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German food may bring different thoughts into your head. For me, it is the thoughts of Christmas dinner made up of sauerbraten and knodel. For others in my family, the thought of sauerbraten is not quite as appealing. Trying to change the negative association that german food brings to some, we made a German Roulade (pronounced roo-law-dan).
Roulade is simply a piece of steak, cut thin, and rolled up with something stuffed in the middle. The typical stuffing is made of mustard, bacon, onions & dill pickles.
To go on the side, we also tried a traditional German side called Spaetzle which is a small, light noodle. We topped both of these with a light gravy made from the sauce that the meat was cooked in.
The meal was excellent. The meat was very tender and the bacon flavor made each bite melt in your mouth. Surprising to me, the slight pickle flavor was fantastic. It added a soft freshness to balance the stronger flavors of the meat.
I hope you will enjoy the recipe as much as we did.
Ingredients:
Roulade
6 slices beef round (pound 1/4in thin, then pound to 1/8 in thick)
6 tbs brown mustard
6 slices bacon
6 dill pickle spears
1 small onion, diced
Salt & pepper
butchers twin
1 large clove of garlic
1/2 cup celery (1 stalk), diced
1/2 cup carrot (1 carrot), diced
1 cup dry red wine
2 cups beef broth
1 tbs tomato paste
2 bay leaves
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbs butter
2-3 tbs flour
1-2 tbs heavy cream
Spaetzle
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp nutmeg
2 cups all-purpose flour
Directions:
Set oven to 325.
Cook the bacon in a large pan that can later hold the meat. Remove when the bacon is cooked, but still very soft. Leave the grease in the pan and let the bacon dry on paper towels.
Slice (or have the butcher slice) or pound the meat into 1/8 inch slices. Salt & pepper each slice of meat then spread 1 tbs of mustard on to each slice. Add a layer of diced onions, then place 1 slice of bacon, 1 pickle spear on the meat. Roll meat up over the stuffing, tuck in the ends close to the end. Secure with butcher's twine or tooth picks.
Place the rolled meat into the pan with the left over bacon grease and brown all sides of the meat rolls. About 1-2 minutes per side.
Add the remaining onions to the pan, about 1/2 a small onion, and sauté for 5 min until translucent. Add the garlic with a little extra oil. Cook for about 1 min till fragrant. Add the celery & carrots and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the red wine and bring to a rapid boil for 2-3 minutes. Add the beef broth, tomato paste, bay leaf, sugar, salt & pepper. Bring to a simmer.
Add the beef roulade to the pot, cover and put in oven. Cook for 1.5 hours, turning the beef half way through.
About 30 min before the beef is done, bring a pot of water to a boil.
About 10 min before the end, beat eggs and milk together. Add nutmeg. Stir in flour to make a batter. The batter should be a little thicker than pancake batter.
Use a spaetzle maker to drop little balls of dough into boiling water. When they float, they are cooked. Remove with a strainer. Add a little butter to the bowl to keep them from sticking.
To make a great gravy, after removing the meat, stir in 2-3 tbs of flour, whisking until combined. After the gravy is thickened, add the butter and 1-2 tbs of heavy cream.
Serve the roulade on top of the spaetzle with plenty of gravy ladled on top.
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