Things you need:
3 lbs hamburger
1 large onion
1 head cabbage
bread dough (I cheat and buy mine in the frozen ready made loaves)
salt
pepper
cheese-sliced or shredded
The morning of preparation I set out my loaves on a cookie sheet to thaw and rise. If you are planning on making them early in the day just leave them out overnight covered with saran wrap. I like to let mine get big and puffy, they seem to be easier to work with when they are warm and make bigger bierocks after they have had a chance to rise. They will approximately double in size.
I usually get a package of bread that has 6 loaves in it, and find that I use 4 for the bierocks, so you can either plop two loaves into greased bread pans before it rises and also have fresh bread or just leave it tucked into the freezer until you are ready for it.
Put your hamburger and chopped onion into a pot to brown and cook together. After this is done, add 1/2 to 3/4 chopped head of cabbage and stir. I add salt and pepper at this point and let the cabbage simmer down and taste test to see if I want more pepper, it's personal preference how much you want really.
The mixture should look something like this when you are ready to start putting them together. I have found that I can get about 6 bierocks from 1 loaf of dough. I just cut it as I go, you can also pre-slice the dough if you want before starting.
Grab your first piece of dough and start smooshing it down (yes, technical cooking term there). I flatten mine out and go for a squarish/rectangular shape, it makes it easier for me to fold the ends up. I just use a spoon or measuring cup and put the hamburger/cabbage mixture in the center of the dough (1/2 cup to 3/4 cup usually). IF you are using cheese, I recommend putting it on BEFORE the meat. Cheese slices work well for this, I just lay them in the center and smoosh it down into the dough a little and then put the meat on.
Now you are ready to fold up the dough around the meat. Just grab a couple corners and pinch together and repeat until the dough is in a ball covering the meat. NOTE: I keep a kitchen towel handy when doing this because if you get the meat/cabbage on your hands you will have a hard time getting the dough to stick to itself.
Just repeat all the way until you have used up your meat mixture.
The bierocks are cooked approximately to the directions on the bread dough package, usually about 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. They should be nicely browned when they are finished, but this might vary with brands of dough and ovens. Let them cool for a few minutes on the pan and then remove with spatula to a clean towel/cooling surface. This yields approximately 24 bierocks, and they hold well in the freezer for lunches or last minute supper options. I sent a couple bags with my husband to take to work and share at lunch and got rave reviews! I am so pleased! So don't be intimidated by making these, they are not hard! And you can substitute about anything you want for bierock filling, ham and cheese, pepperoni, eggs and cheese etc. Instant crowd pleaser!
