Russian Pelmeni (Meat Ravioli) Пельмени

Ingredients: 
For the Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg
2/3 cups cold water
1 tbsp salt

For the filling:
1 lb any ground meat (you can mix different types of meat too)
1 onion
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bunch parsley if desired 


For the Dough:
Place flour on a work surface (if you have never done this before, place flour in a large bowl). At the top make a grove with your fingers.
Beat an egg in it, add 1 tbsp of salt and a little bit of water.
Start kneading the dough, pushing the bottom flour on top of water. As you work along the dough will stick to fingers, just take the dough off the fingers and keep kneading for about 5 minutes. Keep adding water little by little, you don't want to add too much water or else the dough will be too soft and sticky.
Place the dough on a flat surface and  knead until it is smooth and is not too soft. All together kneading will take about 10-15 minutes. In the end it shouldn't stick to hands.
Place the dough in a bowl and cover with paper towel and leave for 20 minutes.

In the meantime prepare the filling:
Place meat in the bowl and break it apart with a spoon. Chop the onion really well or run it through in a food processor ( food processor will give it the correct consistency).
Add onion, salt, pepper and mix well.
You can also add some parsley or any other herb, but chop it well or run it in a food processor with the onion.


Place wax paper on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with some flour.
Place some flour on a work surface and knead the dough a little to soften it.
Cut 1/4 of a dough, knead it some more and roll it in to a ball.
Roll the dough in to a very thin sheet, about 1/8 inch thin.
Take a cup or a glass, flip it and dip in the flour, cut circles out of the dough. If the dough starts sticking to the cup keep dipping it in the dough.
Collect the left out dough and knead it back in to the rest of the dough.
Place one of the dough circle in your hand, add half of teaspoon of filling, bend the dough in half to cover the filling, pinch the edges together to close the filling. Than bring 2 corners together and seal them.
Place on a cookie sheet. Continue with the rest of the dough and filling.
When you're done you can cook the Pelmeni right away by dropping them in a boiling salted water, bring to a boil again and cook for 10-20 minutes depending on the size of your Pelmeni.
Take them out, place in a bowl and add 1 tbsp of butter, mix to cover the Pelmeni with butter.
Or you can place the cookie sheet with Pelmeni in a freezer over night, than store in a zip-lock bag for about a month.

Serve with sour cream, mayo or any sauce you like.
Enjoy!

Chicken Parmesan (Pollo Parmigiana)

Ingredients: 
6 chicken cutlets
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
5 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste


Instructions:
In a bowl combine bread crumbs, oregano, nutmeg, salt, pepper and 2 tbsp of Parmesan.
In a second bowl beat the eggs and in to the third bowl add flour .
Tenderize the chicken, but not too much. Or else it will be dry.
Dredge the chicken in flour, than dip in the egg and cover in bread crumb-spice mixture.
Over medium heat, preheat olive oil in a large skillet.
Fry the chicken, until golden for 4-5 minutes. Turn the chicken over and cook  for about 5-6 minutes over  medium-low heat, covered with a lid until the chicken is cooked.
Take the chicken out of the skillet and place on plate covered with a paper towel.
Spray or brush baking pan with olive oil, spread 4 tbsp of marinara sauce on the bottom of the pan.
Place chicken on top, spread the rest of the sauce on top, sprinkle with Parmesan and top with Mozzarella cheese.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and bake for 5-10 minutes until the cheese melted and sauce started to bubble.
Serve with pasta of your choice.
Enjoy!

Crab Fried Rice

Ingredients:

4 oz cooked crab meat

2 cups cooked jasmine rice

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 cloves garlic

3 tbsp canola oil

3 bunches of scallions

Pinch of sugar

Salt and pepper to taste 

Instructions:

Dice the garlic. Chop scallions into 1/2 inch pieces.

In the skillet, heat canola oil over medium heat.

Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. (Don't burn the garlic, it's going to give bitter taste)

Add one lightly beaten egg to the garlic and quickly scramble up.

Mix in the rice with egg and cook stirring occasionally for 4-5 minutes.

Pour soy sauce on top, add pinch of sugar, salt and pepper, mix and cook for another minute. (Make sure you don't put too much salt, because the soy sauce is already salty!)

Add chopped scallions with crab meat, mix everything together.

Pour the second egg on top and mix well until the egg spreads evenly and cooks through.

Enjoy!