Dough:
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/3 cup shortening
- 1 cup milk (or a little less)
Filling:
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup milk
I usually make the filling first, so it
has a chance to cool down. Fry the hamburger
in a skillet until it is crumbled into small
pieces, and grey all over. Cook the onion
with it if you like (I always do). Drain or
spoon off some of the fat. Don't get rid of
all of the fat. You need some of it to
absorb the flour. So after you have spooned
off most of the fat, add the flour, salt and
pepper. Stir it up until the flour is
dissolved in the fat. Add the milk and
continue stirring until the mixture thickens
considerably, and boils. Boil for a minute
and remove the filling from the heat. If you
want to cool it down quickly, transfer the
filling to a bowl and put it into the fridge
or freezer while you prepare the dough. This
is what I usually do. It also gives me a
chance to wash the skillet before anything
sticks to it unmercifully.
To make the dough, get out a big bowl. In it
combine the flour, salt and baking powder.
Add the shortening. Use your fingers or a
fork to mash in the shortening until the
mixture is crumbly. Stir in the milk,
forming a nice, slightly stiff dough. Knead
it about 8 or ten times to get the gluten in
the flour activated a little bit. Rip a
piece of waxed paper off of the roll. Place
it on your counter and pat the dough into a
thick rectangle on top of it. Use a rolling
pin or sturdy jar to roll the dough out into
a big rectangle, about 1/2 an inch thick, or
a little thinner.
Spread the cool filling onto the dough, like
spreading butter on bread. Spread it to
within 3/4" of the edges. It is good to cool
the filling down because hot filling is
challenging to work with. Warm filling is
acceptable. Now, using the waxed paper to
help, roll the dough up like a jelly roll,
peeling back the waxed paper as you roll.
Form a long cylinder of dough and filling
swirled together. Toss the waxed paper in
the garbage. Slice the roll with a sharp
knife into 12 or 15 pieces. Lay the pieces
on an oiled cookie sheet, rearranging them
slightly so they are pretty and pinwheel
shaped if necessary. Bake at 425° for about
20 minutes. These are good served with
Italian Tomato Sauce or canned tomato sauce,
or Cheese Sauce or Tomato Gravy or even
plain old ketchup. I like them with steamed
broccoli and carrot raisin salad, and
macaroni and cheese. Kids like these pretty
well.
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