Pittsburgh Style Homemade Pierogies

"There aren’t too many people living in Kentucky that even know what a pierogi is, but in Pennsylvania we love them! They are Polish in origin and considered the national dish. There are churches in the coal region in Pennsylvania that get together once a week to make and sell them. A pierogi is a crescent shaped dough that is filled with a mashed potato and cheese mixture but not limited to that filling. You can fill them with whatever you want. Using my hand I squashed the dough together until it formed a ball. It’s a moist dough, if for some reason you find it a little dry add a little more sour cream by tablespoons. Only work the dough until it forms a ball, then wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes if you’re using right away or up to 2 days for later use. For the first batch of perogies I used my biscuit cutter to cut the rounds, the second time, I used the rim of a coffee cup that made about 1/2 an inch bigger round. I liked the bigger circle, bigger pierogi, more filling. The potato filling is a fantastic base recipe. Make the filling, taste it, add more cheese or what ever seasoning you like to it, it’s all good. After the dough is rolled out and the filling is tucked away inside your Polish dumpling crimp the edges with a fork to seal it. Because the dough is moist I didn’t have a problem with the edges sealing and staying together. They are all ready for boiling. Get some water boiling and add a few( I did three at a time) to the boiling water, when they start floating to the top take them out to dry. To cook a pierogi you first saute onions in butter, get them nice and caramelized. Remove the onions and place the pierogi in the same pan you caramelized the onions in and add a little more butter. Fry the pierogi until a nice brown crust forms on both sides, plate it, put the onions on top and dig in. Pierogi Heaven !!!"