MEMBER RECIPE
Blueberry Vareniki or Blueberry Dumplings, Madd Russian Recipe
By maddrussian
Difficulty: Medium |
Total Time:
2 - 3 HR
|
Makes:
40 to 50 Vareniki
Dough
Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a electric mixer with the dough hook in place. Mix for 1 minute at low speed, then raise the speed to moderate and beat for 2 minutes; the dough should be well blended, smooth, and elastic.
However you knead the dough, form it into 2 balls, dust lightly with all-purpose flour, completely cover tightly with plastic wrap, and allow to rest for 30 minutes or more in a refrigerator. (Over night is best)
INGREDIENTS
- Dough 3 cups all-purpose flour
- Dough 1 teaspoon salt
- Dough 3 egg yolks, save the whites
- Dough 1/2 cup cold water
- Filling 3-3 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh
- Filling 1/2 cup sugar
- Filling 1/2-1 teaspoons cinnamon
- Filling 3/4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Filling 1-2 egg whites, lightly beaten (for sealing the vareniki)
- 2 cups sour cream for dipping
INSTRUCTIONS
- Roll out dough about 1/8 inch thick and cut into 3-inch circles with a glass or a cookie cutter.
- Just before filling the rounds, lightly toss the blueberries with the sugar and cinnamon. Spread on a plate and dust with the flour.
- Fill each round with a scant tablespoon of blueberries. Fold, seal ( put egg whites lightly beaten on the inside edge to help seal the vareniki )( I also fork the edge myself)
- Prepare the pan of boiling water for cooking the Varenikis.
and cook in pot of salted boiling water as soon as you can (they are done when they float) gently remove from pot with a slotted spoon.. Cook in as needed.
Serve HOT with sour cream for dipping. - Best if one cooks and the others eat. My record in one sitting is 27 (:-)>)
Member recipes are not tested by the CHOW food team.
so good
"Varenyky are a filled dumpling that originated in China some 4000-5000 years ago. They came to the Russian by way of the ancient Silk Road caravan traders & later the Mongols. When cooked by poaching they are called varenyky. They can contain meat, cheese, potatoes, sauerkraut, or fruits. They may be served as an appetizer, a main dish, a side dish or a dessert depending upon filling &/or...+READ
"Varenyky are a filled dumpling that originated in China some 4000-5000 years ago. They came to the Russian by way of the ancient Silk Road caravan traders & later the Mongols. When cooked by poaching they are called varenyky. They can contain meat, cheese, potatoes, sauerkraut, or fruits. They may be served as an appetizer, a main dish, a side dish or a dessert depending upon filling &/or quantity."
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Marina’s Pelmeni
Pelmeni are eaten in various forms all over Eastern Europe and
sometimes they have different names, or different names indicate
different fillings. When I had something very similar to this in
Eastern Ukraine last autumn, my Russian-speaking landlady and friends
called them 'vareniki'. In their part of Ukraine, people speak
Russian in preference to Ukrainian--a current political hot potato we
will not go into here! I emailed a friend there and asked for
clarification; she says that the difference between pelmeni and
vareniki is one of size. My Ukrainian friends alaso insist that
Ukrainians invented this dish centuries ago. Marina insists that
Russians did and that Ukrainians took it from them. Some reading on
the Internet that suggests a Chinese seems more likely to meâ€"which
could indicate that pelmeni reached Siberia before Ukraine.
I suppose that most people accept the notion that the Chinese invented noodles over a millennium ago, and that they may have been introduced to Western Europe from there after Marco Polo returned from his journeys. Another argument has noodles reaching Europe somewhat before Marco Polo's time by way of the Silk Road traders. An argument that seems reasonable to me says that noodles, including filled noodle dough, were taken to Eastern Europe by the Mongol invaders who had gotten them from China. Everybody who has eaten at a Chinese restaurant is familiar with wontons. Make them by filling noodle dough wrappers with a meat mixture and folding them into a bonnet-like shape. In short, something that looks like pelmeni. Italian ravioli, on the other hand, are the same wrappers filled with cheese or meat combinations; the difference is that rather than folding them, a second layer is placed on top and pressed down. The ricotta cheese favored for Italian ravioli is very similar to the farmer's cheese Ukrainians use to fill noodle dough wrappers.
But enough of arguments until I hear from Ukraine!
Marina recounts pelmeni-making parties in the Siberia of her childhood where extended family and neighbors gather around a kitchen table to make mountains and mountains of pelmeni to store for future eating. A container full of pelmeni buried in the snow outside the house keeps as well as in a modern freezer. It sounded like the quilting bees of our own 19th century ancestors here in the US, or the work parties where Amish and Mennonites in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to this day get together to do canning, sewing and any number of cooperative projects.
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Both words - pelmeni & vareniki and in Russian and in Ukrainian languages.
The main difference is this: - pelmeni - a dough pockets filled with raw ingridients - meet/fish- vareniki - same but with already processed stuffing - ground beef & onions, mushrooms & onions, cottage cheese, potatoes & onions, potatoes & muchrooms, strawberries, bluberries, plums....
Vareniki are attributed to more southern regions of both Russian and Ukraine as there is a need (due to climate conditions) for "double" food processing.
Western Ukrainians (as well as many Canadians) know vareniki by their western Ukrainian name "Pyrohy" - that is Carpathian/Galychyn a region.
Fruit filled vareniki are great in the summer. Cook them, cool them down, eat it!-COLLAPSE