Between the Bread

What began as a pocketful of beef and cabbage eventually led to the Reuben we know and love today. Similar to the Cornish pasties popular in Michigan by way of Cornwall, the bierock is a sort of German calzone made from yeasty dough stuffed with beef, cabbage, and onions.

This portable sandwich precursor arrived in the Great Plains thanks to Germans who migrated from Russia to the Nebraska and Kansas farmland. Cabbage is a classic cold weather crop, and bierocks can warm you right up. The name bierock is probably related to the Russian pirozhki, another type of meat-stuffed dough dish. Perhaps not coincidentally, one of the several origin stories about the Reuben sandwich (more on that later) starts in Nebraska.

Baked in a half-moon or bun shape, bierocks are also called cabbage burgers, something my house boy remembers from growing up in Wyoming and is always threatening to make. Other fans refer to it as a runza, which inspired an entire chain of "ovenstuff'd sandwiches" in Nebraska. These oblong baked sammies look suspiciously similar to the cheesesteak pretzels that debuted last year.

Have you ever been to Runza or eaten a cabbage burger or bierock?

Source: Fork Fingers Chopsticks

We didn't have sandwiches for Easter supper, but that doesn't mean I can't sandwich it up with the leftovers. Since we've made it an unofficial tradition to buy a Honey Baked Ham, I consider Easter the best leftover sandwich holiday after Thanksgiving.

Here, I put a few slices of leftover ham on a delicious roll homemade by my future baker-in-law brother-in-law Adam. His wife Libby made mashed potatoes, which I smeared on the bottom of my sammie. Andrew's cider-thyme cabbage and some whole-grain mustard added the kick. As cute as it is here, the sandwich sort of fell apart when I tried to eat it. Still, it was delicious! Praise Jesus!