For those who have never experienced authentic German food, this meal will give you an idea of how good it really is. “Rinderrouladen” (“rind” = beef) is a traditional meat dish that is often served as a midday meal on Sundays in some parts of the country.

This recipe is a North American adaptation – it is how I make the meal for my family when I go back home and don’t have the original German ingredients. I serve it at dinner time. The meat and gravy are full of rich flavour and the traditional accompaniments of boiled, salted potatoes and “rotkohl” create a perfect balance. While cooked red cabbage is not a staple on the North American plate, you can substitute red beets or any other vegetable.

This recipe is for four people. I consider it quite easy to make. It takes about 30 minutes to prepare, and between 1 ½ and 2 hours to cook. The result of cooking the meat for so long is that it is tender and breaks apart with a fork. No knives necessary!

Rouladen

4 pieces of beef*
8 slices of (smoked, thick) bacon
2 medium-sized onions
¼ cup (strong) Dijon mustard
6 – 8 sweet & sour pickles (approx. 8 cm long)
Freshly ground sea salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Plus:
3 tbs oil (for frying)
8 small skewers or toothpicks

* Ask your butcher for four pieces of the thigh “Oberschale”, that are 25 - 30 cm in length, 12 cm in width (width should decrease from one end to the other but the small end should not be less than 8 cm). Each piece should be about ¾ of a centimeter thick. Don’t worry if a piece is longer, shorter, thinner – it will all work out in the end as long as you are in the ballpark with the measurements.

First, cut the onion into strips. I cut it from end to end and not across the rings. The widest point of the onion pieces should be ¾ of a centimeter or so. Break apart the onion slices.

Second, cut the pickles length-wise into 6 or 8 slices. The pickle pieces should be no more than ½ a centimeter thick.

Next, rinse and pat dry the beef. Lay out the four pieces on a flat surface and use the palm of your hand to flatten the beef a bit. Salt and pepper each piece to taste. Then, coat each piece with a generous helping of Dijon mustard, from end to end. Lay two pieces of bacon on each, trying not to overlap the bacon where possible. Finally, alternate the onion and pickle slices, laying them about a centimeter apart down the length of the pieces of beef. Try to get good coverage across the width and length of the meat. You may want to leave off the onion and pickles on the last 5 cm at the small end of the pieces of meat.

Now the fun part: Gently roll each piece of beef, from the wide end towards the narrow end. Secure with short metal skewers or toothpicks.

Rouladen Gravy

In Germany, you can buy a package of Rouladen gravy mix and just add water. However, when this short cut is not available, try this:

2 to 3 onions
1 carrot
¼ celeriac
1 clove garlic
1 large tomato
1 tbs tomato paste
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
½ liter soup broth**
Freshly ground sea salt and pepper

** Try using V8 or tomato juice with red wine as an alternative – you decide on the mix.

Wash tomato and then dice into chunks. Wash, peel and finely dice the other vegetables. Brown the vegetables in butter or oil, add tomato paste, broth and spices. Heat through.

Putting it all together

Pour gravy mixture into a deep, oven-proof roasting pan or casserole dish. Salt and pepper the beef rolls. Coat them lightly in flour. Then brown them in a hot frying pan, being careful not to “cook” the beef rolls. Place the rouladen in the roasting pan with the gravy mixture. I like lots of sauce so add liquid to cover the rolls if you like. Cover and bake for about 1 ¾ hours at 200° C or 375° F. You can check it occasionally but it doesn’t really need much TLC.

Optional for gravy: When the beef is cooked, take it out of the roasting pan. Strain the gravy and thicken if desired, and add more spices to taste.

Serve the rouladen with gravy, boiled, salted potatoes and the vegetable of your choice!