Wareneki and Plum Wareneki

Wareneki

• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 4 egg whites. . .beaten until soft peaks form
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• about. . 2 1/2 cups of flour

Whip the egg whites in a large grease free bowl. . . add the whipping cream and the baking powder and the salt.

Add the flour a bit at a time. . I did mine in my standup mixer with a dough hook. . .but it can easily be accomplished with a spoon.

Continue to add a bit of flour at a time until you have a soft dough but stiff enough to roll out.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or so . .make the filling.

Cottage Cheese Filling

• 2 cups of dry cottage cheese
• the egg yolks from the eggs above
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix together with a pastry blender or put it all in the food processor and mix until the cottage cheese is finely ground. . not pureed.

Roll the dough out. . .on a slightly floured counter. Add a bit more flour if it is sticky.

Now. . you can either start at the top of you dough. . about 2 inches down. . and plop a teaspoon of filling every three inches. . leaving room between. . then fold the dough down and use a glass to cut out half moons. . and pinch them shut. .

Or. . just use a glass and cut out rounds and then use a small teaspoon and put a bit of filling on your dough and then fold in half and pinch shut. . try not to get filling in the area you are pinching shut. . this is a potential. . open in the bath escape area.

Put them on a floured parchment papered cookie sheet and keep them in the refrigerator until you are ready to boil them. . or. . freeze them on a cookie sheet to use another day .. I always tuck a few away. . .don't' tell my family that. . my beloved and I have a private party a few days later. . .

Now. . ..about the plum wareneki. . just slice the plums in half and then depending on how large you are making them. . slice them in half again. . and put them into the dough and pinch shut. .

I don't bother to flour them unless I use frozen plums. . they are a bit trickier to stuff and I find a little flour keeps them less leaky.

About 20 minutes before you are ready to eat. .

Put a large pot of water on to boil. . add a teaspoon of salt.

Start the sauce. . I know there are many various favorite sauces for wareneki. .but we still love the simple sauce of 1 cup of whipping cream to 1/4 cup butter. . bring to a boil and simmer a few minutes until it thickens. . .depending on how much you love your sauce . . you may need to make a double recipe of this.

Gently put the wareneki in the boiling water and bring it back to the boiling point. Boil only a few minutes.

Once the wareneki are floating they are done. .

Drain in a colander. . gently. . and serve. . a little melted butter helps to keep them from sticking. . we generally eat them too quickly to let them stick. .

I also saute some onions. . caramelized are quite yummy on the cottage cheese ones.

This meal is certainly not nutritionally sound. .aside from the eggs and the cottage cheese. . but a few now and then. . is so satisfying to the soul .. and isn't that good for something?