Russian Pastries Recipe

8 oz Cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 c All-purpose flour

1/2 c Butter, softened

2 lg Eggs

1/2 lb Ground beef

1 md Onion, diced

1/4 c Sour cream

3 tb Sweet pickle relish

1/2 ts Salt

1/2 ts Dill weed

1/8 ts Pepper

In medium bowl, with hand, knead cream cheese, flour, and butter until smooth. Shape dough into ball; wrap in plastic wrap or foil; refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, hard-cook 1 egg; chop. In 10" skillet over high heat, cook ground beef and onion until meat is browned and all pan juices evaporate. Remove skillet from heat; stir in sour cream, pickle relish, salt, dill weed, pepper, chopped egg, and 1/4 c water; set aside. On floured surface with floured rolling pin, roll dough 1/8" thick. With floured 2 3/4" round cookie cutter, cut out 20 dough rounds. Repeat with remaining dough and trimmings to make about 50 dough rounds in all. Onto on half of each round, place one teaspoon of meat mixture. In cup, with fork, beat remaining egg; brush edges of dough round with some egg; fold dough over filling. With fork, firmly press edges together to seal; prick tops; brush with remaining egg. Arrange pastries on ungreased cookie sheet, about 1" apart. If not serving right away, cover with foil and refrigerate. To serve, preheat oven to 425oF. Bake pastries 10 minutes or until golden. Makes about 50 pastries. Each pastry; About 65 calories, 5 g fat, 18 mg cholesterol, 70 mg sodium. TO FREEZE AND USE UP TO 1 MONTH LATER: Place unbaked pastries in freezer container with waxed paper between each layer; seal; label; and freeze. About 25 minutes before serving, preheat oven to 425oF. Arrange frozen pastries on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes or until pastries are golden. Good Housekeeping's HOLIDAY BEST '93 pg 120