Make German Rouladen
If you’re German, you’ve probably heard of rouladen, a very traditional dish in German cooking. If you haven’t, rouladen (roo-la-din) is a pickle wrapped in a thin piece of steak and then wrapped in bacon. Sounds strange, but it is delicious!
Contents
Ingredients
Simplified rouladen:
- Thin-cut top round steak (About 1.5 pounds/680g or 4 pieces)
- 2 whole dill pickles (cut into fourths)
- Pickle juice (32 oz./946ml jar)
- 1-2 teaspoons beef bouillon
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- Dried parsley
- Garlic salt
- Bacon
Jean's rouladen:
- Thin sliced beef (Kroger)
- Brown mustard
- Garlic
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Fresh mushrooms
- Bell peppers
- Onions
Steps
Simplified rouladen
This family recipe is slightly different, and slightly easier to make than what you might find elsewhere. Rouladen is something a little different if you’re looking to make a traditional meal from another country.
- Flatten and tenderize the steaks with a meat mallet.
- Cut each piece of meat in half so that you have 8 pieces of meat about 6 inches (15.2cm) long. Set aside.
- Cut two whole pickles into quarters (lengthways) for 8 slices. Now all the ingredients are ready to put together
- Lightly sprinkle each side of the meat with garlic salt and dried parsley.
- Place a fourth of a pickle on the meat and roll it up inside.
- Wrap a piece of bacon around the meat to hold it together. Usually, the meat is tied up with string to stay together, but wrapping it in bacon (as opposed to putting the bacon inside) is an easy trick so you don’t get stuck with strings at the end. The rouladen is now ready to cook.
- Brown the meat in a skillet at medium to high heat, turning them every couple minutes to cook each side. They will slow cook all the way through later.
- When brown, add 2 cups of water to the skillet and bring to a boil, using a spoon to scrape any meat drippings off the bottom of the pan.
- Reduce heat to a simmer for 15-30 minutes. The water should still have a slight bubble.
- Add 1-2 cups of water and ¼ cup of pickle juice after the 30 minutes, and continue doing this every 15 minutes for two hours total. If you haven’t used all the pickle juice by the end, add the rest. Also, you can always add more water throughout to make sure the meat is covered, depending on how quickly the water evaporates.
- After two hours, take the meat out of the pan, leaving the remaining liquid. This liquid should taste rich and meaty, yet slightly sour from the pickle juice.
- Make the gravy for the rouladen. Stir 1-2 teaspoons of beef bouillon into the liquid. Taste it and add more if you want it saltier.
- Mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water to make a thickener.
- Slowly whisk the thickener into the liquid to make a gravy. It doesn't need to be too thick, but not too thin either. This should be served over the rouladen.
- Finished.
Jean's rouladen
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC.
- Lay a slice of beef flat on parchment paper on a flat surface. Spread mustard over it.
- Lay the next slice 1/4 way down. Again, spread mustard.
- Continue adding slices until all are stacked. Spread each with mustard.
- Roll the meat into a tube. Tie together with meat string.
- Put the rolled meat into a baking bag. Add 1/4 cup water.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add chopped garlic to taste.
- Reduce the oven heat to 300ºF. Place the bag in a baking dish and place in the oven. Cook slowly for 1 hour.
- Slice the bell peppers, onions and mushrooms as the meat cooks. After an hour, open the bag and add the sliced pepper, onion and mushrooms on top of the meat roll. Close the bag firmly again.
- Cook for another hour. Then remove from the oven.
- Allow to sit inside the bag for 30 minutes to cool before opening.
- Remove the string. Cut into slices.
- Serve. Eat as it is or make Philly Steak sandwiches with buttered Ciabatta buns. You'll find that the meat melts in your mouth.
Tips
- Traditionally, rouladen is served with späetzle or dumplings and red cabbage. Späetzle is a type of homemade dumpling in Germany, but you can just use regular store bought egg noodles or dumplings as a substitute.
Warnings
- This dish isn’t extremely difficult to make, but it is definitely not recommended for a beginner.
Things You'll Need
Simplified rouladen:
- Skillet with a lid
- Meat mallet
- Knife
- Whisk
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
Jean's rouladen:
- Knife and cutting board
- Parchment paper
- Butter knife
- String
- Baking bag
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