, I ended up having a guest chef keeping me company in the kitchen for the evening (his idea), which is a whole other story.
In short, the pierogies took A LOT of time. Kneading the dough could have been a good first date bonding experience, but rolling the dough to 1/8 inch thick, which I took charge of, was not so much. I was definitely breaking a sweat in my 50 degree kitchen. After we got them cut and stuffed, there was still boiling and then frying to do. While I had the dough ingredients ready to go in a bowl and the filling almost mixed, it still took a solid 3 hours before we made it to the dinner table. By that time I was exhausted and my guest was probably a little worn out too.
In the end, the pierogies looked good, but only tasted OK. I felt like they needed a more flavorful filling, and I didn't really see the benefit of making them from scratch over buying some of the frozen. So I guess you could say it was a disappointing evening in many ways.
At this point, I was left with half a container of farmer's cheese, and I certainly wasn't whipping up another batch of pierogies. After some searching, it seemed like cheese blintzes would be the appropriate use for the cheese, which conveniently also fit with the edible container theme. This time I cooked solo, and it was a much more enjoyable experience. Of course, the blintzes take much less time and are much less labor intensive - I mixed up the batter in the blender and made the crepes (who knew I could do make crepes?!?), wrapped them (my technique could use a little work, but I'll get the hang of it eventually), fried them, and topped them with blueberry sauce, and a satisfying dinner was had by all (me).
Not having been much of a cheese blintz eater over the years, I can't say how these would compare with frozen blintzes or other recipes, but I thought the whole package was pretty fantastic. The flavor of the filling was mild, but it was complemented nicely by the blueberry sauce.
So in conclusion: I don't plan on making pierogies again, I would like to make blintzes again, and I don't plan on cooking with or otherwise seeing the guest chef again. But I guess that's what trying out recipes, and men, for that matter, is for.
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