In a place known as the City That Fun Forgot, it's no surprise that there's not much happening in Ottawa late at night. The House of TARG decided to change that by celebrating its tenth anniversary with a 24-hour event. Located on Bank Street in Old Ottawa South, the House of TARG is the venue for old-school arcade games, pinball, and live music shows. But for some, the main draw is the perogies that they regularly serve. With plans to satisfy my hunger and cure my insomnia, I made my way over at around 3 in the morning. I arrived in the middle of the Graveyard Shift, which explains why there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING happening when I entered the establishment. While the DJ played rockabilly and country music, the few party people remaining were milling around chatting with the staff, while some were still trying to make high scores on their favourite machines. The bands that had the room filled hours ago had long since left the stage; I even missed the comedy stylings of Gandlaf, the Wizard of Comedy, and some spoken word entertainment they had planned. I knew I couldn't order a beer that early, but the lack of coffee was surprising, as was the lack of food (I wasn't feeling the chips that were available that early). I was kicking myself for dosing off earlier in the night, just my luck that I picked the one time in the 24 hours that was a dead zone - I almost wish there was a night mayor I could complain about this to. Not wanting to wait until breakfast time for the cereal TARG was offering, I left soon after getting my fill of Galaga and Iron Man pinball. But what am I to do about my potato dumpling craving? Uber Eats isn't an option until the weekend, so I'm forced to rely on the recipe below. But first, some much-needed rest...
Ingredients:
Dough:
240 g all-purpose flour
160 mL cold water
1 large egg, beaten
Potato Filling:
2.30 kg Russet potatoes, peeled
115 g shredded Cheddar cheese
bacon
salt
pepper
Sauerkraut Filling:
1 (908 g) jar sauerkraut - drained, rinsed and minced
115 g bacon
45 g sour cream
- Combine the flour, cold water, egg, and 6 grams of salt in a bowl. Mix everything until a smooth dough forms. Cover the bowl and set it aside.
- Place the potatoes in a large pot. Cover the potatoes with water, and bring everything to a boil. Let it cook for 25 to 35 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Drain and mash in the pot until smooth.
- For the potato filling, place 454 g bacon in a large frying and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned. Drain the bacon on paper towels, then crumble and stir it into the mashed potatoes. Blend in the shredded cheese, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set the mixture aside.
- For the sauerkraut filling, cook the remaining bacon in the frying pan and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned. Drain, crumble, and place in a medium bowl, and stir in the sauerkraut and the sour cream. Mix well and set the mixture aside.
- Roll the dough out on a floured surface to a 3 to 6-mm thickness. Cut out 7cm circles with either a cookie cutter or an upside-down drinking glass, and place a spoonful of potato or sauerkraut filling in the center of each circle and fold over, pinching edges together to seal.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop the perogies in the boiling water and let them cook until they float, about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Remove the perogies from the water. In a large non-stick frying pan, heat 30 mL olive oil. Add the perogies to the pan, and sauté for 2-3 mins per side, until golden brown and slightly crispy. WIZARD TIP - towards the end of frying, add 15 g of butter and coat the perogies in it.
