Rouladen

We grew up mostly vegetarian and didn't get a whole lot of meat, so we really looked forward to Thanksgiving, Father's Day and my Dad's birthday. Thanksgiving for obvious reasons, but my Dad's Birthday and Father's Day becuase we got to eat Rouladen! My mom is German, and this is one of our favorite german recipes from her. Not sure if it's traditional german or not, but it was traditional in our family. They are so delish (even though they aren't the most beautiful thing you've seen) and I'm glad I finally got to make them with her and write everything down to share.Trust me- these are good!

Be forewarned, this is kind of a messy recipe- you will get your hands dirty (or in my mom's case, if you don't want to smell like pickles and onions, wear gloves - they don't even have to be blue!)

Here's what you'll need:
3-5 lb. Beef Roast, cut in about 1/4 in. thick slices
* a note about the meat: You can get pretty much any kind of beef roast, if the size is right.  My grcoery store (WinCO) carries this meat pre-sliced, but if your grocery store doesn't, you can take the roast to the butcher and ask him to slice it for you. Just see the pictures below to see how large you need these slices to be for the rolls to work. Just know that he bigger the roast, the more Rouladen you will get. We used a 5 lb and got 12 Rouladen out of it.*
salt and pepper
spicy mustard
6 dill pickle slices (the long oval ones, cut in half)
6 slices bacon
1 large onion
1/2 c. flour, divided

What to do:
Take your meat slices and lay them all out on your counter top or a large cutting board (if you use your counter, just make sure it's really clean). Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper. Spread a generous heaping of mustard on them.

Slice up your onions very fine, and lay 4-5 slices on your meat. Cut your pickles in half and place 3 on each meat slice. Cut your bacon into fourths and lay 2 on top of the pickles and onions.

Once you have those spread out on your meat, you are ready to roll them up into nice little bundles. Use 2 toothpicks to secure them closed.

In the meantime, heat up a medium sized frying pan with some oil.

Once your bundles are rolled up, you are going to roll them in flour until they are nicely coated. Then place them in your hot frying pan and brown the outsides.

Once they are all browned, you can either place them in a crock pot, or you can place them in a large pot on your stove. Either one will work, I just feel more comfortable leaving the house with something cooking in a crock pot rather than something cooking on the stove.

Take your pan drippings and pour it in with your bundles. Then cover with water.

Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 5-6 hours, or cook on low for 6-7 hours.

To make the sauce:

Remove the rouladen from your pot and place in a bowl and keep warm.

Take about 1/4 c. flour and mix with water until you get a thick paste. Once you have the paste, add to the remaining liquid in your pot and use a stick blender to mix it up and remove any lumps you may have. 

To warn you- this is a very uniqe, but awesome flavor. I can only compare it to a mustard sauce. When I made these last, the flavor was perfect- I didn't need to add anything. But if your flavor happens to be a bit bland, you can add some pickle juice or mustard once the sauce is complete to get the flavor right.

Serve over a warm bed of noodles- and don't forget to pull the toothpicks out before you eat it!

Thanks to my mother- the lovely blue hand model, and pardon my pictures...the lighting in my mom's kitchen was pretty bad, and I couldn't really take it outside. :)