Pierogi With Cabbage Filling And Clarified Butter Recipes

Steps:

• Cut the cabbages into quarters. Steam until very tender, approximately 20 to 30 minutes. Drain and cool. In a strong but thin linen towel, squeeze as much of the liquid from the steamed cabbage as possible. Squeeze only a small handful at a time. Discard the juice.
• Grind the squeezed cabbage with the fine blade of a meat grinder. Add the cream cheese and softened butter and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• To make the dough, whisk the egg, milk, water, and sour cream together. Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well after every addition. Turn out onto a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic. This may take 10 minutes. Add as little flour as possible. Put ball of dough under an inverted bowl until ready to use.
• To make the pierogi, cut the dough into 4 pieces. On a floured board, roll one piece of dough into a round, 1/16 inch thick. Keep rest of dough covered. With a cookie cutter or glass tumbler (2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter), cut the dough into rounds. For each pierogi, take 1 round of dough, stretch it a bit with your fingers, and spoon about 2 tablespoons of the cabbage onto the center.
• Fold the circle in half and press the edges together. Martha crimps the edges with her fingertips into a decorative pattern. Be sure to seal the edges well or the filling may fall out during cooking. Put finished dumplings on a towel or tray that has been lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Continue rolling dough until all the filling has been used up.
• Bring a very large kettle of water to the boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt to the water and cook about 20 pierogi at one time in simmering water until they are tender and float (about 5 to 6 minutes). Remove to a serving dish with a slotted spoon and dribble with butter. Leftover pierogi can be reheated in the oven, or on top of the stove in a heavy skillet.

Steps:

• Make the dough: Whisk together egg and sour cream. Whisk in milk and water. Stir in flour, 1 cup at a time.
• Turn out dough onto a floured surface. (Dough will be loose and sticky.) Using a bench scraper, turn and fold dough to knead, dusting with flour as needed, until elastic and no longer sticky, 8 to 10 minutes. (Dough will come together as you knead it. Be careful not to add too much flour, since it will toughen the dough.) Cover with an inverted bowl; let rest for 1 hour.
• Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a clean linen towel, and dust generouslywith cornmeal to prevent sticking.
• Roll out 1 piece of dough on a lightly floured surface into a 1/8-inch-thick round (keep other pieces covered).
• Cut out circles very close together, using a 3-inch cutter or glass (5 inches for the plum version). Cover with plasticwrap to prevent dough from drying. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Fill pierogi: Place filling in center of each dough circle. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
• Holding 1 circle in your hand, fold dough over filling. Pinch edges, forming a well-sealed crescent.
• Transfer to cornmeal-dusted towel, and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining dough circles and filling. Working in batches, transfer pierogi to boiling water. They will sink to the bottom and then rise. Once they have risen, cook through, about 2 minutes more (or up to 4 minutes for plum pierogi, depending on ripeness). For savory pierogi, coat a platter with half the butter. Transfer pierogi to platter using a slotted spoon. Drizzle tops with remaining butter, and season with salt. For sweet pierogi, transfer to a platter using a slotted spoon, and dot with sour cream.

Steps:

• Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, reserving drippings, and set aside.
• Heat bacon drippings over medium heat and stir in cabbage and onion; cover and cook for 10 minutes.
• Stir in tomatoes, vegetable oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and bacon; cook uncovered for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare pierogies according to package directions; drain. Combine pierogies with cabbage mixture and serve.