Hi All,

Just wanted to once again say thank you, Paldies!  for teaching me to make piragi a few years ago in the Latvian Culture & Cooking forum.  I wanted to make them for my family and especially for my father who was Latvian.  It took a few tries to get it right. They are not kidding when they say that sucess is determined by how the dough comes out.  I knew I had it right when he exclaimed ”  ahh - just like grandma Emma’s”  - That was probably the greatest accomplishment of my life :-)  The old thread is archived so we can’t see it here anymore but here is a page I published showing our first successful batch about 3 years ago. http://mywebpage.netscape.com/ckulins/stuff/Piragi.html  wow how the kids have grown in that time - good thing they still like to help in the kitchen.

Dad passed in March 07 so in remembering my father this father’s day I made batch of piragi.  They were not exactly like grandma’s but pretty close.  I used some very smoky country ham and bacon from a shop I found while on vacation in Virginia called Edwards Ham store.  I keep aiming for that goal of “just like grandma Emma’s”  perfection :-)

Thank you all for helping my family keep a Latvian tradition and the fond memories of my dad and grandma alive !  I froze some to bring to the baptism of my brother’s first child on 6/22 and to have some for Janis Day also. 

Speaking of Janis Day - is there anyone here would teach me to make the Janu siers - “just like Grandma Emma?”

Kind regards,

Charlie.

Hi Charlie,
I have a great, easy recipe for Janu siers:
Janu Siers
3 quarts whole milk
3 pounds cottage cheese (can also use creamed cottage cheese)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt\
2 teaspoons caraway seeds (or more)
1 stick unsalted butter

1.Mix eggs with cottage cheese.  Add to milk in large kettle and stir together.  Heat at medium temperature to boiling. No need to continuously stir until you see little bubbles forming - I give it a stir every 10 - 15 minutes. This will take about 40 - 45 minutes. Continue to boil slowly 10-15 minutes more until curds separate, stirring gently and slowly with a large wooden spoon.  Take you time with this step- thorough boiling is the secret to firm cheese

2.Drain through sieve lined with moist cheesecloth. Holding corners of the cloth together, roll cheese back and forth to allow any extra liquid to separate out before the cheese cools down.

3.Melt butter in kettle.  Add drained cottage cheese mixture, caraway seeds and salt to taste.  Continue cooking and stir continuously over a LOW flame for 15 -20 minutes, until cheese is smooth and shiny. (It will never become really firm, but you want to get some of the excess moisture out of the cheese,  Pat into smooth ovals in shallow bowls.  Refrigerate uncovered until thin crust forms, about 12 hours.  Wrap in waxed paper to store.
(I do not wrap in cheesecloth and put a weight on top because it is not necessary in this recipe. My 92 year old Mom says it’s the real thing!)
Enjoy! Marite

DOUGH FOR PIRAGI(quick and easy way)  Almost as good as grandmas.

I am posting this in english as some of our readers might have troubles with latevian language.

I am not going to dwell on the filling—-everyone has her own way of making it and that is what you like
then go with it.
It is the dough that takes the most time to make and here is where you can save tons of time if you
follow what I am about to tell you.  IF you are happy with the dough you make—then stick with it.
My wife found these at Walmart in the frozen food/dough department.  They are Rhodes bake and serve white DINNER ROLLS and come frozen in a plastic bag in either 24 rolls,36 rolls or 72 rolls.  The 72 roll bag cost $5.59(in Indianapolis, Indiana)  Purchased one bag and we started to bake.  Open bag—-take out about 10 rolls put rest back in freezer, defrost the 10 (happens reosanably quick) and then one at a time cut the defrosted ball with sicors in half.  Flaten each half with the heel of your hand and now you place the filling in middle ot the dough(as you do normaly) and fold over and pinch edges together as per usual BUT MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT put much flouver on the edges as then they will NOT stick together and will, while bakeing, open up—this is comonly known as a smiling pirags.  When you have pinched the edges together—-put this joint underneth the pirags as you put it on the baking pan.  Let piragi sit on pan while they raise(double) then brush egg wash on them and bake.  The defrosted ball should be used quickly, do NOT let a drying crust form on them.  Work at a steady pace and all will be OK.  The wife and I, made 250 piragi in one day by using these frozen dough balls—-the traditional way, it took two days.
These piragi tase fantastic when warm but then does anything taste better than grandmas piragi——NO, maybe moms.  I am no pastry chef but I like the texture of this lazy mans dough method.  Try it and maybe you too will aggree—-if you do it this way, please let me know of what you think.
Piragam nabagam….....http://hihi.elmer.org:80/pics/clickadeer

Indianapoles Janis

http://gpsinformation.info/main/merryxmas.swf

http://hihi.elmer.org:80/pics/clickadeer

An FYI - the link in the first message indicates that the web page has been shut down.  Any chance that it has been posted some where else?

Visu Labu, Guntis.

OK, try this

http://hihi.elmer.org:80/pics/clickadeer

should work

Whoops - I meant CKULINS message - the first one in the thread.  I was anxious to see the pictures of the piragi.  And any other information.

Visu Labu, Guntis.

By the way, I think baking ‘piragi’ should include all the children of the family too.  Yes, it will takes 3x as long, but that shared time in the kitchen is the best ‘quality time’ I can think of.

Years ago, at the castle in France, the kitchen tables were long & large, the ovens very roomy.  Anybody who wanted to help make them was welcome.  We often had 15-20 people (parents, children, beginners & top-notch bakers) all in there at the same time, each doing their bit.
The resulting ‘piragi’ were not all equal-sized or equally smooth, but we all agreed they tasted just right!

Why Not?
You can get bread from Riga(like Baltic Shop)but is there a reason
piragi can not be shipped frozen,say within the US.
If that could be done and some “vecmamina or tante” would like to earn
some dough(excuse the pun)please,please respond.

Hungry and not a cook
Aivars/

good youtube video on making Janu siers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdAR-RU4LZU