Rouladen - Terri Wilklow Wiebke's Recipe

In honor of my sister, Terri's Birthday...I won't say how many for fear of retaliation, I will share her Rouladen recipe today. Rouladen is a German dish consisting of thinly sliced beef, bacon, carrots and onions. Seared and cooked in broth until tender and served over spatzle. Eileen Wiebke, Terri's mother-in-law taught Terri

how to make this beloved recipe years ago and it is one of Steve's, Terri's husband's, favorite.

Rouladen: 
Rump or Round Roast - have your butcher slice either of these cuts into large thin slices for rolling
2 cups diced onion
1lb cooked sliced bacon
2 cups diced onion cooked in bacon fat
Carrots (peeled and sliced longwise into thin in 2-3 inch pieces)
Salt and Pepper

Lay out meat slice, salt & pepper, sprinkle with onions, lay two 1/2 strips of bacon and 2-3 carrot strips. Start to roll and place into middle of roll while rolling. Then secure with cooking string OR toothpicks sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. In a large dutch oven heat olive oil and sear each side of meat roll (leave for a couple of minutes so as to NOT have meat stick to bottom of pot). Only sear 4-5 at a time and remove once done. When all have been seared, turn down heat and replace rolls to dutch oven. At this point, add 6 cups of beef broth, cover and let cook at least 2 hours. Once tender, remove rolls onto serving platter and make the gravy with flour and water, salt and pepper to taste.

Make up some spatzle (found anywhere you can buy german food), an egg noodle or serve with regular egg noodles, boiled potatoes and red cabbage (heated). If you use the spatzle, Eileen Wiebke and her daughter-in-law, Terri, serve it with a farina and butter sauce. You simply melt a stick of butter in a frypan, add about 1/2 cup farina until the mixture looks not quite runny but not thick, when stirred it should not stay in clumps, nor have too much liquid. Adjust with more farina or butter as needed. Let cook over a slow burner until it begins to turn a golden brown, but do not let it become brown in color. Serve over the cooked, strained spetzle. Eileen would have told you that it adds a nutty butter crunch, Terri's son Brett would say it's just delicious!

PS: I have changed this recipe around my way, of course, I don't want to have to peel and slice carrots so I have replaced them with baby peeled carrots. I will also use dehydrated minced onions instead of diced up onions, this saves on the tears! I also wrap the raw bacon around the outside and secure with the toothpick, to save having to take the time to cook it and dice it before rolling. By having the bacon on the outside and searing it, this gives the gravy a rich flavor. Lastly, I will sometimes add a cup of wine or beer to the gravy and reduce for about 10 minutes. Also I have added 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp paprika and 1 tbsp sugar to authenticate the real German seasoning. I also cook my Rouladen in my pressure cooker and it takes all of about an hour from start to finish.

Irmgard Cates, my sister-in-law, a first generation German, makes her Rouladen in a slow cooker. She makes it with the pickles instead of carrots and of course some unknown German spices! She then hand ties each roll with a thin cooking string. She serves it with spatzle and heated red cabbage and her wonderful cucumber salad (which I will share if she ever gives me the recipe!) She also puts a heavy dark bread on the table for dipping into the delicious gravy.

Whichever version you decide...enjoy! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TERRI!