Thursday, January 21, 2010

Bierocks- a meat filled pastry orginating in Eastern Europe

My mom
used
to make
this
for
our
family
when I
was
growing up.

And of course what my mom made for us, I like to make for my kiddos.
Here is a little history about Beirocks from  wikipedia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bierock), "Bierocks are meat-filled pocket pastries originating in Eastern Europe, possibly in Germany or Russia, as the dish is very common among the Volga German community in the United States and Argentina. They were brought to the United States in the 1880s by German Russian Mennonite immigrants. In the U.S., bierocks are found in Kansas, North Dakota, Colorado, Northwest Oklahoma, and the western states of California, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming. The bierock is closely related to the Runza, primarily found in Nebraska."

I don't have my moms recipe but here is how I made mine tonight (I know she always put onion in them but my honey hates onions so they never enter our house, sad I know)

Ingredients;
1 (3 pound) package of frozen white texas size dinner rolls
1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
3 cups of shredded mozzarella or about 12 slices of american cheese
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Directions:
1) Thaw out frozen rolls.
2) Brown beef, cabbage and garlic together in a large skillet. Add onion powder and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3) Roll out rolls into squares one at a time and place a spoonful of the beef/cabbage mixture onto the center of each dough square. Sprinkle with cheese (or a half slice if you use american). Fold over and pinch sides to seal. Rub a bit of oil on the outside of each pastry to keep it from drying out while cooking.
4) Place on cookie sheet and bake in preheated over at 350 degrees F for 35-45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Enjoy!