Old School Dinner

Today's dinner was a little nostalgic.  My elementary school, Herty, use to serve these Western Burgers. They were the best dish and anyone who brought a lunch from home scrambled to trade their sweets for one of these tasty savories.  I was talking to my older sister earlier in the week and vowed I was going to make them this week. I finally got around to it.   They were a cinch to make and adding a tossed side salad made it a very satisfying meal.  I have included the original recipe below though I made a couple of substitutions. I didn't make the dough because I couldn't find my yeast. So, I just used a frozen pie crust I had in the freezer (Just a tip for those of you who aren't keen on the yeast doughs). It actually was pretty good. I used ground turkey instead of beef and I added some chopped red and green peppers and some additional seasonings. This is definitely a dinner I will make again and again.

Western Burgers

HINT: Make up the meat mixture the day before and let it chill overnight in the refrigerator. The recipe is in two parts — the dough and the filling.
Western Burger Dough
11/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons yeast...
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons melted shortening
4 cups flour

Combine water, yeast, sugar and salt. Let stand a few minutes. Add shortening and half of flour. Stir until well blended. Add the rest of the flour until you have a firm dough. Place in a greased bowl and let rise.

Western Burger Filling

1 pound hamburger meat
1 small chopped onion
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
2 tablespoons salad dressing
1/4 pound grated cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Brown hamburger and onion. Drain off fat. Add remaining ingredients. Refrigerate until cool.
Roll out dough 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick. Cut into 31/2 inch squares. Pour about 1/2 cup of meat mixture in center of each square. Pull corners together and pinch all the openings closed. Turn upside down on a lined pan (greased). Mash down slightly, let rise until double in size. Cook at 350 degrees until golden brown. Brush with melted margarine.