bierocks with green tomato relish

Dana Miller

Bierocks with Green Tomato Relish

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Author: Dana Miller

Cook time: 30 MinTotal time: 30 Min

Bierocks are little baked pockets of goodness that were a favorite when I was growing up. They apparently originated in Eastern Europe and were brought to America by German and Mennonite immigrants. This is my family's iteration (this makes a LOT - I'm from a large family). They are best served warm with green tomato relish.

Ingredients

Bread

• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons yeast
• 2.5 cups warm water
• 5 cups flour + extra for kneading
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 0.25 cup vegetable oil

Filling

• 1-2 lb ground beef
• 1 large yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 large can bavarian style sauerkraut
• shredded green cabbage (about the same amount as there is sauerkraut)
• caraway seed
• salt
• pepper
• shredded cheddar cheese

Green Tomato Relish

• 3 quarts vinegar
• 8 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons celery seed
• 2 tablespoons mustard seed
• 5 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 peck green tomatoes (this is seriously what my mom told me! I just use as much as I have when I'm clearing out the tomatoes at the end of the summer)
• 1 head cabbage
• 6 bell peppers
• 6 onions
• 1 cup salt

Protocol

Bread

1. Mix sugar, yeast and 1 cup warm (37 C) water. Let yeast bloom until mixture doubles in volume.
2. In mixer bowl add flour, salt, oil, yeast mix, and 1.5 cups warm water. Mix on low (2 on my kitchenaid stand mixer) with dough hook. Add extra flour, about 0.5 cup at a time, until dough balls up on hook. Knead for 10 min until shiny and stretchy. Add more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking to sides of mixing bowl.
3. Turn dough out from bowl, fold and knead by hand to make a nice dough ball. Put in greased bowl, spray top with pam, cover with clean kitchen towel and let it rise until it doubles in size.
4. While dough is proofing, make filling.
5. Punch down, turn out dough. Divide dough into about 2 dozen aliquots. Roll out each dough aliquot into a circle about 8-10 inches in diameter. Spoon filling into center. Top with shredded cheddar cheese. Fold corners over the filling, then put each bierock onto a baking sheet. Let proof for another 30-ish min, then bake at 350 for 30 min or until golden brown and amazing. Move bierocks to cooling racks, serve when you can touch them without burning yourself.

Filling

1. Brown ground beef in large skillet. Add onion and saute until translucent, then add garlic and cook for about a minute. Season well with salt and pepper.
2. Add sauerkraut and cabbage and caraway seed to taste (if you can't find bavarian style sauerkraut add extra caraway here). Cook until cabbage begins to soften, then let cool.

Green Tomato Relish

1. Chop tomatoes, cabbage, peppers, onions. Mix well and add salt. Let stand overnight.
2. Mix vinegar, sugar, celery seed, mustard seed, and cloves. Drain tomato mix well and add to vinegar. Boil until it just begins to thicken, then put mixture into Ball jars and seal. Can store forever(ish) but it never lasts that long.

Notes:

Bierocks:

When I asked my mom for this "recipe" she told me that there is no recipe, you just add what you want. This is the standard, but you can vary this however you like.

Green Tomato Relish:

This is another 'recipe' that isn't - my mom repeatedly used "add some" or "put in enough" when describing how to make this to me. I often add in some spicy peppers, garlic, or whatever else I can find that sounds fun.

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