The Best Varenyky Recipe On The Internet

My Daily Lievito Madre Maintenance

HOW I TAKE CARE OF MY LIEVITO MADRE:

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I made a couple reels on this topic but wanted to clarify and summarize a couple of things here since I noticed a high volume of questions specifically regarding my overnight/daily maintenance routine.

Let me preface this conversation by saying that this is my process and what works best for me. My goal for sharing my process is to help you figure out your own. I am not saying that this is the best or only way one can take care of their lievito madre, there is no such thing. I just hope that by sharing how I do it, I can help you figure out how to take care of your own LM a little faster or a little less painfully. I wish I could have read this little essay when I was first starting to bake Panettone.

Temperature Control:

Having just said that there is no one way of taking care of a lievito madre, there is one thing that is nonnegotiable, TEMPERATURE CONTROL. You absolutely need a way to create a temperature controlled environment for your LM, especially for overnight storage or maintenance, traditionally this period is anywhere from 14 to 19 hours (sometimes 24 hours). The temperature range you are aiming for is between 16 C - 18 C (60 F and 64 F). I bought a tiny wine fridge that I use exclusively for daily maintenance of my LM. My LM is happiest at 16C or 60F.

My Daily Maintenance:

I feed my Lievito Madre every day once a day. Here is what that looks like.

Every evening, the exact time depends on when I fed my LM the night before, but generally speaking, I feed or refresh my LM anywhere between 8pm to 11pm. I take out my LM from my wine cooler (set to 16 C) and begin the refreshment process.

Daily Feeding Ratio:

1:1.5:.45% (1 part LM: 1.5 parts flour (KA bread): 45% hydration).

Using a serrated knife I cut off the edges of the LM and place 50 grams of LM, with 100 grams flour, and 45 grams water in the mixer. I mix these on low speed until the LM is a pale white color and smooth, about 10 minutes.

I let the LM rest under a bowl before rolling it out. I roll out and fold the LM twice letting it rest between each roll. On the last turn, I roll up the LM and put it into an airtight container, I leave the container at RT for 20 minutes or so before placing it in the wine cooler for 19 hours. The next evening I repeat the process. And so on and so on.

That’s it! That’s my daily LM feeding ritual. This feeding schedule keeps my LM happy and active. Let me know if you have any questions about my process and I will try to answer them in the comments.

You can watch my daily LM ritual in a three part series on Instagram:

Part I, Part II, and Part III. *My feeding ratio was 1:2 during the super warm months, hence why it’s 1:2 in the first video. Everything else should be the same.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK:

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Potato and Onion Varenyky with Bacon and Caramelized Onions

Photo taken by Mackenzie Smith Kelley

Everyone who knows me knows I don’t exaggerate or use hyperbolic language. So when I say this is the best Varenyky dough, I mean it. The dough comes out incredibly soft and is super easy to work with both during the rolling and shaping process. This dough makes the most tender varenyky! It is honestly one of the tastiest dumpling doughs I have ever eaten.

Biggest Challenge:

Dough consistency. More specifically the hardest aspect of this recipe is getting the dough consistency correct during the kneading process. The key here is to know when to stop adding flour. For this latest batch of varenyky dough it took me a total of 546 grams of flour. I never add all of the flour at once. I always let the dough tell me how much flour it needs and this is where things get tricky. On a dry day it can mean one thing and on a humid day it can mean another, hence why I give a range of extra flour you might need to achieve the right consistency. Having said all of this, the key here is to add flour gradually and resist the temptation to add all the flour at once. In my opinion, this is the best technique I have found so far that lets me consistently achieve a soft instead of a stodgy dough.

No need to stress though! Even if you get the dough consistency a little wrong, you can still roll out the dough with the help of some additional flour. Your varenyky might be a little tougher but they will still be incredibly delicious.

You can use the same dough to make whatever type of filling you want. In this newsletter, I share one of my family’s favorites, the potato and onion filling. But I have used this dough to make varenyky with all sorts of fillings: sour cherries, poppyseed, quark cheese, sauerkraut, cabbage, mushrooms, fish, and even meat!

An alternative, and less time consuming way to serve these is by simply tossing the boiled potato and onion varenyky in a large mixing bowl with a generous amount of room temperature butter. To finish, divide varenyky among the serving plates, and using a large spoon drizzle melted butter over each serving. Serve with a generous side of sour cream.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 420 grams AP flour (I use King Arthur), 125 to 155 grams extra for kneading, divided in a separate bowl

• 5 grams kosher salt

• 113 grams unsalted European style butter, room temperature

• 1 large egg, room temperature

• 28 grams or 2 tablespoons of sour cream

• 200 grams water, room temperature

Filling:

• 56 grams or 4 tablespoons of unsalted European style butter

• 4 medium onions diced

• 1 kilo peeled, chopped russet potatoes or 3 large

• 42 grams or 3 tablespoons of unsalted European style butter

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Finish, Garnish, and Serving:

• 12 oz bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

• 1/4 caramelized diced onions

• Sour Cream or Crème fraîche, for serving

• Dill, for serving

• Unsalted European Style Butter, for serving

Method:

Filling:

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, add diced onion and cook until onion is very soft and has taken on a golden brown color, between 35 and 45 minutes. Remove 3/4 of the caramelized onions and set aside in a separate bowl. Continue cooking the remaining 1/4 of the onions for another 15 minutes, or until the onions are a dark brown color. Place in a small bowl and reserve for assembly.

2. While the onions are caramelizing, place potatoes in a pot and add enough water to just cover. Over high heat, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. *The potatoes are ready when the knife passes through the potato with no resistance. Now drain the potatoes and place them back in the pot. Using a potato masher or fork, mash the potatoes. Now add butter, salt, and 3/4 of caramelized onions to potatoes and using a spatula combine until mixture is fully incorporated, check for seasoning and adjust as needed. Set aside to cool completely.

3. In the same pan you cooked the onions, cook the bacon until crispy. Add cooked pieces of bacon to the small bowl of reserved onions (1/4) and set aside. Discard or save the excess bacon fat for another use, we will not be needing it for this recipe.

Dough:

1. Sift flour into large mixing bowl. Add kosher salt and whisk. Now add butter to the flour and using your hands rub it into the flour until you have a coarse mixture. Make a well in the center and add egg and sour cream, mix with a fork until just combined. Now add all of the water and using a fork bring the dough together (the dough will be soft and sticky), turn it onto a floured surface and begin to knead. *I will usually measure out 155 grams of flour in a separate little bowl. I add a handful of flour at a time gradually incorporating the extra flour until I get a soft and smooth dough, somewhere between 10 to 12 minutes. Let the dough rest on the counter under a mixing bowl for at least 30 minutes, make sure the dough is covered.

2. Divide the dough into 6 small pieces. We will be working with one dough ball at a time, make sure to keep the remaining dough covered at all times. This dough is very soft and easy to roll out, you can use a little extra flour to roll out the dough but you probably won’t need to use any flour during this step. Just do whatever is easiest for you. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about 1/8 of an inch and using a 2-inch dough cutter or a glass cut out as many circles as you can. Collect the unused dough and form it into a ball, set aside covered. When we go through all 6 of our original dough balls we can roll out the leftover dough which will be a little tougher. I usually keep these in a separate batch.

3. Place a heaping teaspoon of filling into the center of the cutout circle. Slowly begin to pinch the seam together along the entire length of the circle, forming a half-moon shape. I like to press the edges of the dough with my fingers or a fork to make sure the seal is tight as well as making the excess border of dough a little thinner. Place shaped varenyky on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Make sure varenyky are not touching, as they can stick together. *You can place the tray in the freezer and let them freeze. Once frozen, you can put them into a freezer safe bag or Tupperware and store in the freezer for future meals!

Assembly:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil with a generous pinch of salt. Once the water is at a rolling boil, carefully add varenyky to boiling water while gently stirring the water to prevent the dumplings from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Set a timer for 2 minutes.

2. While the dumplings are boiling, place a large saucepan over medium heat and add the reserved onion/bacon mixture to the pan. Let the mixture heat up.

3. Using a slotted spoon remove varenyky from the pot of boiling water and add them carefully into the saucepan. Pan fry the dumplings on each side for 20 to 30 seconds, or until they get a little color on each side. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

4. Always serve varenyky with lots of sour cream and dill (optional).

Photos taken by Mackenzie Smith Kelley

BAKING NEWS:

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I added some additional cheesecake spots for the last two weeks of January. I will be launching a new 6-inch flavor sometime in February. The new flavor will be Black Sesame Seed! The exact timing will depend on a small issue I am currently having with sourcing good quality black sesame seed paste. Do any of you have to know where I might be able to find good quality black sesame seed paste, be it locally (preference) or online?

BOOKS:

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I updated my list of must read books on Ukrainian culture and history. This is a much more comprehensive list that looks at different aspects of Ukrainian culture including food.

This is just a friendly reminder that buying books online through BookShop supports local and indie bookstores of your choice. You can pick what bookstore you want to support. Additionally, if you buy through my shop using the link above I get a small but important percentage of the sale that allows me to continue my work as a food writer and recipe developer.

You can also check out my bookstore on PangoBooks! For all my local readers, if you ever want to pick up a book with your cheesecake let me know.

Photo taken by Mackenzie Smith Kelley

SUPPORT MY WORK:

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If you would like to support my work by helping me buy ingredients for recipe testing, video creation (other types of content development), and newsletter/cookbook writing please consider becoming a paid subscriber. If you prefer to make a one time donation, my venmo is @ogitheyogi.