Pel'Meni Russian Dumplings

There's this little hole in the wall sort of take out restaurant in Bellingham, WA (where I went to college).  I was introduced to this place late one Wednesday night after funk night at one of the local bars during my senior year in college.  At this magical little take-out spot there are only two options:  Beef or Potato dumplings.  One mouthful and I was hooked.  They were fantastic!  They were cheap!  They were the best post-bar food EVER!  I didn't remember what these things were called because everyone just called the shop, "The Russian Dumpling Place".  So I just knew the little bites of awesomeness as "russian dumplings".


Didn't Jon garnish his nicely?  Mine bowl did not look so good.  I must have been too excited to dig in!



A few weeks ago I was wasting time on facebook and I noticed my friend talking about something called "Pel Meni" and how amazing they were for dinner.  She thanked another mutual friend of ours for them.  So.....being the curious hungry pregnant lady that I am at the moment I happened to ask said friend, "Molly, what are pel meni?"  Lo and behold!!!  Pel Meni are russian dumplings!!!  SHE MADE THEM FROM SCRATCH!!!!  GAH! 

So Molly (as she described it to me) took on this personal challenge to find a great recipe for recreating the dumplings in our beloved Bellingham because our Campus Ministry Chaplain said something like, "You paid $5 for this plate?  I bet you could make these for $1 a plate!"  So the search began for the perfect recipe. 

Now dear readers, I pass the russian dumpling phenomenon on to you.  I'm not russian, I don't know anything about russian food, but these things are addicting!!!!

I will say though, tonight's pel meni making experience almost ended in pregnant lady food disaster tears.  I did not have such an amazing time making the dough for these dumplings.  I thought it would go faster if I made them in the food processor.  It probably would have, if I had added the water slowly, instead of adding the amount of water called for in the recipe as though that amount were set in stone.  To make matters worse, I was making a double recipe so that I could have some to freeze for an "I don't want to cook" sort of day.  UGH!!!  Just imagine a soupy mess!

This was also my first attempt at using the pasta roller I received for Christmas, which apparently doesn't have the most accurate dial settings!  Otherwise it works great!  Thanks Aimee!

But once I figured out the pasta roller, added another 2 cups of flour, and kneaded that chunk of dough until my arms hurt, we were in business. 

So a few tips on the dough.  Don't add all the water at once!!!  Add the water little by little until you get a dough that just comes together and isn't sticky.  If it gets too sticky and doesn't roll out properly add more flour little by little.  It should come together well in the food processor, just be careful about the water!!  I can't stress it enough.  When Clare saw the dough in a bowl after it had been made she asked, "Mama what's that sauce?"  That will give you an idea of how horribly wet it was to start out when I added the full amount of water.

See how sticky it looks?  Not good!

Other than that, happy dumpling making!  It goes much faster when you have someone helping!  Jon got really into it by the time we finished.

Pel'Meni Russian Dumplings
Adapted from HERE

Ingredients
dough

1 1/2 cups flour + extra for rolling and consistency

2 eggs

1/4c water (start slowly!!!!  Just watch the consistency of your dough! The original recipe said 1/2c!)

1/2 tsp salt

filling

1/2 lb  ground beef

1/2 lb  ground pork 

2 red onions minced

2 cloves of garlic minced

salt and pepper to taste

topping (sort of like the Bellingham place's toppings)

2tsp Sriracha sauce

2tbsp red wine vinegar

generous sprinkling of curry powder

sprinkling of cilantro

serve with sour cream!

Method:

1.  In a food processor combine flour and salt.  Add eggs one at a time pulsing to combine with flour.  (You can do this by hand on a board, or in an electric mixer with a dough hook as well.)

2.  Add water one tablespoon at a time, pulsing until you get a dough ball that comes together without being too sticky. 

3.  Take out the dough and knead it by hand until it comes together nicely.  Let it rest for 30 minutes.

I had to add about another cup of flour at this point.  It was much too sticky. 



4.  Combine all the filling ingredients and mix well!  

I recommend using your hands for this.  Everything seems to stick together better when you're doing it by hand rather than by spoon.



5.  Roll out your dough in sections with a pasta roller or by hand.  Cut out 2 inch circles.  Alternatively you could pinch off dough balls and roll out each one.  Make sure you put some parchment paper in between layers of dough circles so that they don't stick to each other!  I was not so smart about this.

The bottom layer of dough circles stuck togeher horribly.  They'll get rolled out again tomorrow after the dough scraps have rested more.



6.  Fill half of each piece of dough with a lump of filling (maybe a tablespoon) and fold half over creating a semi circle.  Pinch the edges together and bring the sides together and tuck them under.  They'll look like giant tortelloni.

7.  When you've filled all your dough circles boil the pel meni in salted boiling water for 7-10 minutes until the pel meni are floating to the top. 

Enjoy with all the toppings!!  Don't skimp on the curry powder or sour cream!

I'm going to have to find a recipe for the potato version of these for Fridays in lent.  I expect that the recipe would be something like hungarian perogies. 

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Dear Heavenly Father,

  thank you for fun college experiences and great friends.  Help us to continue to support each other in our faith and lives after college.  Amen.