Kraut Burgers (Runzas)

• 1 pound fresh ground meat [turkey or ground beef chuck] *
• 1 small white onion [chopped]
• 1/2 cup beer
• Black Pepper
• 1/2 head of green cabbage [coarsely chopped]
• 1 lb. frozen bread dough [thawed]
• 1/4 cup melted butter

• 350 degrees oven temperature
• two cookie sheets [greased or sprayed with non-stick PAM]

First, you brown your meat and chopped onion. I used ground turkey. [*my grandmother and mother used leftover shaved beef roast] Once the ground meat is browned thoroughly, I add one half cup of beer! [The alcohol cooks out of it, and gives a really 'special' flavor!

Add chopped cabbage and 1/2 cup beer

Add black pepper and stir to coat meat, cabbage and onion

Reduce heat, and cover....allowing mixture to cook more thoroughly and cabbage and onion to become soft, translucent--

When cabbage is limp, then remove from heat to cool.

In the meantime, divide the 1 lb bread loaf [thawed] into eight 'biscuit' sized balls

...with your hands, flatten each 'biscuit' to about 4 inches in diameter. Add about 1/2 cup of meat [USING A SLOTTED SPOON SO JUICES CAN DRAIN], onion and cabbage mixture and fold dough over the mixture. Pinch dough to secure tightly.
[Note: if your mixture is too hot, the dough will split from the heat and make it very difficult to fold without breaking open!]

Place your meat pockets -- the runzas on the prepared cookie sheets, allowing room for rising, cooking dough--- Bake until nicely browned. Baste finished runza [kraut burgers] with melted butter...giving them a beautiful finish.

Serve hot! I love 'em with yellow mustard dipping sauce. Dill pickle slices.

Thanks to Hootin' Anni

Beef and Guinness Pie

• 2 lb boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 cup Guinness or other Irish stout
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons drained brined green peppercorns, coarsely chopped
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs
• Rough puff pastry dough
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon water
• Special equipment: 4 (14-oz) deep bowls or ramekins (4 to 5 inches wide; see Shopping List, page 301) or similar-capacity ovenproof dishes

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
Pat beef dry. Stir together flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. Add beef, turning to coat, then shake off excess and transfer to a plate. Heat oil in a wide 5- to 6-quart ovenproof heavy pot over moderately high heat until just smoking, then brown meat in 3 batches, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes per batch, transferring to a bowl.

Add onion, garlic, and water to pot and cook, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pot and stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in beef with any juices accumulated in bowl, broth, beer, Worcestershire sauce, peppercorns, and thyme and bring to a simmer, then cover and transfer to oven. Braise until beef is very tender and sauce is thickened, about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Discard thyme and cool stew completely, uncovered, about 30 minutes. (If stew is warm while assembling pies, it will melt uncooked pastry top.)

Put a shallow baking pan on middle rack of oven and increase oven temperature to 425°F.

Divide cooled stew among bowls (they won't be completely full). Roll out pastry dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch square, about 1/8 inch thick. Trim edges and cut dough into quarters. Stir together egg and water and brush a 1-inch border of egg wash around each square. Invert 1 square over each bowl and drape, pressing sides lightly to help adhere. Brush pastry tops with some of remaining egg wash and freeze 15 minutes to thoroughly chill dough.

Bake pies in preheated shallow baking pan until pastry is puffed and golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 400°F and bake 5 minutes more to fully cook dough.

Thanks to bbs.chrismoore.com

Beef, Mushroom and Stout Pot Pies

• 1kg shin or gravy beef, cut into 3cm pieces
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 40g butter, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 brown onion, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 125g button mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 1/4 cups stout beer
• 2 tablespoons thyme leaves
• 8 sheets filo pastry
• olive oil cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Grease four 1 1/2-cup capacity ovenproof dishes. Toss beef in flour to coat. Heat butter and oil in a frying pan over high heat. Cook beef, in 4 batches, for 3 minutes or until browned, adding more butter and oil as required. Transfer to a plate.

Add onion, garlic and mushroom to pan. Cook over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until onion is soft. Add stout and thyme. Return beef and any juices to pan. Stir to combine. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer for 25 minutes or until gravy thickens. Spoon into dishes. Allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Spray one piece of pastry with oil. Top with another pastry sheet and spray with oil. Repeat to form 4 layers. Cut two 21cm rounds from pastry sheets. Pinch centre of rounds and twist to form small topknots. Drape pastry over dishes to cover filling. Spray tops with oil. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Repeat with remaining pastry, oil and sesame seeds.
4. Place pies on a baking tray. Bake for 25 minutes or until pastry is golden and filling is piping hot. Serve.

Thanks to Taste.com

Beer Drinker's Pizza Dough

Makes enough dough for four 12-inch pizzas.

• 1 cup warm beer (110° to 120°, I microwaved my beer for one minute)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt
• 1 1/2 ounces fresh yeast (I used one package of dry yeast)
• 2 3/4 to 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk to combine beer, 2 tablespoons
olive oil, sugar, salt, and yeast. Fit bowl on electric mixer fitted with a
dough hook, mix until incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly add flour, and
mix until dough is fairly stiff, about 10 minutes.

On a lightly floured work surface, knead dough until smooth and elastic,
about 5 minutes. Brush the inside of a large bowl with remaining tablespoon
olive oil; transfer dough to bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover bowl
with plastic wrap, and leave in a warm place until dough has doubled in
size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough, and transfer to a clean surface. Using a bench scraper
or sharp knife, divide dough into quarters; keep covered with plastic wrap.

Thanks to http://crazybone.tk