I get so much fan mail from this stupid site that there are not enough hours in the day to read through it all but when this one chick sent me an email with "varenyky" in the subject line I just had to open it. A "varenyky" is a little stuffed dough pocket that has been a staple of Ukrainian cuisine for as long as anyone can remember. Well, except for that one time Stalin took all the food away and everyone died but that is beside the point. There is even a damn monument to varenyky in Ukraine. What I want to know is where the fuck is our hot dog monument, President Obama? What the hell is our government even doing if we can't get a monument to hot dogs? Stop wasting my tax dollars, Washington! The dough is this chick's grandma's recipe and she gave me ideas for the filling.
Onion, Potato, and Cheddar Filling:
Onion, diced
Potato, diced
Cheddar, diced
Dice the onion and potato. Saute until softened. Stir in a shitdickload of cheddar. Set aside to cool.
Pork and Cabbage Filling:
Pork
1/2 Head of Cabbage, sliced
1c Whole Milk
1tsp Paprika
I did a spice rub on my pork, slow cooked it, and then diced it but you can do whatever. In a large pot combine the cabbage, milk, and paprika. Simmer it, covered, until it gets all mushy and then continue to simmer uncovered so all the liquid can evaporate which should only take fucking forever. Once most all the liquid is gone you can pull it off the stove and mix it with the pork.

Varenyky Dough:
5 cups flour
2 cups luke warm water
2 eggs
2 tbs vegetable oil
"Make a well in the 5 cups of flour, swish the eggs and oil into the luke warm water. Begin pouring the mixture a little at a time into the well and take a butter knife and start incorporating the flour from the sides into the liquid mixture. Pour more liquid, incorporate flour etc."
[Be sure to break the yolk. I found I did not need to use all the wet ingredients to get the consistency I wanted and I had to add them very, very slowly. I will also add 1tsp salt next time]
"Once it’s a sticky mess, put oil on your hands and kneed the dough adding a little flour at a time just so it stops sticking to your hands. Don’t over-kneed, or the dough will be tough."
"Split the dough in half and let it stand for 15 minutes. Kneed half the dough again and use some flour to being rolling out a THIN sheet of dough. The key here is to make the dough rather thin, but not too thin so that when you’re folding the varenyky and sticking them together, they don’t rip. If they’re too thin, they’ll break apart when you boil them. "
"Cut small circles into the rolled out thin dough. The Polish pierogie is like a huge Polish contractor, the Ukrainian varenyk is petite ballerina. Pull a circle from the dough and put a teaspoon of the filling in the center. Fold the dough over and pinch the half circle shut making sure you squeeze the air out."
[When you pinch it shut, give it a little twist to make sure it locks]
"Boil some water and salt it. Once at a light boil, add about 7 verenyky in there and keep the water in motion so they don’t stick to the bottom. Once they float, they’re ready. Take them out with a slotted spoon and throw a little melted butter on them so they don’t stick together."
[I found that they were better if I gave them another 30 seconds or so after floating]

Caramelize some onion. Don't you fucking dare add sugar to onion and turn up the heat. That is complete bullshit. Thinly slice an onion, mix it with a little oil, and stir it over super low heat for about 45 minutes. I thought these little bastards were fantastic and her instruction was excellent. I would highly suggest making them if you have nothing to do for an entire fucking day and feel like making insanely labor intensive snacks. Eat it.