Pirozhki

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch bits and chilled
• 8 tablespoons of chilled lard, cut into 1/4 inch bits
• 8 -12 tablespoons ice water
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 cups of finely choppped onions
• 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped
• 6 tablespoons of finely cut fresh dill leaves
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Recipe

• 1 combine the flour, salt, butter and lard in a deep bowl.
• 2 with your fingers, rub the flour and fat together until they look like flakes of coarse meal.
• 3 pour in 8 tablespoons of ice water all at once and gather the dough into a ball.
• 4 if it curmbles, add up to 4 tablespoons more of ice water, a tablespoon at a time, until the particles adhere.
• 5 wrap the ball of dough in wax paper, and chill for about 1 hour.
• 6 on a lightlly floured surface, shape the pastry into a rough rectangle 1 inch thick and roll it into a strip about 21 inches long and 6 inches wide.
• 7 turn the pastry around and again roll it out lengthwise int a 21-by-6-inch strip.
• 8 fold into thirds and roll out the packet as before.
• 9 repeat this entire process twice more, ending with the folded packet.
• 10 wrap it is wax paper and refrigerate for an additional hour.
• 11 over high heat, melt the butter in a heavy 10-to 12-inch skillet.
• 12 add onions and, stirring occasionally, cook over moderate heat for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are soft and transparent but not brown.
• 13 stir in the beef and, mashing the meat with a fork to break up any lumps, cook briskly until no traces of pink remain.
• 14 grind the meat-and-onion mixture through the finest blade of a meat grinder (or, the mixture finely with a knife).
• 15 combine the meat in a large bowl with eggs, dill, salt and pepper, mix thoroughly and taste for seasoning.
• 16 preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• 17 on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a circle about 1/8 inch thick.
• 18 with a 3 to 3 1/2-inch cookie cutter, cut out as many circles as you can.
• 19 gather the scraps into a ball and roll out again, cutting additional circles.
• 20 drop 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each round and flatten the filling slightly.
• 21 fold one long side of the dough up over the filling, almost covering it.
• 22 fold in the two ends of the dough about 1/2 inch, and lastly, fold over the remaining long side of the dough.
• 23 place the pirozhki side by side, with the seam sides down on a buttered baking sheet.
• 24 bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.