Bacon Turnovers (Latvian Piragi)

Latvian Piragi are little bacon turnovers, rolls, buns or whatever you want to call them. They are found everywhere in Latvia. These little treats are a puff type pastry stuffed with bacon and onions. Seriously they eat a lot of pork in Latvia and these were a wonderful way to start our Latvian feast. They are best straight out of the oven, a little bite of heaven. It is pretty hard to go wrong with bacon, right?

Filling:
1 onion, finely chopped
½ lb bacon, finely diced
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground

Dough:
¾ cup milk
¼ cup butter
2 tsp. sea salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 pkg dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
1 egg, beaten
3½ cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
2 Tbsp. sour cream

Glaze:
1 beaten egg
1 tsp. water
¼ tsp. sugar

For the Filling:
Saute the finely chopped onions and bacon in frying pan over low heat until about half the fat has dripped and melted, this takes anywhere from 15-30 minutes. Drain the fat but save about a Tablespoon. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.

For the Dough:
Heat the milk until it just starts to form a thin skin on the top. Remove from heat and put into a large mixing bow, add in the butter, salt and sugar. Let cool until lukewarm.

In a cup mix together the warm water, yeast and sugar. Wait until it starts to bubble up. Add it to the lukewarm milk in the large mixing bowl. Add in the beaten egg.

Add in about 1½ cups of flour and beat until smooth. Add in the rest of the flour a little at a time mixing after each addition. Add in the sour cream and mix again.

cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough sit for 10 minutes.

Prepare a floured surface for kneading. After the 10 minutes is up, turn the dough on the floured surface and knead for 5-6 minutes until smooth.

Grease a large bowl, put the dough into the bowl and turn it to grease all the surface of the dough.

Cover with a damp cloth and let it rise in a warm place for about 90 minutes or until doubled in size.

Punch down the dough.

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C/180°C fan, Gas Mark 6).

Prepare a floured surface and roll out the dough.

Mix together the glaze ingredients.

Roll out the dough to about ¼" and use a glass to make rounds out of the dough. Re-use and re-roll the dough until all the dough is used up.

Holding a round in the palm of your hand, add in a teaspoon of the filling and press the edges of the dough together. It is critical that the dough is tightly sealed. You can use a fork or a glass rim if necessary to seal the edges. Repeat until all the dough circles are filled.

Place on a cookie sheet and let sit for another 10 or minutes until they double again in size.

Brush them with the glaze.

Bake for 13-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm.

Makes 25.