Tablescapes, Home Decor, Thrifting, Cooking

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Runzas

 

Are you familiar with these sandwiches?

Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a Runza.  This old German specialty is not found in many areas across the United States.  Even though the fast food restaurants are nearby our area I still like to make them from scratch  from time to time. 

Runzas are a mixture of hamburger, onions and chopped cabbage tucked into a delicious yeast roll.  You can’t beat the homemade version.  Some people like to add cheese, or sauces, mushrooms, etc. but I like the original version (recipe below) served with lots of mustard.  Most other people like ketchup too.

Dough:

2 c. warm water

1 egg

2 pkg. yeast

1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 tsp.salt

1/4 c. melted and cooled butter

6 1/2 c. flour

 

Filling:

1 1/2 lb. lean hamburger

1/2 c. chopped onion

3 c. shredded cabbage

1/2 c. water

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Dash  of Tabasco

1 t. or more chili powder

 

Before we begin, let me give you a couple of hints about baking with yeast.  I would imagine there are lots of you who use yeast frequently while others are intimidated by any recipe with the word “yeast” in it!

DSCN3242Make sure your water is just warm…not hot. I sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and sprinkle the sugar on top.  Just let it sit for a few minutes and pretty soon you will see some action going on. 

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Another hint when baking with yeast is to bring your egg to room temperature. If you didn’t allow time for this step, simply place the egg in a bowl of warm water.  It will warm to room temperature in the time it takes to measure out the rest of your ingredients.  The reason you don’t use an egg just out of the refrigerator is because the cold temp could slow down the yeast activity.

 

 

 

 

 

Mix water,  yeast, sugar and salt; stir until dissolved.  Add egg and melted butter; stir in flour.

 

 

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DSCN3248It will look like this to start with.

 

Knead til shiny.

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  Let rise til  double in size.  Roll dough into an oblong shape and cut into 18 squares.

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Combine all meat ingredients while dough is rising, simmer for 15 to 20 minutes and drain grease

 

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Dump out the risen dough and you are ready to begin putting the sandwiches together with the meat mixture.

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Divide cooled hamburger mixture between the squares. Pull the 4 sides up and press edges together.

 

 

Sorry this picture didn’t turn out well.  This shows me pulling all four sides together to seal.

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Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 350*

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Today I’m joining Michael for Foodie Friday.  You will find great recipes at her blog, Designs by Gollum.  I always find lots of cooking inspiration from there.  I know you will too.

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Also joining All Things Domestic Party!

All Things Domestic

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Would love to have this recipe in printer friendly format. Thanks, it looks yummy.

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

Oooh YUMMY!! girl..love this one..Hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

Kristens Creations said...

Hi Donna! I have never heard of these delicious sounding sandwiches! Yum! This sounds like something Kevin would like too.

I hope you are doing well! Love your new little desk!

Paula@SweetPea said...

I've never heard of a Runza but I know that I would like them. The recipe looks very doable. I like working with yeast. To me, it's kind of fascinating when it rises.

Kimberly said...

I've never heard of Runza's but the sandwiches look Yummy!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I've never heard of these sandwiches but they look so good. I'm so impressed you've made this beautiful bread to use!! You're the most cookingest one! ;)
Thanks for popping over to see me.
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

Unknown said...

Oh man, do these look good, but I admit, the yeast intimidates me.

Kathleen said...

These look good. Much like a meat pie.
I think they would be good to make wrap in foil and bring on a picnic, hand pies!
Happy FF!

stitching under oaks said...

these are going on my 'after basketball season is over and we get to sit down to dinner list'. They look wonderful. Thanks for the tips and the recipe.

April said...

Those are definitely a first for me, but they sure sound and look GOOD!

Julie said...

I live in Nebraska, so yes I am very familiar with Runza's. My first experience with them was when I lived in KC, one of my girlfriends grew up in Nebraska and made these homemade Runza's. My favorite part is the bread. YUM!

Keetha Broyles said...

I've never heard of these, but they sure do look yummy!!!

I live in the midwest - - - In Wisconsin - - - any Runza's near me??? We've got LOTS of Germans around these here parts!

Wende said...

These remind me of kolaches here in Texas. I shared your recipe on my Must Try Tuesday post this week.

http://therickettchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/03/must-try-tuesday-march-1-2011.html