Ron Hubbard said:I've seen several recipes for Piroshkis and virtually all of them have
chopped eggs in them, but I remember I used to be able to buy them from
the grocery store frozen and they had cheese. I liked the cheese. Would it
be possible to add the cheese with the chopped eggs or to do without the
eggs all together?
You can do either thing, but with cheese raw eggs are usually used. The
cheese traditionally used for pirogi or pirozhki is farmer's cheese
(ususally for sweet filling) or feta (for savoury filling).
Quoted message said:And does anybody know which is better: piroshkis made out of dough using
yeast and sugar and margarine or dough with no yeast or would pie crust
work okay?
Warning: Information overload! I first posted most of the following
about eight years ago. I added one recipe for feta filling and one for
farmer's cheese filling.
Pirogi (singular pirog - pronounced respectively pee-ruh-GHEE and
pee-RAWG) are large pies with various fillings. Pirozhki (singular
pirozhok - pronounced respectively pee-ruhzh-KEE and pee-ruh-ZHOK) are
small pies with various fillings. They can be served as hors d'oeuvre,
as accompaniments to soups or as snacks. Pirogi are baked only, while
pirozhki, though normally also baked, can be deep-fried instead. They
can be made with yeast dough, with dough made with sour cream
(recommended for fried pirozhki), with short pastry, or with phyllo
dough. The only difference between pirogi and pirozhki is their size
(and the fact that the greater size of pirogi makes it possible to use
more complex fillings). They can be of any shape you like. Pirogi can
be as large as you like, while I'd recommend that pirozhki be made about
3"-3 1/2" long and shaped like a boat (but it's up to you, of course).
They can be eaten hot or cold.
[To avoid any misunderstanding: "pierogi" (note the different spelling)
is a Polish word meaning (boiled) dumplings, which means that they are
to be compared with Russian pelmeni, Ukrainian vareniki, Lithuanian
koldunai, etc. and *not* with any of the following.]
General instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Make the filling first. For pirogi, cut off
one-third of the dough, reserving this for the top. Roll out the rest
of the dough, perhaps to the shape of a shallow pie-dish, if you are
going to use one. Allow enough to cover the sides. Lay the dough on
the baking sheet, put in the filling, spreading it right to the edges.
Turn the edges in over the filling, then roll out the rest of the dough,
cover the top of the pie and join the edges together. Make a 1/2" slit
in the centre, for the steam to escape, brush with beaten egg and bake
in a moderate oven, until the dough is cooked through, usually about 30
minutes, but it obviously depends on the size, thickness, etc. When the
pie is done, take it from the oven, brush it with melted butter, cover
with grease-proof paper and a light clean cloth. Leave for 5 minutes,
then slide it onto a board, cut into oblong pieces and serve hot or
cold.
For pirozhki: as above, but roll out the dough to less than 1/4"
thickness. Cut into circles, perhaps using a glass or circular cutter
about 3"-3.5" in diameter. Put a full teaspoon of filling in the centre
of each circle and join the edges together, forming an oval. Flatten
lightly, brush with beaten egg and put on a buttered baking-sheet with
the joint underneath to prevent opening during cooking. Bake until
golden-brown, approximately 15-20 minutes.
Make the filling somewhat more spicy, or salty, or sweet, or fatty than
you would make it if you were thinking of eating it as is - the dough
will absorb the excess.
Yeast dough made with water (best for pies with fish or vegetable
___________________________ fillings)
25 oz plain flour
1 oz fresh yeast
1 3/4 cups ice-cold water
1 egg
5 oz butter
1 teaspoon salt
Mix everything together in a large bowl. Beat with a wooden spoon for
5-10 minutes until the dough is thoroughly mixed. Cover the bowl with a
clean cloth and allow the dough to rise at the room temperature. Tip it
out on the floured board, knead it lightly and follow the general
instructions.
Yeast dough made with milk (best for pies with buckwheat or egg or cream
__________________________ cheese filling)
25 oz plain flour
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 ounce fresh yeast
Dissolve the yeast together with sugar and 1 teaspoon flour in water and
leave for 15 minutes. Mix half of the flour with milk in a bowl, mix in
the yeast. Let the dough rise. Add the rest of the ingredients and
knead thoroughly until it no longer sticks to the hands.
Yeast dough made with beef suet (best for pies with meat filling)
_______________________________
25 oz plain flour
1 cup rendered beef suet
1 cup hot water
1 oz fresh yeast
2 teaspoons salt
Render the suet: cut it into small chunks, put in a deep pan, put it in
the oven and pour off gradually the rendered fat into another vessel.
Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup water, add 1 teaspoon flour, leave for 10
minutes. Mix the rest of water with the rendered fat, add the rest of
the flour and the dissolved yeast and knead thoroughly. Let the dough
rise a bit, add salt, knead it again and let it rise again.
Phyllo dough
____________
20 oz flour
1 1/2 cup milk
4 oz butter
1/2 oz fresh yeast
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix flour, milk yeast, yolks, salt and 1 oz butter. Knead the dough and
let it rise at room temperature. Knead again and roll out to the
thickness of 4 1/2 inch or a bit less, cover with a thin layer of
butter, fold it over 4 times and leave for 10 minutes in a cool place.
Roll it out again, brush with butter and fold it over again. Repeat
this operation thrice. Let rise again at a cool place. Follow the
general instructions.
Dough made with sour cream (best for pies with mushroom or chicken
__________________________ filling)
15 oz flour
7 oz sour cream
3 1/2 oz butter
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix everything, knead thoroughly. Cover with clean cloth and let stand
for 10 minutes. Roll out the dough to the thickness of 0.2-0.4 in.
Follow the general instructions.
Meat filling
____________
2 1/2 lb beef, cubed as for "goulash"
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 hard boiled eggs (optional)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon salt
pepper
nutmeg
Fry meat with onions until it's almost cooked, mince finely by hand.
(Notice that if you put the meat through the meat grinder or food
processor, the pie is liable to get on the dry side. Traditionally, it
was recommended to add some suet or butter, or a piece of ice, or broth,
or jellied broth to alleviate this problem. I have also found that
adding some finely minced raw cabbage to the filling instead helped a
lot). Mince the eggs finely and mix thoroughly with the rest of the
ingredients.
Meat and rice filling
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As above, but add 3 1/2 oz boiled rice.
Chicken filling
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1 lb boiled chicken, minced (reserve some broth)
3 oz flour
6 oz boiled rice
2 hard boiled eggs chopped
5 oz fresh boletus edulis mushrooms (porcini), chopped
2 oz butter
some fresh parsley and dill
salt and pepper
Fry mushrooms in some butter. Bring broth with the flour to the
boil. Mix all the ingredients together.
Fish filling
____________
7 oz fish filet
1/2 cup fish broth (fumet)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt and pepper
Salt the fish and brown it on both sides. Mince it not too finely.
Sauté the onion till soft and golden. Add and brown the flour, dilute
with some broth or water to the consistency of sour cream. Mix
everything together.
Mushroom filling
________________
2 lb fresh mushrooms (wild for preference)
3 1/2 oz butter
2 onions, finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons sour cream
some fresh dill, chopped
Boil mushrooms, chop finely. Fry them in butter. Add salt, onions and
sour cream. Cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add chopped dill.
Let cool.
Spring onion and egg filling
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1 lb spring onions
2 tablespoons butter
7 hard-boiled eggs
1 fresh egg
1 teaspoon salt
pepper
Chop the spring onions into 1/2" pieces. Melt the butter in frying pan
and fry spring onions for 3 minutes. Chop up hard-boiled eggs very
finely. Add spring onions together with the butter they were fried in,
one raw egg, salt and pepper, mixing it all well together. Let cool.
Cabbage filling
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1 medium-sized cabbage
enough water to cover cabbage
1 white onion
1/2 butter
2 hard-boiled eggs
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
(This filling should be made while the dough is rising)
Chop cabbage fine, put in saucepan, cover with water and bring to the
boil. Cook for 5 minutes. Drain it off in a colander, carefully
pressing out any remaining water; otherwise it will be too wet for
frying.
Chop the onion and fry in butter till light brown. Add the cabbage and
fry together for 10-15 minutes. Chill. Chop the hard-boiled eggs and
add to cabbage with salt, pepper and sugar.
Sauerkraut filling
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2 lb sauerkraut
3 hard-boiled eggs
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion
salt and pepper
Wash the sauerkraut in cold water, if too sour and drain thoroughly.
Chop finely, put in a deep skillet, add vegetable oil, cover and simmer
till ready. Chop the onion, fry till golden brown, mix with the
sauerkraut. Add salt and pepper. Chill. Mix in chopped hard-boiled
eggs.
Potato filling
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7-8 medium-sized potatoes, boiled and mashed
3 onions, finely chopped
4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
salt and pepper
Fry onions till golden brown. Mix with mashed potatoes, raw eggs and
butter. Add salt and pepper, mix thoroughly.
Feta cheese filling
___________________
2 lb feta cheese
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons flour
2 raw eggs
Mince feta finely, add milk, flour and eggs. Mix thoroughly to get a
homogenous mass.
Farmer's cheese filling (sweet)
_______________________________
just over a pound of farmer's cheese
1 raw egg
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon flour
0.1 oz vanilla sugar
a bit of salt
lemon or orange peel (optional)
1 tablespoon raisins or sultanas, or nuts, or almonds, or candied fruits
(optional, in which case reduce the quantity of farmer's cheese to
3/4 lb)
Press the farmer's cheese through a sieve or put it through a grinder.
Add sugar, egg, flour which has been fried lightly in a pan with no fat
added, and vanilla sugar. Mix thoroughly to get a homogeneous mass.
Optionally, add some lemon or orange peel and raisins or sultanas, or
nuts, or almonds, or candied fruits
Victor
