We have been touring the Corning Farm Market hopping from one business to the next, introducing you to the many hard-working, creative people that bring us great fresh foods. Today we enjoy a stop at a pierogi shop with flavors that are outstanding, unique, and downright delicious.
Inspiration and a life-long knack of creating flavors that go together well are the backbone of Chey’s Pierogies. Cheyenne Fillmore is the owner and creator of Chey’s Pierogi Shop. Chey attended culinary school at Alfred State, graduating with a degree in Culinary Arts. She began her pierogi journey while attending Alfred.
Making pierogis “started off as a challenge. I’d never made pierogis from scratch before,” she explained. “I came home one winter break from college. We had just done a pasta unit, and I wanted to try to make pierogis from scratch. My family liked them. I played around with recipes and came up with my own thing and continued to feed them to my family. Then I started selling to friends of the family. They liked them so then I started my business.”
Chey’s pierogi recipes are all her own creation.
“The flavor combinations just pop into my head, flavors that I think would be really good like truffle-Parmesan, roasted red pepper, spinach and feta, or berry cheesecake,” she said. “My culinary background helps me come up with flavor combinations that just work. I am really good at thinking things up, trying them and seeing what works and what doesn’t work.”
Annie Gehringer, Cheyenne’s mother, says, “Chey has a very open palate. We talk about different things going together, then with her culinary background, she just creates the recipes.”
Chey’s creativity is in full display on her chalk board where she writes the weekly offerings.
“Berry cheesecake is a favorite of my dad’s and cheesesteak flavor is a new one. I don’t really know how I started doing the sweet flavors. I think I just wanted to try making them,” she said.
Her pierogis change with the seasonal availability of fresh ingredients.
“It’s almost cabbage season and I do a cabbage and mushroom one then,” she said.
And there are holiday favorites. On Valentine’s Day, she has a special Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake Pierogi.
Annie Gehringer, Cheyenne’s mother, talks about how “Chey carefully processes the fresh herbs, picking leaves off stems and chopping everything by hand. Chey loves making the pierogies by hand.”
Chey described the process of making the pierogies like this: “It’s more time-consuming because I don’t have a machine that closes them. I have to close all of them by hand. I twist them instead of pinch them shut. This gives them a nice amount of dough around the edge. I boil them so they are fully cooked then freeze them.”
Plans in the works to grow Chey’s Pierogies
Chey uses high quality ingredients.
“I use locally sourced products when I can. Herbs are fresh. The cheese is local from Golden Age Cheese in Woodhull, New York,” she said. “All of my cheddar cheese and pepper jack is sourced from there.”
Cheyenne has goals to grow her business.
“Right now, I rent commercial kitchen space which is challenging for refrigerator space. The goal is eventually to have my own kitchen so I can source more ingredients locally,” she said.
Cheyenne has a vision of how she sees the business growing in the future.
“This year I have a lot of events booked at breweries, and distilleries. I’m selling them hot at these locations,” she said. “The next step is to get my own kitchen and food truck. I’m trying to get them into a few new places such as the co-op in Ithaca where they do food delivery boxes that people can order. I’m currently stocking pierogies at the Butcher’s Son on Market Street in Corning and at Cici’s Specialty Foods in Elmira.”
She also sells at the Corning Farm Market, Chamberlain Acres Farm Market, and Broome County Regional Farmers Market.
Chey can also be messaged on Facebook at Chey’s Pierogi Shop for orders and her web address is cheyspierogis.com.
How Chey’s Pierogies are cooked at home
Chey also shared how they cook and enjoy pierogis at home.
“When I make them at home, I just pull them out of the freezer, let them defrost, and then I sauté them up in a pan with butter and onions until they’re nice and golden brown on both sides. It’s a couple minutes on each side over medium heat. There are other ways you can do it,” she explained.
“My husband does like to occasionally air fry them. You don’t have to watch them and it’s quick. I know some people that just boil them and eat them like that. It’s really a (personal) preference, like how you grew up eating pierogis. But yeah, I prefer to just sauté. My go-to is loaded potato. I really enjoy that one. The herb farmer’s cheese has become one of my favorites recently. It is just light and refreshing as it doesn’t have any potato in it.”
Annie’s husband, meanwhile, “grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch Country where they were always a side dish. At a bar or restaurant, they just eat them with a cheesesteak or burger or hot dog. I make them as a meal. It’s weird to him, but I like to throw my vegetables in and whatever I have on hand gets chopped up and goes in the pan. Then I throw the pierogis in to cook. It’s a meal. We also like them fried with sausage, mushrooms, fresh spinach or arugula.”
No matter how you enjoy pierogies, Chey’s Pierogies will satisfy as a side, main and even as dessert.
This article originally appeared on The Leader: Chey’s Pierogies is a growing specialty food business. Why it’s unique
Reporting by Renee Jacobson, Special to The Leader / The Leader
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Renee Jacobson, Special to The Leader | USA TODAY Network
