Rouladen - German Stuffed Beef Rolls

This is a classic German recipe that I learned from an American family that lived in Germany for some time. The first version is their rather Americanized (but still delicious) version.

The second recipe is a more authentic German version; we learned it at a German cooking class at the DANK Haus - the German-American Cultural Center in Chicago.

These beef rolls can be served with German spaetzle, egg noodles, dumplings, or mashed potatoes.

Version #1

Makes 6 Servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds round or flank steak
German stone ground mustard, to taste
1/2 pound thick sliced bacon
2 large onions, chopped
1 (16 ounce) jar tiny dill pickles
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream

Instructions

1. Cut the flank steak into thin filets; about 1/4 inch thick and 3 inches wide. Generously spread one side of each filet with mustard to taste.
2. Place bacon and pickle on each filet and form into a roll. Use string or toothpicks to hold the roll together.
3. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Brown the rolls on all sides.
4. Place rolls into a crock pot and add the chopped onions. Pour the mushroom soup and 1/2 can of water over the rolls.
5. Simmer for four hours, or until tender.
6. After removing the beef rolls, make a gravy by stirring the sour cream into the soup mixture. Serve the rolls with the gravy on the side.

Version #2

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds flank steak
German stone ground mustard, to taste
1/2 pound thick sliced bacon
2 large onions, sliced
1 (16 ounce) jar dill pickle slices
2 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 cups beef stock
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/3 cup sour cream

Instructions

1. Cut the flank steak into thin filets; about 1/4 inch thick and 3 inches wide. Generously spread one side of each filet with mustard to taste.
2. Place bacon, onions and pickle slices on each filet and form into a roll. Use string or toothpicks to hold the roll together. 
3. Heat a skillet over medium heat and melt butter. Place the rolls in the butter and saute until browned.
4. Pour in beef stock and wine and stir.
5. Simmer the rolls for at least an hour.
6. After removing the beef rolls, stir in 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and bring to a boil, stirring the liquid until thickened. Serve gravy over the rolls or on the side.

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Grilled Fish Tacos with Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Joe has had a special place in his heart for fish tacos ever since a trip to Mexico over New Years' Eve week of 2000, right when everyone thought the world was going to end.

He was meeting a longtime group of friends in Puerto Vallarta, but came down a day early. He loves to travel without plans and reservations and lets the day take him where it will. A helpful cabbie found him a pleasant room for the night and he wandered around those beautiful colonial streets all afternoon. Dinner was the best tacos he ever had, right from a street vendor who grilled bass straight out of the bay and served it on tortillas his wife made that morning. He watched the sun slipping down over the water in golden flakes.

Things were much less tranquil the next day when his hard-partying friends arrived and swarmed the resort on the beach. That song "My Name Is Joe" was huge then, and in the nighttime beach bash with fireworks bursting overhead, they played it over and over, crowd pointing to Joe, who does sort of stand out in a crowd.

"What's my name? My Name is JOE!" they shouted, making a circle around him, pouring the drinks and dancing in the waves.

People kept asking him if he owned the resort, but he just said his name was Joe.

Ingredients

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup tomato, chopped
2/3 cup corn kernels
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 tsp minced serrano pepper (or 2 tsp minced jalapeno)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt

Stir together all ingredients, and serve at room temperature.

Fish Marinade 

1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp grated orange peel
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Grilled Fish Tacos

1 lb. tender fish fillets (we use pollock, tilapia, bass, or swai, but use your favorite)
2 cups shredded Napa cabbage
Juice of 2 limes
1 cup crumbled Mexican farmers' cheese (queso fresco)
12 corn tortillas

Directions

Whisk together marinade ingredients and pour over fish fillets. Marinate at least 2 hours, but as long as overnight.

Sprinkle the lime juice over the cabbage and toss to coat. Grill the fish on a medium-hot grill, liberally basting with the marinade. Turn the fish at least once during grilling. The fish is done when the flesh flakes when pierced with a fork. Chop the fish into bite-sized pieces.

Heat the tortillas on a dry griddle. Flip them and heat the other side when air bubbles start to form or the top side gets a little puffy. The tortillas are done when you can fold an edge in half and it does not crease or break. Wrap the warm tortillas in a kitchen towel.

Serve the fish with sides of black bean salsa, cabbage, tortillas, and cheese, and let each person build their own tacos.

Serves 4-6.

 

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Curried Chicken Salad Wraps

This is a great recipe if you're looking for new ways to use up leftover chicken (or turkey, or pork...any white meat, really). You can whip this together in a few minutes and it makes a delicious light lunch or dinner. Add as many extra veggies as you'd like.

If you don't have any leftover chicken, drained canned chicken will work, or you can broil two skinless, boneless chicken breasts instead.

For the curry, I would recommend Penzey's Sweet Curry Powder. We were introduced to Penzey's spices when a friend gave us the 21-piece American Kitchen gift crate as a wedding present. It was an inspired gift to give to foodies. Every time we use one of the spices or herbs, we have thought about Ahna and John. Delicious memories.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
2/3 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup minced white onion
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup fat-free mayonnaise
1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt
1 1/2 teaspoons sweet curry powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (most of the time we use fresh minced garlic, but we like a more mellow garlic taste in this recipe)
Dash of salt and pepper
12 romaine lettuce leaves, ribs removed
6-12 low fat whole wheat tortillas

Directions

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together the chicken, celery, onions, almonds, and raisins. In a separate bowl, beat together the mayonnaise and yogurt. Stir in the curry powder, garlic, salt and pepper until well blended. Pour the mayo mix into the chicken mixture and stir it well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Bend a package of flour tortillas back and forth a couple of times so that they unstick from each other. Open the bag and heat the tortillas in a microwave oven for 30 seconds, or until warm and pliable. Alternatively, you can heat the tortillas on a flat ungreased griddle for 1-2 minutes on each side, until they begin to bubble but before they are toasted.

Place two romaine leaves on a tortilla. You can double up the tortillas if they are thin and break easily. Serve 1/4 to 1/3 cup of chicken mixture on each tortilla. Fold over 2" of the bottom edge of the tortilla over the mixture. Wrap the right side over the left. Pick up the wrap and eat from the open side.

Serves 3-4.

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Tuscan Marinated Eggplant Salad (Ensalata di Melanzane)

Joe and I spent the first day of our honeymoon in the airport in Rome waiting for a flight to Pisa, where our luggage had gone and where our rental car was waiting. We missed our connecting flight because of slow lines going through Customs. After several hours, and a couple more cancelled flights, we decided to rent a car and drive up to our cottage in Tuscany.

I didn't even make it out of the parking garage before crawling into the back seat and going to sleep. I was struggling with jet lag and exhaustion from weeks of wedding arrangements. I couldn't drive a stick shift anyway, so I wasn't much use in driving the Autostrada.

We were hours late in arriving at the Agriturismo where we would spend the next week. Our hosts at Rosa dei Venti, who operated the hotel and villas on an ancestral working farm, welcomed us with prosecco and a meal they'd made especially for us: an antipasti plate of sausages and cheeses, marinated eggplant salad, a meaty pasta sauce called Ragu di Carne, a stewed rabbit and chicken dish (coniglio in umido alla toscana), an apricot tart, and fresh figs from the tree next to our cottage.

They also brought two bottles of hearty Barbaresco wine, and we toasted everything we could think of. The family's German Shepherd, Azzo, nosed his way into our villa and sat down by the hearth. We tossed him scraps of rabbit and practiced our Italian. Azzo pricked up his ears no matter which language we spoke to him.

Later, we lay out in the grass and listened to the festival in the tiny town of Creti below us, the high-speed bullet trains rushing from town to town, and the sunflower heads rattling against each other in the vast field to the north. It was a beautiful day.

Ingredients

1 medium eggplant

1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup chopped Roma or plum tomato

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tbsp fresh basil, snipped

Directions

Slice the eggplant lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick pieces. Heat a dry griddle and sprinkle it with salt. Toast the eggplant on each side until brown and tender, about 5 minutes per side. Finely chop the parsley.

Place the eggplant on a platter. Drizzle with vinegar, 2 tbsp olive oil and scatter the parsley evenly over the slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Marinate for at least 1 hour at room temperature.

Cut the tomatoes into a small dice and let the juices drain out in a colander or sieve. Stir in the last tbsp of olive oil, the garlic, and the basil. Spoon the tomatoes over the eggplant just before serving it at room temperature.

Serves 4-6 as a side salad, or 8-10 as an appetizer.

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Mushroom and Pine Nut Wild Rice Pilaf

The first time I remember having wild rice was when I was visiting family in Minnesota at Christmastime. A snowstorm delayed our trip back to the airport, and I ran to the gate with my little girls panting to keep up, just to meet a closed door and an apologetic flight attendant telling us she was sorry about our missed flight, in that cute Fargo-type accent.

Jenny burst into tears.

The sweet little attendant looked stricken. She booked us on the next flight and upgraded us to first class. We spent the next couple of hours strolling through the airport shops, where we discovered the deliciousness of Caribou coffee and I learned about the cultivation and harvesting of wild rice, the seeds that Native Americans have so generously offered the world. Minnesota is very proud of its wild rice.

Wild rice seems to be a natural pair-up with poultry or fish, so I served this easy rice pilaf with Alaskan pollock baked in white wine, salad burnet, and dill. If you don't have pine nuts, the buttery-sweet flavor of pecans is a good substitute.

Ingredients

1 cup mixed wild rice and brown rice

1 tbsp oil

1/2 cup chopped white onion

1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms

1 tsp chopped rosemary

2 cups chicken broth

Directions

Toast the rice in a dry skillet until some of the grains are browner. Set the rice aside. Heat the oil in the skillet, then add the mushrooms and onions and brown them on medium-high heat. Stir frequently so they do not burn.

Add the rosemary and chicken broth, then stir in the rice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cover the pan. Simmer for 40-45 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed and the grains are tender and chewy. 

Toast the pine nuts in a small pan until they are slightly browned. Don't toast them too much, or they will taste bitter. Sprinkle the nuts on top of the rice before serving.

Makes 4-6 side dishes.

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