Rouladen

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One of the things that continues to amaze me when traveling in Europe is the differences that take place in food and lifestyle in very short distances. The countries are small and packed together but have distinctly individual traditions. Menus vary with individual approaches to cooking very similar dishes. Two dishes that are an example of this are Rouladen and Braciole

They both are rolled beef dishes with similar cooking techniques but the approach to stuffing the beef roll and the sauce to cook it in are distinctly different.

The Rouladen is the German approach and the Braciole is the Italian answer. It would be a great story if I discovered my recipe for rouladen in a quaint Bavarian town on my way to Austria through Garmish Partenkirchen, but that’s not where I learned about Rouladen.
I would have enjoyed discovering Braciole at dinner in Sicily in a country inn overlooking a pastoral setting of olive trees in a beautiful suburb of Palermo. That didn’t happen either, but I did come up with two great recipes for these regional varieties of Roulade. Today is the recipe for the German rolled beef presentation

A German Roulade which is called Rouladen auf Deutsch

Ingredients:

2lbs flank steak
2 onions thinly sliced
3 medium dill pickles(sliced lengthwise)
3 tsp Hot German mustard
12 slices smoked bacon ( partly cooked)
2 tablespoons oil( canola)
1 tbsp tomato paste
3-4 teaspoons beef stock
2 tablespoons flour

Preparation:
Step 1. Cut flank steak into 4 separate sections
Step 2. Flatten each section to about ¼ inch thick
Step 3. Spread mustard evenly over each piece of steak
Step 4. Spread the slices of one onion, 2 bacon slices and pickle slices on each steak
Step 5. From the small side roll the meat tightly into a roll( roulade)
Step 6. Secure the roulade with butcher’s cord or roulade needle to keep the roll tightly sealed
Step 7. In a large oven proof pan, add oil, heat pan (high heat) and brown the roulades on all sides
Step 8. Remove beef from the pan and set aside. Saute remaining onions in pan(1-2) minutes
Step 9. Add tomato paste to onions cook for 1 minute then add 2 ½ cups water
Step 10 Bring to a boil, add beef stock place rouladens in pan, cover & simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Remove meat and keep warm
Step 11 Mix flour with 5-6 tablespoons flour to a smooth paste. Pour into pan, add salt and pepper
Step 12 Bring flour mixture to a boil reduce to simmer for several minutes to make a sauce Put meat back into sauce & simmer for several minutes to reheat

Service: Slice each rouladen into pieces of about 1 ½ inches thick. Rouladen is typically served with German Style Red Cabbage and boiled potatoes

After thoughts: The Italian Braciole is anxiously waiting to contend for the title of Rolled Beef Champion. That recipe will be next on the Buck Cooks agenda. Get your fine dicing knife ready for Braciole