Bierocks

Wotchers!

This week’s recipe is another great comfort food and snack item that originates in eastern Europe, and migrated from Russia, through Germany and travelled with the food traditions of German immigrants to North America. Variations are also known as Fleischkuche, Runza’s, Kraut Pirok and Cabbage Burger.

A soft, white bread dough is stuffed with a mixture of seasoned beef mince, onion and cabbage – and that’s it. You’re thinking it sounds a bit plain and dull? Yes, me too when I first read about these, but reading the reviews of these buns on recipe sites and blogs,  you discover that these simple stuffed rolls have a huge fan base out there – so much so that they are made commercially in the US. The mix of meat, onions and cabbage is moist and savoury and comforting. Sometimes the most flavourful things come from the simplest of ingredients.

These rolls are best served warm, and served with salad they can be a simple and tasty lunch. Alternatively, they also freeze well – great for grab-and-go weekday lunches, they will have defrosted by lunchtime can be warmed up either in an oven or microwave.

Although the basic recipe is delicious, you can also add a little extra flavourings to your taste. The most popular variation includes a little sauerkraut with the cabbage: I personally wasn’t keen, but then I only had shop-bought sauerkraut to try it with. Home-made sauerkraut is probably much better. The second variation I tried was to add a little cheese. I went with some grated Grana Padano (a strong Italian cheese similar to Parmesan, but much cheaper) for maximum flavour without adding too much bulk to the filling. I really liked this little addition, but please do try the original mixture too – it really is delicious.

You can use any cabbage, but I like both the colour and texture of the Savoy cabbage – it holds its colour really well and makes the filling look fresh and juicy as well as taste that way.

Bierocks – Makes 12

Bread Dough
500g strong white flour
1 sachet fast action yeast
1 large egg
1 tsp salt
1.5 tsp sugar
100ml whole milk
100ml boiling water

Filling
500g lean beef mince
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 small Savoy cabbage, finely shred
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
grated Grana Padano cheese (optional)

• Make the bread dough:
  • Put the flour, yeast, egg, salt and sugar into a bowl.
  • Add the boiling water to the milk and add gradually to the mixture until it comes together into a soft dough. You may need more liquid, depending on the moisture in the flour and egg.
  • Knead the mixture for ten minutes, cover and set aside to rise for an hour.
• Make the filling.
  • Heat a non-stick saucepan over a medium high heat and crumble in the meat. No need to have any oil, even lean mince has a certain amount of fat in it which will come out as the meat cooks.
  • Stir the meat around until it is browned and shiny.
  • Add the onion and continue stirring while the onion softens.
  • Finally add in the cabbage and cook until the cabbage has softened – probably no more than 2-3 minutes.
  • Stir in the salt and pepper, remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
• When the dough is risen, tip out and pat down.
• Divide dough into pieces weighing 75-80g.
• Roll dough out into a 15cm square.
• Put a measure of the cooled filling into the middle of the dough. I use an 80ml measuring cup.
• Add 1 teaspoon of the grated cheese, if using.
• Bring the corners of the dough together and pinch along the edges to seal in the filling. What you will end up with looks like the back of an envelope.
• Turn the buns over and place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Dust the buns with flour and set aside to rise for 15-20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C, 160°C Fan.
• Bake the buns for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.
• Remove the buns from the oven and immediately cover the baking sheet with some tea-towels. This will trap the heat and create steam, which will soften the crust of the buns.
• Eat warm.