Bierocks

I would really like to know how to pronounce Bierocks, a German  bun stuffed with meat and veggies. At least that’s what Bierocks are in the “Cooking Wild. . .” cookbook. Anyhow, using the last pound of last year’s ground venison, I confronted the bierocks recipe. I was planning on making them last week, mid-week. But after the Best Buy/watery rice episode, thought otherwise. And, I’m glad. This is not a mid-week recipe. And, I have to say that my success rate at dough filled with filling of any sort, such as calzones, empanadas, or fruit dumplings, is somewhere close to 0.0%. And, bread dough in particular, has eluded me. I assume this is due to an overall lack of patience and attention to detail. Directions like let dough rise for an hour, or find a warm place for dough to double, have never struck me as crucial steps worthy of my full attention. And, certainly patience at rolling out small circles of dough and carefully filling them has not been my forte.  However, by waiting until I had the sort of day that I could find the time to make dough, and having the epiphany that I could set my oven on very low to rise the dough in (dude, I never said I was a cooking genious, how do you spell genous? ) the dough worked for me.  I was so proud of my little meat filled buns upon completion.  Yippee. The dough did rise. The stuffing wasn’t too runny. And the dough didn’t shred when I rolled it thin and folded up the buns. Wow. These babies even stayed together when baked.

The end result. Bierocks taste . . .German.  They reminded both Fred and I of something you’d take to a German cultural dinner, like some sort of 4-H program or something. They were quite pretty in their bun-ness , a bit bland without mustard, and enjoyed by the kiddos and adults very much. I find it interesting that someone with the family name of Koenig, for goodness sake, finds German food more foreign than sushi or catfish tacos. What a strange cultural phenomenon. I really felt like the Bierocks were more other culture than I could accept, almost.  My theory: we are so used to razzle dazzle rich or spicy dishes that old world foods taste . . .strange.  I mean, most Americans are very familiar with Mexican and Chinese food,  but a bierock? Never heard of it. Anyway, I did find that the further I got into dinner the more of a taste I was acquiring for by little bierock buns and am looking forward to having the other ½ of those babies for dinner tomorrow.