Tag: german

Rouladen

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It’s all the flavor of a bacon cheeseburger smothered in a rich tomato gravy. Doesn’t all that sound amazing? I thought so too that’s why I decided to try it. This trek through German cuisine has definitely not disappointed flavorwise.

There rolls are easy to make and most of the cook time is hands off stewing time which means more time with your family. That’s the dream.

Ingredients

For the roll up

  • 8 pieces Thin cut steak(I believe I used a top round)
  • 4 Dill pickles, cut into 4 long strips(You need sixteen total pickle sticks)
  • Dijon mustard, enough to coat each piece of steak
  • 1/2 white onion, diced
  • 8 strips bacon
  • salt/pepper

For the gravy

  • 1/2 white onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • salt/pepper
  • 3 tablespoon butter
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 can tomato paste
  • 1 can diced tomato
  • 1 tsp. sugar
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 2 tsp. corn starch and 2 tsp. water for slurry

Directions

For the rouladen

  1. Lay all the steak out on a flat surface. I would recommend a baking sheet.
  2. Spread your Dijon mustard all over the up facing side on the steak. Salt and pepper every where you put mustard.
  3. Lay one piece of bacon along the length of the steak.
  4. Lay two pickle sticks on top of the bacon and sprinkle a few onion pieces on top.
  5. Roll up tightly and secure it with a toothpick of twine.
  6. Put a heavy bottomed pot on medium high heat and brown the rouladen heavily. The deeper the browning of the meat the more delicious brown bits will be in the pan to flavor your gravy.
  7. Remove from pan and set aside on a plate.

Make the gravy

  1. Add butter, onion and garlic and cook till onion goes translucent. About 3-4 minutes.
  2. Add carrots and cook for about 5 minutes.
  3. Add beef broth, tomato paste, tomatos, bay leaf and salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add rouladen back to the pot.
  4. Cook for 45 minutes to and hour on a medium low heat.
  5. Remove the rouladen and add your cornstarch slurry to thicken your gravy.
  6. Pour gravy over the rouladen and serve.

My new favorite fries: currywurst

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Thank you Germany for giving me yet another way to eat French fries. In a search through many top 20 best/traditional German dishes currywurst was something that came up quite often. It seemed easy enough so I gave it a try. It made my whole house smell like warm delicious spices.

Warm spices and crisp fries

Ingredients

  • A bag of French fries
  • 1 lb. Smoked sausage
  • 1 can tomato sauce
  • 4 tsp. curry powder
  • 2 tsp. paprika
  • 2 tsp. onion powder
  • 1 tsp. cayenne powder
  • 2 tsp. worcestershire sauce
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tbsp. oil

Directions

  1. Preheat oven according to package instructions to cook fries.
  2. In a medium size pan heat 2 tbsp. oil until it shimmers in the pan. You’re going to want to cook the sausage till it gets that nice brown crust on it.
  3. While the sausage is cooking, in a sauce pan put your garlic and last tablespoon of oil in and cook the garlic till fragrant.
  4. Add tomato sauce and dry spices and cook for 3-5 minutes.
  5. Add beef broth and worcestershire sauce and cook to a soft boil. Reduce the heat.
  6. When sausage has a nice crust on it add it to the sauce. Let slowly simmer until fries are finished cooking.
  7. Salt and pepper to taste and top a large portion of crispy fries with your curry sausage sauce.

This dish is great for the whole family. It has the warm delicious adult spice of curry with the fun of french fries underneath.

Buffalo Chicken Bierocks

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On our trip through Germany on our culinary trek we found a recipe I’m quite fond of. I had never heard of Bierocks before this. It’s a fully contained sandwich that fits perfectly in a lunch box for adults or children. You don’t have to fill them with the spicy blue cheese chicken mixture. You could adapt them to be ham and cheese or cheese and tomato sauce with a little cubed pepperoni.

The traditional filling for these is ground beef and cabbage. I didn’t fill them this way mostly because my family doesn’t eat a lot of cabbage, but if yours does then going traditional might be a good option for you.

Soft pillowy bread

Ingredients

  • 1 cup warm milk
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 packet of active dry yeast
  • 4 cups of all purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp. cool melted butter
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 3/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 can chicken
  • 3 tbsp. hot sauce (franks red hot)
  • 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tbsp. milk for brushing dough

Directions

  1. Add warmed milk and sugar into the bowl of a mixer with a dough hook and mix until sugar dissolves. Add yeast and mix together. Wait till it starts to foam.
  2. Add 2 cups flour and mix to combine.
  3. Add butter, eggs and salt and mix.
  4. Add remaining 2 cups of flour about a 1/4 cup at a time until dough comes together.
  5. Knead dough either in the machine or by hand for about 10 minutes until a soft dough forms. You want in to spring back quickly when you poke it.
  6. Put dough in a greased mixing bowl and cover with a towel. Let rise for 45 minutes.
  7. In the last ten minutes or so of your first dough proof mix your filling together. Season to taste and set aside.
  8. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knock the air out. Divide into 8 equal pieces. Flatten it in the palm of your hand into about a 4 inch circle. Place 2 tbsp. of filling and roll into a bun shape. Continue until filling is gone.
  9. Let these rise for 45 minutes.
  10. During the last few minutes of this rise preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush bierocks with milk.
  11. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.