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FOR THE DOUGH:
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Dissolve the yeast and a pinch of sugar in the warm water.
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Sprinkle in a teaspoon of flour and leave for 15 minutes in a warm place.
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Pour into a bowl, mix in the softened butter, sifted flour and salt, the milk and the beaten eggs, and knead into a smooth dough.
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Leave to rise until it has doubled in volume.
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Knead again and roll out.
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Cut out in small circles: you will be folding these in half to enclose the filling in a semi-circle or canoe shape.
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Brush the inner edges with a little milk to help them seal firmly.
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Then either brush the piroshki with egg and bake in a moderate to hot oven for about 10 minutes, until golden brown: or fry them, uncoated, in deep fat.
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FOR THE MEAT FILLING:
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Lightly fry the onion in the oil or butter, add the meat and cook for 5 minutes.
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Combine in a bowl with the seasoning and herbs and allow to cool.
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Pirozhki often come out rather dry because of the small quantities of filling which cannot, as with a pie, be moistened by the last-minute addition of stock.
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Both suet and frozen stock in little chips have been recommended to me by conscientious Russian pastry cooks to cure this fault.
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My objections are that suet makes the pirozhki undesireably fatty, while the chipped stock needs forethought and a sledgehammer, both of which go missing when I am in a hurry.
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A better solution, I think, is to use stock either naturally or artificially jellied with gelatine.
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Add 2 teaspoons, finely chopped, to the mixture when it is absolutely cold from the refrigerator, bind with egg and use immediately.
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FOR THE MUSHROOM FILLING:
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Chop the fresh mushrooms into quarters and cook gently in butter with finely chopped herbs for 15 minutes.
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Season, add a little chopped onion, chopped hardboiled egg or rice or both, and enough sour cream to make a fairly moist filling.
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FOR THE BUCKWHEAT FILLING:
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Cook the kasha in salted water for about 15 minutes until soft but not mushy.
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Drain well and combine with chopped hard-boiled egg, chopped fried onions, and chopped mushrooms sauteed in butter.
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Add seasoning and herbs to taste.
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Allow the mixture to cool thoroughly in the refrigerator and add little pieces of very cold butter.
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Use immediately.
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These are basic traditional fillings, but there is plenty of scope for invention along non-Russian lines; for example, egg and mushroom filling, moistened with butter.
