Pelmeni Recipe

I will happily share my pelmeni recipe. I got it at our very first culture day, which we attended BEFORE being matched with Marina. The recipe itself is very simple--it is the rolling, filling, and sealing of the pelmini that is tedious. But if you have as many happy helpers as I do, it is not too bad. Tami, I think this would be a great dish to add to your holiday feast. Pelmeni is an EXCELLENT make ahead meal, and--I think--one of the ultimate comfort foods. I freeze the pelmeni completely assembled, but uncooked. When I'm ready to serve them, I take them directly from the freezer to the boiling pot. Mamaporuski, I don't know if you ate pelmeni while in Russia/Ukraine, but I found that after one bowl of the meat stuffed dumplings, I was usually FULL. As I said, our pelmeni are a little on the large side (on account of the little hands and fingers shaping the dough). For this batch, I estimated eight dumplings per family member for one meal when dividing them into freezer bags. Cari, pelmeni is a traditional Russian meal (sometimes served as an appetizer), and we found that it is generally served with a broth consisting of the water they are cooked in and sour cream and butter. I love it so much this way, that I have never tried it any other, but our translator told us that many eat it with a thin tomato ketchup. Russian mommies, how have you eaten them? Here is the recipe, along with some Su____ tips:

Dough:
4 Cups Flour
1 Cup Milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
3 Eggs

Meat Filling:
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1 onion finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste (sometimes I am tempted to get fancy with my seasonings, but sticking with salt and pepper only produces a truly authentic taste.)
1 Tblsp milk

*I triple this recipe for our yearly pelmeni making.

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, combine ground meat, onion, milk and salt and pepper. In a larger bowl, combine flour with salt. Add eggs, milk and oil until a soft dough forms. Knead on floured surface until dough is elastic.
2. On a lightly-floured surface, roll dough until 1/16 in thick (easier said than done!!). Take a glass and or cookie cutter approximately 3 inches in diameter and cut into rounds.
3. Place 1 teaspoon of meat into the center of the round and fold into a half-moon. Pinch edges together to seal. (We sometimes moisten edge with water to create a better seal. You don't want you pelmeni to pop open in the pot.)
*At this point you can freeze them if desired.*
4. Bring water to boil in large pot. Carefully drop pelmeni into pot and gently stir from time to time to prevent their sticking together. Boil 20 minutes (I don't think mine take this long. I boil them until they look right, then I fish one out and cut it open to make sure the meat is cooked.)

I always seem to have meat mixture left over. I think this is due to not getting our dough thin enough, so of course, we run out of dough faster. Beef and pork mixtures are a staple of cajun cuisine, so I'm using my excess meat to make dirty rice this week--a meal of my OWN cultural heritage. ;0)