fleish pereshki

one of my favorite things that my grandma baked were "fleish pereshki", meat buns "fleishers" as they were affectionately called. grandma was famous for her buns and her fleish pereshki. when grandma passed away, i was very sad that i had never made them with her and that i never learned her secrets! but i do have the very special gift of her recipe box and i love to try her recipes... trying to be a baker just like her!!

so today's undertaking was fleish pereshki, which also included attempting her buns.
well, a few hours & 4 1/2 dozen buns later... success! both of my mom's & my auntie ruth stopped by for a bun, and i sent some home for my dad & for josh&leah. michael has eaten a good handful already.. they aren't as perfect as grandma's, but they were a pretty good first start if i can say so myself!

give it a shot. they're worth the effort.

buns:

dissolve 2 tbsp yeast (not instant) ** with 1 cup warm water & 1 tsp sugar. let sit for about 10-15 minutes.
**if you use instant (i did) then only use 1 1/2 tbsp yeast, and don't dissolve it. just sprinkle it when you add the flour.

add 3 cups warm water, 2/3 cup oil, 1 tbsp salt, 3 eggs & 2/3 cup sugar (or less). Add about 7-8 cups (i used 8) flour & knead until the dough reaches the correct consistency.

there are no other formal instructions from grandma - but auntie ruth passed on the following directions from when she made them with grandma: let the bun dough rise till it's doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours (let the bowl sit in a sink of hot water to speed up the process). *form the buns and place on a greased sheet, let rise again for 3/4 hour and bake at 350 degrees till golden brown, approximately 20 minutes.

*when making fleish pereshki follow this recipe from this point on.

fleish pereshki

filling: 2 lbs meat (my grandma used to use a low quality roast, and then put it through a meat grinder. i used ground beef)
1 onion, chopped
1 cup of beef broth
salt

brown the meat. add the onions & fry till browned. add broth & salt. let simmer for a few minutes, then let it cool. put meat into a blender (i use the magic bullet) until quite fine. (my own personal opinion: the meat looks really gross at this point. just keep going, it'll be worth it!)
flatten small pieces of dough and put a spoonful of meat in, close them up, place on a greased sheet and let rise for approximately 1 1/2 hours. bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

invite your friends over for a bun. this recipe makes 4 1/2 dozen large buns.

all formed up & waiting for the oven

like i said, the meat looks gross. similar to cat food, just keep going & it will look less gross!

make sure you have lots of space for pans. there are 6 pans in this picture.. can you find them all?

done! delicious.

and for my sister leah, as per her request for some genuine GERMAN in this blog post: Fleisch Brötchen sind es wert, all die Arbeit und schmeckt köstlich. nie jah!