rouladen - regional recipes Germany

Our next stop on the Regional Recipes tour is Germany.  Joanne from Eats Well With Others chose Germany this month for obvious reasons.  Yes, Oktoberfest.  Can you imagine? An entire festival dedicated to drinking beer, eating hearty food and singing oompah pah at the top of your lungs.  Barbaric! Fun!

 
The whole premise of Oktoberfest actually sounds like a meeting of the Starfish Club.  These "meetings" usually involve lots of food, free flowing beer or wine and definitely a whole lot of singing.  Our mantra: Sing like there's nobody listening............or looking, as the case may be.  A picture is worth a thousand words.  Need I say more?

Rouladen
Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients
2 lbs beef moose round steak, cut and pounded into thin slices
1 medium onion, chopped fine
5 slices bacon, chopped fine
3 large dill pickles, chopped fine
1/4 cup Dijon mustard or grainy German mustard
1 cup beef stock
1/2 cup red wine
4 tbsp flour

Directions
Cut round steak into thin slices and if necessary use meat tenderizer to pound meat to an approximate 1/4 inch thickness.  To minimize the mess, cover the meat with plastic wrap before you pound it.

Saute bacon and onion until onion is translucent, approximately 5 minutes over medium heat.  In a small bowl mix onions, bacon and pickles.

Spread a thin layer of mustard over each slice of meat, followed by a thin layer of the bacon mixture.

Roll each piece of meat into a "log" and secure with a couple of toothpicks.

Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into a large skillet and place the rolls of meat into the skillet.  Brown the meat over medium to high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low and add the beef stock and red wine.  Cover and simmer for a few hours.  Add a little water to the pan as necessary.

Remove meat rolls from the pan and make a gravy with the remaining juices by adding a flour and water mixture, ensuring that the flour is mixed into the water well to avoid lumps.  Increase heat to medium high and add flour mixture to pan while stirring with a whisk.  Continue stirring until the gravy has thickened to the desired consistency.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon gravy over the meat rolls and serve with mashed potatoes or spaetzle. Guten Appetit!