bierocks: meat and cabbage rolls

This past weekend I made beirocks.

I hadn’t made beirocks for a really long time. In fact, maybe I never made them before. I don’t know.

I’ve known about them forever, though. And I’ve eaten them at friends’ houses. And I’ve read about them on blogs. But it just never crossed my mind to actually make them myself. That is, not until you all suggested I make them for my lactose-intolerant husband’s lunches.

And then I was like, Duh, these would be perfect!

They’re not hard to make. Just fry up some beef and cabbage, make a batch of five-minute bread dough, roll the meat up into the dough (kind of), and bake.

The kids were thrilled. They call them meat rolls and ate them warm, dipped in ketchup and/or mustard. I ate mine dipped in curry ketchup. So, so good.

Beirocks
Adapted from the More-With-Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre

Next time I’ll add one grated carrot along with the cabbage, just for color.

Also, they are pronounced “beer-rocks,” more or less.

2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
a pinch of hot pepper flakes
some generous squirts of hot sauce (I used Sriracha)
3 cups thinly chopped cabbage
1 recipe of five-minute bread
more olive oil, for the baking pan
cornmeal, for the baking pan
1 egg, beaten, and mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water, for wash, optional

Fry the ground beef and onion in the olive oil over medium-high heat until cooked through. Add the salt, pepper, hot sauce, and cabbage. Stir thoroughly, reduce the heat to low, put a lid on the pan and cook for about 20 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender. Add more seasoning, if desired, and set aside.

On a well-floured workspace, roll out the dough as thinly as possible. Cut into squares, about 4 inches by 4 inches. Put several tablespoons of meat filling into the center of each piece of dough and pinch the corners together to close.

Place buns, seam-side down, on an oiled, cornmeal-sprinkled baking sheet. Brush the tops and sides of each roll with the egg wash. Let rise (I didn’t bother to cover them) for about 15 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Serve warm or at room temp with ketchup or mustard for dipping. Freeze leftovers.

Yield: about 20-30 buns.

P.S. I totally forgot to put up and link to my last Kitchen Chronicles column! It’s a previously posted recipe, so the pressure to share wasn’t there, I guess.

This same time, years previous: crispy cinnamon cookies,  homeschoolers have it tough

Jennifer Jo lives with her husband John and their four children on five acres in rural Virginia where she (kinda-sorta-maybe) homeschools the kids, gardens, bakes, and reads. You can find more of her musings and lots of recipes at her web-log mamasminutia.blogspot.com.

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