Meatless Monday~Baked Oatmeal, Homemade Pierogies, and Mock Chicken Fried Steak

Breakfast:

Baked Oatmeal

• 2 cups quick oats
• 1 large egg , beaten
•  1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2teaspoons baking powder
•  3/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (to taste)
• 1/2 cup raisins

• 1
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• 2
  Mix together oil, brown sugar, and beaten egg.
• 3
  Add oats, baking powder, salt, milk, cinnamon, and raisins, and mix well.
• 4
  Pour into greased 8"x8" pan.
• 5
  Bake for 25- 30 minutes until done.
• 6
  Serve with your choice- honey, maple syrup, milk, & whipped cream.
  
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Lunch:

Homemade Pierogies and Fried Cabbage

• 2 cups flour, plus extra for kneading and rolling dough
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup sour cream, plus extra to serve with the pierogi
• 1/4 cup butter, softened and cut into small pieces
• butter and onions for sauteing
• ingredients for filling of your choice (potato & cheese filling recipe below)

Preparation:

Pierogi Dough
To prepare the pierogi dough, mix together the flour and salt. Beat the egg, then add all at once to the flour mixture. Add the 1/2 cup sour cream and the softened butter pieces and work until the dough loses most of its stickiness (about 5-7 minutes). You can use a food processor with a dough hook for this, but be careful not to over beat. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes or overnight; the dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Each batch of dough makes about 12-15 pierogies, depending on size. Prepare the Pierogies
Roll the pierogi dough on a floured board or counter top until 1/8" thick. Cut circles of dough (2" for small pierogies and 3-3 1/2" for large pierogies) with a cookie cutter or drinking glass. Place a small ball of filling (about a tablespoon) on each dough round and fold the dough over, forming a semi-circle. Press the edges together with the tines of a fork.

Boil the perogies a few at a time in a large pot of water. They are done when they float to the top (about 8-10 minutes). Rinse in cool water and let dry.

Saute chopped onions in butter in a large pan until onions are soft. Then add pierogies and pan fry until lightly crispy. Serve with a side of sour cream for a true Pittsburgh pierogi meal.

Homemade Pierogi Tips:

1. If you are having a hard time getting the edges to stick together, you may have too much flour in the dough. Add a little water to help get a good seal.
2. If you don't want to cook all of the pierogies right away, you can refrigerate them (uncooked) for several days or freeze them for up to several months.
3. You can fill pierogies with pretty much anything you want, though potato and cheese is the most common (recipe below). Sweet pierogies are often filled with a prune mixture.

Potato, Cheese & Onion Filling: Peel and boil 5 large potatoes until soft. Red potatoes are especially good for this. While the potatoes are boiling, finely chop 1 large onion and saute in butter until soft and translucent. Mash the potatoes with the sauteed onions and 4-8oz of grated cheddar cheese (depending on how cheesy you want your pierogies), adding salt and pepper to taste. You can also add some fresh parsley, bacon bits, chives, or other enhancements if you desire. Let the potato mixture cool and then form into 1" balls. 

Fried Cabbage

1 small head of cabbage

1 med vidalia onion

Chop cabbage and onion and saute in 1/4 C olive oil until golden brown and tender

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Dinner:

Mock Chicken Fried Steak

Ingredients

• Peanut oil, for frying
• 3 large zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch rounds
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup water

Measure flour into a pie plate. In another pie plate combine panko, Parmesan, parsley, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper, to taste. In a third plate add eggs and water. Dredge the zucchini in the flour, followed by the egg and finally in the panko.

Working in batches, place the breaded zucchini slices in the hot oil and fry until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on a paper towel lined sheet tray and immediately season with salt and pepper. 

Onion Mushroom Gravy 

Saute 1 large vidalia onion, and 1 pint of fresh sliced mushrooms in 1/4 cup of olive oil.  Add 1/2 of a  32 oz.container of Swanson's Vegetable broth.  Bring to rolling boil.  Mix well 1 - 2 heaping tablespoon of flour with 3/4 cup of  milk or cream.  Stir into broth mixture to thicken as you would for gravy.  

Serve with mashed potatoes, and a favorite vegetable.

Dessert:

Molasses Crumb Cake

3 cups  Flour
1 cup  sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter or margarine
1 cup  molasses
2 large eggs
1 cup  hot water
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch pan.

In a large bowl, mix together flour and sugar. Cut in butter till mixture is crumbly. Remove 1 cup of the mixture and set aside. To the remaining crumb mixture, add the molasses, eggs, water and baking soda. Beat till smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs evenly over top. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.