Meat Burek Recipes

BUREK

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Brown ground beef in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain fat; stir in allspice, paprika, salt, and pepper. Transfer beef to a large bowl and stir in potato and onion.
• Unroll phyllo pastry and transfer 2 sheets to a work surface; stack sheets. Spoon 1/8th of the ground beef mixture down one long edge of the phyllo pastry. Roll phyllo into a tube, encasing beef. Shape the tube into a coil (snail shape). Place the roll on an ungreased baking sheet; brush with melted butter. Repeat, placing finished rolls up against one another to keep them from unrolling.
• Bake burek in the preheated oven until golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes.

TRADITIONAL ROLLED BUREK (BOREK) RECIPE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Heat a large frying pan over medium-low to medium heat and add the oil.
• Sauté the onion until soft and then add the ground beef, allspice , paprika , salt , and pepper to taste.
• Cook until the meat is crumbly but not dry. Cool completely before you continue. While ground beef mixture is cooling, preheat oven to 375 F.
• Once cooled, lay one sheet of phyllo dough on the counter. Keep the remaining sheets of phyllo dough covered with a damp kitchen towel, and work quickly to prevent it from drying out.
• Brush sheet with some of the melted butter. Place a heaping 1/3 cup of meat mixture on the sheet along the long side, 2 inches from the edge.
• Fold the bottom over the meat mixture and roll into a snake shape. Cut the roll in half and coil each roll into a snail shape.
• Place rolled dough and ground beef pinwheel on a nonstick baking sheet and butt the end up against the edge of the pan to prevent uncoiling. Brush with additional butter. Continue until you've used all the ground beef.
• Bake in a preheated oven 15 to 20 minutes or until just golden. A hint for handling phyllo dough: Be sure the dough is at room temperature before you open the box. Place the sheets of dough on a large cookie sheet and cover them with plastic wrap and then a heavy towel. In this way, they will not dry out while you are working with them. Work fast for best results and do not have the butter too hot when brushing the dough. Recipe Source: The Frugal Gourmet On Our Immigrant Ancestors by Jeff Smith (Wm Morrow) Reprinted with permission.

TURKISH BOREK

Steps:

• In a large, deep skillet, heat the olive oil over moderate heat. Add the peppers, pul biber and onions, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the beef and cook until the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 15 minutes. Transfer the vegetables and meat to a bowl and let cool slightly.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and lightly oil a 9- by 13-inch glass baking dish.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk and 1/2 cup of the canola oil. Lay a sheet of yufka on a work surface and brush with the egg mixture; repeat until you have a stack of 2 sheets. Transfer the stack to the baking dish and spread one-third of the beef mixture on top. Repeat the layering twice more with the brushed yufka sheets and beef filling, then end with a stack of brushed yufka.
• Trim the overhanging yufka slightly and tuck it under itself. Brush any remaining egg mixture on top of the borek, top with the nigella sativa seeds and bake until deeply golden on top and sizzling, about 45 minutes. Let the borek rest for 20 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

SERBIAN BEEF BUREK (BUREK SA MESOM)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large skillet, sauté the onion and ground chuck over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink and the onions are translucent.
• Drain in a colander .
• Return the meat-onion mixture to skillet and add the parsley, salt, and pepper and cook for 1 minute, mixing thoroughly. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
• Lightly coat a 9 x 13-inch pan with cooking spray . Separate the phyllo dough into 2 piles (approximately 10 to 14 sheets each) and keep covered so they don't dry out. Half will go on the bottom of the pie and half will go on the top.
• Place 2 sheets in the prepared pan and brush lightly with oil, folding in any overhanging edges. Add 2 more sheets and brush with oil. Continue until you've used one pile of phyllo.
• Spread the cooled ground chuck mixture evenly over the phyllo, pushing up to the edges. Begin covering the meat with the remaining phyllo, again using 2 sheets at a time and brushing with oil. Continue until all of the phyllo is used.
• Brush the entire top lightly with oil. Using a serrated knife and a sawing motion, cut burek all the way to the bottom into 12 squares.
• In a medium bowl, mix the eggs with the yogurt and soda water . Pour over the burek. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Remove the plastic wrap and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool slightly before serving.

BOREK (TURKISH MEAT ROLLS)

Steps:

• Brown meat in pan at medium-hi heat.
• Drain and transfer browned meat to a medium bowl to cool.
• When the meat has cooled crumble cheese and add to the meat.
• Add the parsley, garlic thyme and pepper and mix well.
• Let this sit for 30 minutes.
• In a small bowl beat the egg with water to make an egg wash.
• Working quickly now, so the phyllo does not dry out.
• Take 1 sheet phyllo dough brush or spray with olive oil, place another sheet on top and brush or spray again.
• Cut the two sheets into six rectangles.
• Take a good tablespoon of meat mix and place it about an 1 ½" to 2 inches up from one of the corners of the rectangle.
• Lift the corner of the pastry and fold over the meat mixture, then lift and fold the corner on the right and then left to make and envelope about 3- 4 inches wide, then roll up to top.
• Repeat for the next five pieces.
• Brush with egg wash.
• Heat some of the olive oil in a heavy pan a fry the meat rolls, turning to brown on all sides, lightly flatten them with spatula while frying.
• Repeat the dough and rolling with the rest of the dough sheets.
• These are also very nice cold.
• I sometimes use a Tzatziki sauce for dip or mint sauce if using lamb.