Perogying Parliament

You know I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by.

In December our Governor General prorogued Parliament. The playpen opened, our MPs escaped to their respective ridings and the dramas of December were postponed to today. Since then, the Liberals acclaimed a new leader and, quite honestly I'm not sure what's happening with the coalition. If those in power lose the confidence motion we could see another election or maybe the coalition gets its chance. Regardless, it might be an interesting day on The Hill.

As mentioned in a previous post I wasn't the only person who kept hearing "perogying of Parliament" instead of "proroguing Parliament." I'm sure some think wrapping our politicians in dough, boiling before searing them and serving them with sour cream and chopped bacon would be slightly more than a propos. I'm a firm believer that everything is better with bacon, but really...who would do that to a good rasher or two of bacon?

Perogies are one of my Farmers' Market staples--the heady treat of hot bacon and onions atop fried dumplings, served with cold sour cream lures many a person to her stall. Really, it's a little Styrofoam box of hearty heaven.

At home, I root about the kitchen for topping ideas. Spinach with feta, curried mushrooms or sausage with tomatoes--whatever looks interesting will be combined and served with these potato dumpings.

With this iteration I pretty kept my inspiration from the Farmers' Markety offering I adore. Like so many things that come out of my kitchen, this really isn't recipe-able. I treat it as a not-so-random sequence of ingredients flung into my frying pan. The only real tips I have are to be light with the salt as streaky bacon is usually salted and to make the topping first, using the rendered fat to sear the dumplings. It is bacon fat...

Bacon-Mushroom topping
for two servings of perogies

oil
4 rashers of streaky bacon, chopped
half a globe onion, sliced into half lunettes
one clove of garlic, minced
a handful of sliced mushrooms
ground pepper
salt

Crisp the chopped bacon in a preheated, oiled frying pan. Remove the bits and add the onions. Let soften. Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds before adding the mushrooms. Add oil as you see fit, to let the mushrooms soften. Salt and pepper as your palate dictates.

cheers!
jasmine