GALLOPING OFF to LAREDO . . . and a RYE PIEROGI

  

Our car was loaded with extra horsepower on the way down!

Thanks so much to Uncle Nestor and Kathy! He made the horse and she made the saddle and harness! 

Driving from sunup to sundown, we made it in 5 days . . .

enjoying the scenery . . .

. . . and books that I read aloud while Bryan drove.

Bryan remarked that "We arrived in Laredo yesterday 30 minutes behind my ETA. We took 5 days to drive 4300 Km. We crossed over from California north of Palm Desert and angled down toward Laredo. The highways were dominated by freight trucks; there were very few cars. The temp rose (and the gas prices fell) once we got to Arizona. I have not seen prices like that since the '60s even taking into account the 70-cent loonie.

In this book 

I was intrigued to read that a rye flour pierogi is a specialty of one of the small villages in Poland. 

Then Nicole told me she had spotted this unusual suggestion for a perogy filling in LUCKY PEACH: a Quarterly Journal of Food and Writing.   “Cook down shredded chicories with onions and garlic.” 

     

Well then!

RYE PIEROGI with KALE & RADICCHIO STUFFING

served with a sweet apricot topping on Pork Chops. 

Verdict:  Interesting, but next time I’ll add mashed potatoes and cheese and maybe top the pierogi with fried onions and crisp bacon bits.  P.S. Bryan and I enjoyed these perogies more when I fried some of them the next day. 

PREPPING KALE with Onion & Garlic

14 ounces kale

8 ounces onion

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic

·        Cut out thick center stalk from kale.

·        Finely chop kale.  Set aside in a bowl.

·        Finely chop onion.  Set aside on a plate.

·        Finely chop garlic.  Add to the onion.

·        Heat oil over medium low heat in large pot.   Cook onion and garlic for 2 minutes.

·        Add kale to pot.  Increase heat to medium.  Cook uncovered, stirring frequently, for 15 minutes.

·        If there is still liquid in the pot, increase heat to medium high and cook, stirring constantly, for one or two minutes.

·        Let cool and stir into potatoes and cottage cheese.

When making the pierogi dough, Instead of using all enriched flour, put in one cup of dark rye.