Potato Perogies - January 24, 2011

As many of you, I am a mutt. Meaning I have so many heritages in my family that it's difficult to just say I'm this or that. But I do know that with each of these countries that my family has come from they brought along some yummy meals! A good percentage of me is Polish. And one of the dishes I ADORE is potato perogies. Many cultures have a similar dish, example: the Italians have raviolis.
Now we have had these at Christmas time and special occasions and I have never been a part of the prep process. And boy was I in for a shock! This had to be the most time consuming process EVER! I had left over mashed potatoes from the other evening and lucked out in saving that part of the process. Still, even with that, it took me about 3 hours prep time. But they were SOOOO good!


Ingredients:
(I was able to make about 60)
Cheesy Mashed Potatoes (about 1 1/2 - 2 lbs)
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups sour cream
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
(allrecipes.com)

Directions:
Step 1: On level 2 whisk together the butter, sour cream, eggs, egg yolk and oil for approx 3 minutes
Step 2: Add in salt and flour, one cup at a time, mixing on level 2 for approx 4 minutes
Step 3: Cover the bowl with a towel, and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes.
Step 4: Separate the perogie dough into two balls. Roll out one piece at a time on a lightly floured surface until it is thin enough to work with, but not too thin so that it tears
Step 5: Cut into circles using a cookie cutter, perogie cutter, or a glass
Step 6: Brush a little water around the edges of the circles, and spoon some filling into the center
Step 7: Fold the circles over into half-circles, and press to seal the edges, set on cookie sheets
Step 8: Refrigerate for about 2 hours
Step 9: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop perogies in one at a time. They are done when they float to the top
Step 10: Add some butter to a frying pan and fry each perogie for approx 1 min each side
Step 11: Serve with sour cream

Tips:
* With this recipe you should have plenty to freeze. And because this is such a LOOOONNNGG process you will want to freeze some so you don't have to do it all over again too soon!
* I used leftover mashed potatoes. I also threw threw them back in the mixer and added some sauteed onions, then let them cool. You want to make sure you use cooled potatoes.