Stuff Your Face Right Now with Crispy Pierogi Filled with Caramelized Pork and Dried Fruit

Plus: Olive Oil Granola, Dirty Chai Cookies, and Dinner at Kismet.

Hey everyone,

Have you ever made pierogi? You know, that pretty Polish packet of goodness stuffed with meat and then fried in butter? It’s sort of like ravioli on Girls Gone Wild.

The recipe comes to us from Nicole Rucker, baker extraordinaire (Fat & Flour, author of Dappled), who first made it in her cookbook club when they tackled Pierogi by Zuza Zak. These pierogi are stuffed with a mixture of caramelized pork and dried fruit that you season with salt, pepper, sugar, and lemon juice.

Here I am with Nicole talking all about it:

amateurgourmet

A post shared by Adam Roberts (@amateurgourmet)

And here’s the podcast where we go into everything in-depth:

And for those who are chomping at the bit… and how could you not with pierogi that looks this good?…

I did a blog post that includes the whole recipe. I’m so nice!

If you make them, be sure to tag me on Instagram @amateurgourmet so I can see how they turned out.

Now for other newsletter business…

Last night, I decided to set myself up for the week by making Melissa Clark’s recipe for olive oil granola.

I didn’t have maple syrup, so I substituted honey which worked great, though that sheet pan is going to take forever to clean. (Next time: parchment paper.)

This morning I plated the granola with full fat yogurt (which I had for another recipe), sliced Cara Cara oranges (my favorite kind), and pomegranate seeds.

A pretty great way to start the day!

On Saturday night, I cooked a whole Indian dinner for friends only to have the power go out. The dinner was tied to an upcoming episode of the podcast, so I won’t spoil it, but for dessert I made these dirty chai earthquake cookies by Susan Spungen from the NYT.

They were fantastic: the bitterness of the espresso in them balances out the sweetness from all the sugar. I may blog them later this week so stay tuned.

Finally, I went with our new friends Bobby and Sam to Kismet last week, and it was another dynamite dinner as usual.

We shared so much wonderful food, but the highlight was actually something the kitchen sent out (not sure why, I don’t think they knew us or anything) with slow-cooked tomatoes, citrus, and labneh.

Scooped up with the crispy bread, it made me swoon.

As did the crispy rice presentation, just the sort of thing I’m too terrified to make at home (until someone pitches it for the pod).

Now for this week’s links:

• A doable kouign-amann by Yewande Komolafe (NYT);

• Dolly Parton did an interview with Eater? How do I get her on my podcast?! (Eater);

• The Embroidered Supermarket (Kottke.org);

• Sad Konbi is closing… best egg salad sandwich in LA (LA Times).

That’s all for today, folks!

If you missed Thursday’s paid subscribers only newsletter, you missed a mushrooms-in-the-oven hack, my ultimate egg salad sandwich, Pho at Blossom, and Republique’s Croque Madame.

Don’t miss this Thursday’s, which’ll have that Dirty Chai Cookie recipe:

Have a great day!

Your pal,
Adam