Bierocks

I've used this recipe twice, adapting it slightly, to make Bierocks for our family. The Nourishing Gourmet site has a great little article to go along with it, too.

Today I thought I was making enough to have some extras for The Lawyer's lunches this week. . . but I really only ended up with one extra and a bit of filling. I tell you, if I put it out they will eat it! This is also the recipe that caused O to say he liked cabbage for the first time.

Ground Beef and Cabbage Filling for Bierocks -Enough filling for 16 pockets with leftover filling. Adapted from The Nourishing Gourmet.

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We liked these served with a whole grain mustard on the side or a tomato sauce (see below).
 
Prepare a dough using about 3 cups of flour (enough dough for one loaf of bread). I used the bread machine to make 2 pounds of pizza dough with 4 cups of whole wheat flour.
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil, lard, tallow, or butter
1 pound of ground hamburger or venison
A half of a cabbage, washed and thinly sliced (I used the wet chop feature of the Vitamix)
salt and pepper to taste

1-In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the onions. Stir occasionally and continue to cook until the onions are soft (but don’t brown them too much).
2-Then add the hamburger and cabbage together, cooking until the hamburger is all the way cooked and the cabbage is soft. Salt and pepper to taste. (I used cooked beef and added it after sauteing the cabbage a few minutes with the onions.)
3-Now you can serve over rice for a simple dinner, or you can stuff into dough for little bread pockets.
4- For pockets, divide your dough into about 16 pieces. I divided my dough into fourths and rolled out each fourth into a large rectangle. Then I cut my rectangle into fourths and placed a few tablespoon on one half of each rectangle (made sure you use a slotted spoon to drain any excess liquid from the filling- it would make your pocket soggy!). Fold over the other half and press down to seal.
5-In a preheated oven of 400 degrees, bake your pockets until they are lightly brown, top and bottom. Ours finished in around 20 minutes. Serve right away hot, or send cold in lunches.

 Tomato Sauce for Bierocks
olive oil
3 garlic cloves
1 small can tomato sauce
fresh herbs to taste (basil and oregano)


1-  In a small saucepan, warm olive oil. Add crushed garlic to the pan and allow to brown slightly. Add tomato sauce and heat through. Finely chop herbs and add to the tomato sauce. Serve warm.