Kolaches!
If you’ve never had a kolache, I’m almost jealous.
My introduction was via the Salt Lake City staple, Hruska’s Kolaches. Kolaches are like an Eastern European version of a baozi (包子) or bao: they’re essentially a stuffed bun, but the filling to bread ratio is quite large.
Thanks to Hruska’s Kolaches ending up on Triple D, you can make their sausage and gravy ones at home! I used their dough recipe to make a huge batch with three of my own fillings: 2 pork and 1 dessert.
3 Fillings Emerge
Dozens of ingredients enter.
Trial and error ensues.
Methods are recorded haphazardly.
Approximately 22 kolaches are yielded.
Korean-Inspired Pork
1 Tb gochujang
221 g/1 c ground pork
21 g/~2 Tb pineapple juice
129 g kimchi, chopped
1 Tb sesame oil
139 g yellow onion, finely chopped
0.25 tsp white pepper
1 green onion, thinly sliced
Cook all ingredients except green onion in a skillet until pork is cooked through and flavors meld. Stir in green onion, then remove from heat. Set aside to cool.
Fall Pork
235 g/1 c ground pork
156 g/1.25 c apple, chopped
86 g/1 c mushroom, chopped
153 g leek, sliced into thin half moons
0.5 tsp salt
1 Tb butter
1 Tb flour
1 Tb bourbon
Cook all ingredients in a skillet until pork is cooked through and apples are slightly tender. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Apple Pie
253 g/2 c apple, chopped
0.33 c fresh lemon juice
0.25 c brown sugar
0.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tb granulated sugar
a couple shakes of cinnamon, pinch of nutmeg
a few drops of almond extract
pinch of salt
Cook all ingredients in a saucepan, stirring constantly, until all sugar is dissolved and apples have softened somewhat.
At this point, I return you to Hruska’s recipe.
Click the link above for dough, stuffing, and baking instructions. Enjoy!