Bogies

Let me tell you what a Bogie isn’t.

Wikipedia says A bogie in the UK, or a railroad truck, wheel truck, or simply  a truck in North America, is a structure underneath a train to which axles (and, hence, wheels) are attached through bearings. In Indian English, bogie may also refer to an entire railway carriage.

Sorry. Please play again.

The Urban Dictionary says a bogie is a Cigarette. Taken from screen actor Humphrey Bogart who was often seen smoking in his films. Yo man, can I bum a bogie?

Not really what I had in mind.

Whatis.com says A bogie, also spelled bogey, is a false blip on a radar display. The term is also used to describe radar echoes that occur for unknown reasons.

That sounds slightly ominous. Nope.

The dictionary of Newfoundland English says that bogie n also bogey, bogy [phonetics unavailable]. PARTRIDGE bogy 4 ‘a stove for heating’; SND ~ ¹ ‘cooking galley on a fishing boat (1916); DC Nfld (1916-). A small stove used originally on a fishing schooner; applied generally to any small coal- or wood-burning stove.

That’s closer. Give up? 

That’s too bad. It was getting fun! Don’t feel bad – it’s tough to learn how to speak Kountry – Sweet Baboo’s been taking lessons for YEARS! Let me tell you a story.

When I was growing up on the farm, perogies were a special treat. We all looked forward to them – especially when they were cooked twice: boiled and then fried with sautéed onions and bacon. Nestled under a dollop of sour cream, what could be better?

Go to any grocery store near here and you’re likely to see half a row of perogies in the freezer section, all with varying flavours, all of them good. Since they’re mostly potato, they are inexpensive too. Why bother to make your own……that is, unless you’re ME and you just can’t help but tinker…..

A bogie is a bean-filled perogy. A Mexican-style perogy, if you will. It was a happy accident several years ago and I have continued to make them ever since.

The Ukrainian perogy recipe is pretty closely guarded, and for good reason – they’re awesome! I found a beginner’s recipe online courtesy of Kat: http://www.food.com/recipe/ukrainian-perogies-for-beginners-11550 I made it a few times and then I couldn’t hold back the feral, howling dogs of my imagination any longer. Since my recipe strays from the beaten path, let’s start from scratch:

• 1 1/3 white baking potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2/3 cup yam, peeled and diced
• 2/3 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 1/3 cups fine white flour, with more for rolling/sprinkling
• 55 tsp refried beans
• 4 Tbsp Instant Skim Milk Powder
• 2/3 cup water

Peel the yam (I choose the firmer ones with light peach-coloured skin. The dark orange ones have too much water content to work well in this recipe without using a TON of extra flour) and the potatoes. Dice them so that they will cook faster in the boiling water you’re heating up in the saucepan nearby.

It’s easy to tell when the potato pieces are ready. Spear a piece with a table fork and if it immediately falls off and back into the tepid water, turn off the burner and leave them to sit for a few minutes before draining off the water. This gets them to the point where the potatoes take very little effort to mash. Drain off the cooking water and bring out the MASHER.

Mash thoroughly and then add the oil, the skim milk powder and 2/3 cup water. This will give a slightly soupy mixture. Add the flour and combine it with the potato mixture well. Cover the bowl and set it aside to let the gluten in the flour start to work – about 1/2 hour. At this time, I try to make assembly a little easier. I open a can of refried beans and spoon a teaspoon of beans at a time onto a waiting baking sheet festooned with waxed paper.

Set the baking sheet in the fridge. Cold beans are easier to pick up with your fingers. On a well-floured surface, take out a piece of the dough and roll it as thin as you can without breaking it. Dust it with flour liberally so that the dough doesn’t stick to anything. Get out your best perogy dough cutter (a short glass works well).

After a circle is cut out of the dough, put 1 teaspoon of refried beans in the middle and fold it, pressing the edges together lightly with your fingers to seal in the beans. Line baking sheets with waxed paper and a dusting of flour. Sit each new bogie on the sheet so that it does not touch another perogy. Once all the dough is rolled and made into the happy little smiles that all perogies truly are, the baking sheets go into the freezer. Let them freeze overnight before taking them out to put them in bags that reflect the serving size you want.

Sweet Baboo had 4 perogies left over from a grocery store purchase, so we boiled some up so that you can see the difference:

To the right, the great cheesy perogy, flanked by his macho libre cousin Bogie.

My bogies are larger, but their fillings are just as soft and creamy as a potato perogy and the nutrition for each one might surprise you.

	Chemo Three Cheese Perogies	Kountry’s Bogies
Calories	58	37
Fat	1 g	0.3 g
Carbohydrates	10.8 g	7.5 g
Protein	1.5 g	1.5 g

Better than any other accolade was the fact that when these beauties first hit the table, Sweet Baboo liked them enough to ask what store I got them at! Now when I have a hankering for bogies, I know I never have to worry about how well they will be received AND I know they are an improvement health-wise over the old standard. Enjoy!