Kraut Bierocks – German Cabbage Burgers Part 1

These Kraut Bierocks are a fond memory of my childhood.

Bierocks are meat-filled pocket pastries originating in Eastern Europe, possibly in Germany or Russia, as the dish is very common among theVolga German community in the United States and Argentina. They were brought to the United States in the 1880s by German Russian Mennonite immigrants.(Wikepedia)

This recipe was handed down from my Grandpa  to my aunts, to my cousins and myself.  It was frequently made in our family, and my mom still to this day participates in a Germans from Russia group who makes these as a fundraising event by the hundreds.

There is the full-blown homemade version of the dough and the filling, which I will post in Part 2.  I simply couldn’t fit it all in one post.  This version will focus on an easy shortcut recipe.

This version in Part 1 can be made quickly and easily by anyone, instead of the homemade dough pockets we’ll make in Part 2.  But here’s a little sampling teaser to show you some of Part 2…

Both use the same Bierock filling I will show you how to make in Part 1.

To make the filling,  you will need to have an entire head of plain ol’ green cabbage.

Using a large knife, slice it in half.

Make a V cut and remove the core end.

Chop your cabbage up by making thin slices across your cabbage, then rotating your cabbage 90º and slice across it the other way.  This should give you nice small pieces of chopped cabbage.

This will seem like a lot of cabbage, but trust me, it will cook down in your pan.

Chop up one medium size onion.

Pour a little olive oil into a large size fry pan.  Take one pound of ground beef and put it in the hot pan.

Add your onions and stir continuously, until meat browns and breaks up.

Add your cabbage to the meat/onion mixture.  Also, chop up 2-3 cloves of garlic and add it in.

Season with a teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.  Put the lid on and cook on medium-low for about 30 minutes until cabbage is soft, and has begun to cook in nicely with the onions and beef.  Stir every few minutes so the bottom doesn’t burn up.

The smell will be divine at this point.

While that’s cooking, let’s prepare the dough…are you ready for the fancy dough? Remember…this is the easy version….

Pop open that can of flaky crescent roll dough.  Pull apart the little triangles. Mine were a tad mutilated so they may look a little squarish instead.

Push the triangles down into a sprayed muffin tin until they form into the bottom of the mold.

Leave the little triangle tips out of the muffin tin.  We have plans for those tips.

When your filling finishes cooking, take a slotted spoon and spoon the filling into the muffin cup dough pockets, making sure to fill to the top of the tray.

Take the corners of your crescent dough triangles, and fold them over top of your filling.

Fold all 3 corners together and pinch a bit to make them adhere to each other.

After you’ve made all your bierocks, pop your muffin tins into a 350º oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the tops are a dep golden brown.

Mmmmmmmmm.

Let these sit for a few minutes, then pop them out on plates or a serving tray.

Enoy them piping hot.  Here have a bite…

Stay tuned tomorrow for the authentic German recipe for the Bierock dough pockets.  See Mr. Wonderful, the master dough roller help me make these small pillows filled with yummy goodness.

Cooking with Love,

~Katie