Kitchen redemption

Abbie and I finally made up for the grease fire we started while trying to make churros a few months back, and we did it with the help of these delicious pierogies . . .

Photo from momofukufor2.com

Okay, ours looked more like this . . .

Not as pretty but still, I was impressed with us. They took longer than we thought they would, but they weren't overly work intensive so there's a good chance I'll be making them again. Plus, it doesn't require a lot of ingredients and most of them we already had on hand. Oh and did I mention this recipe makes about 40 of them? Take a look at the original recipe at momofukufor2, and check out our modified version of the recipe after the jump.
 What you need:
(for the dough)
3 cups of all-purpose flour (and a little extra for kneading)
1 cup of water
1 egg
2 teaspoons of vegetable (or olive) oil
1 teaspoon of salt
Biscuit cutter 

(for the filling)
1 1/2 pounds of potatoes
1 cup of coarsely grated cheese (you can use whatever kind you like, we used a cheddar)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

How you make it:
(for the dough)
-Put flour into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center
-Add water, egg, oil and salt to the well and carefully beat together with a fork, without incorporating the flour
-Continue stirring with a wooden spoon, gradually incorporating the flour until a soft dough forms
-Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface (you'll need a bit of flour on your hands too) for about 8 minutes
-Place the dough back in the bowl and cover lightly with saran wrap; let it sit at room temperature while you make the filling

(for the filling)
-Peel and cut potatoes into one-inch pieces
-Cook in a large pot of boiling water until tender, it should take about 8 minutes
-Drain the potatoes
-Grate one cup of cheese (or just chop it as finely as you can)
-Add to the potatoes
-Mash until smooth
-Add salt and pepper

(for the pierogies)
-Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface
-Cut circles out with the biscuit cutter (as many as you can make, we got about 40 total)
-Place a circle of dough in the palm of your hand and put a spoonful of filling on one side of the circle
-Fold dough over and pinch the edges closed all the way around (you don't want them exploding!)
-Boil 6-8 cups of water and add the pierogies once boiling
-Stir the pierogies once or twice to keep them from sticking
-Cook 5 minutes from the time the pierogi floats to the surface
-Drain and pan fry in butter until crisp and golden brown