Sunday, June 5, 2011

Bierock Casserole

Bierock Casserole is a homely dish created to taste like the traditional Bierock pastries native to European countries, including Germany. Though I've never had actual Bierocks, according to Wikipedia, "Bierock is filled with cooked and seasoned ground beef, shredded cabbage and onions, then oven baked until the dough is golden brown"--just like this casserole! This is a recipe I grew up eating around Saint Patrick's Day when we had cabbage we needed to use up (after Corned Beef and Cabbage!). We recently made eggrolls, hence the excessive leftover cabbage and a need for Bierock Casserole! Andrew said once that it tastes like a Big Mac...






2 lbs ground chuck, beef, or sirloin
3 cans crescent rolls
1/2 head cabbage (shredded) or 1 can undrained saurkraut
1 chopped onion
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 lb or more shredded cheddar cheese

If making with saurkraut, skip to next step. To make with cabbage, steam the shredded cabbage and then soak it in a little vinegar to make it more "sauerkrauty." Add vinegar to taste--if you skimp on the vinegar it doesn't taste as good, though I imagine you could do too much too! 

Meanwhile, brown hamburger until almost done. Stir in onion and sauerkraut and complete cooking. Drain. Mix in soup.

In 9 X 13 pan, arrange half of the crescent rolls flat on the bottom of the pan. Then put beef mixture and sprinkle cheese (the cheesier, the better!). Top with the other half of the rolls.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Guten Appetit!