Pierogi, three fillings, with sour cream and applesauce

Whisk the flour and kosher salt together.

Barely melt the butter on the stovetop, add the water, aiming for a mixture at about 95F.

Add the wet to the dry along with two room temperature eggs and beat with a fork, working in the flour until it has to be finished by hand.

Adjust with flour or water 50 to 25 grams at a time until the dough is soft, tacky, bouncy and supple, like a sandwich bread dough.

Knead five or six minutes until the gluten is well developed, return to the bowl under a moistened towel and rest 30 minutes at room temperature.

Divide into four pieces, keeping the rest covered, and roll each to about one sixteenth of an inch or one and a half millimeters.

Cut rounds with a three and a half inch biscuit cutter and hold them between layers of parchment paper in the fridge.

Potato filling: cover the peeled chopped potatoes with cold water, season with salt, bring to a boil and cook about 12 minutes until completely tender, then drain very thoroughly.

Potato filling: mash or rice the potatoes, then mix in the cheese and kosher salt until no streaks of cheese remain; cool to room temperature or chill a few hours.

Mushroom filling: cook the mushrooms in a few tablespoons of unsalted butter seven to 10 minutes until their liquid has released and evaporated and they start to sizzle.

Mushroom filling: add the chopped onion and cook three to five minutes until nicely caramelized, add the sauerkraut and cook a few minutes more until its liquid has evaporated; salt to taste and cool.

Beef filling: brown the crumbled ground beef in a few tablespoons of neutral oil without crowding the pan, so it does not boil and steam.

Beef filling: lift the beef out with a slotted spoon while still pink in parts, cook the chopped onion in the remaining fat three to five minutes, add the crushed garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant.

Beef filling: return the beef with the beef stock and cook about five minutes until most of it has evaporated but it is still a little saucy; season with kosher salt and pepper and cool.

Scoop a dollop of filling into the centre of each round, stretch the dough across, pinch the centre and then the outside edge, pressing and smearing the edge closed; no egg or water wash is needed.

Cook now, cover tightly and refrigerate up to overnight, or freeze loose about four hours until solid and bag for up to three months. From frozen, boil 30 to 60 seconds longer.

Sour cream: whisk the heavy cream, milk and white vinegar, cover with a few layers of cheesecloth under a rubber band and leave out at least 12 hours until thickened to a drizzlable consistency. It is closer to creme fraiche than sour cream.

Applesauce: combine the chopped apples with sugar, salt and water in a large wide saucepan, cover and simmer about 20 minutes with the lid on.

Applesauce: take the lid off, mash to an applesauce consistency and cook 10 minutes more, lid off, until excess liquid has evaporated.

Saute the remaining chopped onion about five minutes until lightly browned.

Preheat a nonstick pan with a few tablespoons of neutral oil beside a pot of well-salted boiling water.

Boil the pierogi about 30 seconds, 60 to 90 seconds from frozen, lift out and shake off as much water as possible to avoid oil spatter.

Fry about a minute a side until lightly browned, then plate at once.

Scatter the sauteed onions over, drizzle generously with the sour cream and scatter with parsley, chives or scallions.