Culinary Explorations

No, I have not made the vinegar pie yet, but I will. 

Instead I made another variation of a savory filled roll and sweet roll with cherry and lemon cream cheese filling. 

My idea for these stems from something I ate in Russia, пирожки (Pirozhki or Pirozhok singular).  In one of our visits to the country outside St Petersburg we found a little babushka selling these hot rolls filled with either meat and onions or cabbage and potatoes.  About a year ago, I decided to make a very Americanized version. Well two versions.  One with beef filling and one with chicken filling.  I used a very thick gravy, meat, potatoes and diced vegetables... they were good, but... I like this most recent version, too.  Note: This fed 6 adults and 7 children with some left overs, too.  Here is what I did:

First I made the filling:

Filling:
9 medium potatoes peeled, boiled and either whipped or mashed with butter and cream cheese (I used about 6 oz. of cream cheese).  Stir in: 3 chicken breasts, boiled, and cubed and 1 medium bag of frozen peas and carrots (or other frozen vegetable of your choice), cooked.  Season to taste. I used salt and pepper. I could have put a little more salt... 

For the dough I used a somewhat sweet roll dough recipe that I use for dinner rolls.  Much softer crust than what I had in Russia, but I like it.  I made a triple batch since I was making dough for both the savory and the sweet.  This will max out the bowl of a standard Kitchen-aid mixer... always more fun.

Basic Roll Dough (From the Better Homes and Gardens Plaid Cookbook)
Makes 2 to 3 dozen rolls

1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cups milk, scalded
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg

Soften yeast in warm water (110 degrees). Combine milk, sugar, shortening, and salt; cool to lukewarm. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour; beat well.  Beat in yeast and egg.  Gradually add remaining flour to form soft dough.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover and let rise till double. 

At this point I divided the dough up in uneven halves because I was using two different sized lightly greased bowls to let it rise until double.  I often put the dough on the stove top near the vent with the oven on to cut time in half.  Make sure you rotate your bowls if you do!  Once doubled, punch down and roll out.  I started with the larger of the two bowls.  I cut circles using a cup, even though the Russian version was a rectangle.  Place a large spoonful of filling in the center of each circle.  Carefully stretch dough around the filling and seal.  I use a well beaten egg to moisten one edge to get a good seal.  Roll in your hands to form a ball. Place on a greased cookie sheet sealed side down. Press down lightly with your palm to flatten a bit. Let rise again, about fifteen/twenty minutes. Bake in a 375 degree oven until golden brown. Brush rolls with butter right after pulling out of the oven.  Serve warm with chicken gravy.  (The Russians don't serve the gravy, but I liked it... since I did not add enough salt.)
 
Now for the sweet:
 
Next I used the remaining dough and made a sweeter variety filled with a cream cheese concoction and my Mom's most delicious homemade cherry jam.  (Yeah, it is more like cherry pie filling... so good!) For the cream cheese filling you need:
 
10 oz. cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp lemon extract (You can substitute vanilla here if you use a different flavor of preserves)
 
Combine the cream cheese and sugar and then add the egg and extract. 
 
Roll out dough as for the savory version and place a spoonful of the cream cheese filling and then the preserves.  Stretch dough over and seal as for the savory version.  Place on a greased cookie sheet seam down.  Bake in a 375 degree oven until golden brown. Brush rolls with butter right after pulling out of the oven.  I intended to sprinkle with powdered sugar or icing, but we just ate them. All.  Maybe I will try icing next time.
 
Note: If there are leftovers, make sure they are completely cooled before refrigerating or your rolls will go soggy.

Oh, and I had too much of the cream cheese filling... so I made a peach cobbler {Paula Dean's recipe} and dropped by the spoonful on top before baking.  VERY good!