I know what you’re thinking, this dish looks like poo. Little poos on a plate. Yes, it’s not the nicest presented dish, but there isn’t really another way to do it. It’s called Rouladen, and my Nanny (As in, grandmother, not weird stranger who lived with us) used to make it all the time when I was a kid. Sadly, I never got her recipe for it, but after trawling the internet and using my memory I think I’ve nailed it, although I did pimp this recipe out a bit, because I remember the way she made her gravy, and I didn’t have the stuff on hand.
So, it actually took quite a while to prepare and roll these, about 40 min from ‘get the ingredients out of the fridge’ to ‘in the pot’ – it was my first time, and I concede that pausing to take photos probably accounted for a fair chunk of it.
I’d invited some friends over for dinner – Mark and Bec. The last time they came over we drank ALL THE WINE and we were all sick the next day. We were much more well behaved this time, although if they didn’t have such a long drive ahead.. you never know.
Rouladen:
700gm Veal schnitzel
1 x brown onion, diced
2 x polski gherkins, sliced lengthways
3 bacon rashers, lightly rendered in pan
½ can diced tomato
1 celery stick, finely diced
1 cup beef stock
mustard
paprika
caraway seeds
dill
salt and pepper
Splash of red wine
Make sure you precook the bacon, not too much just until the fat is starting to render, you still want it flexible. Now, bash the crap out of the veal with a meat mallet, making it very flat and as wide as you can.
Lightly season the steaks with paprika, salt and pepper, then arrange a little piece of the bacon, a slice of gherkin and some onion on the steak, and roll up, securing the ends with toothpicks. I got about 7 rolls out of the 700gm of veal, just count the steaks and figure out how much of the stuffing you’ll need.
With the left over onion, sauté that and the celery in the bacon grease with a half teaspoon of caraway seeds and a sprinkling of dill, till the onion starts to brown. Pour in the stock and the tomatos, add a splash of red wine, and a teaspoon of mustard. I used Dijon, but Nanny used to use Keens mustard powder – note, if you use that, don’t use the red wine.
Simmer til its all mixed together well and the vegetables are starting to go mooshy. Add in the meat rolls, and put into the oven for about an hour and a half, with the lid on. Oh, did I mention I sed a pot that can be used on the stove, and in the oven. You can always transfer the sauce into an oven pan if you need to. Turn the rolls every 20 mins or so, but don’t fuss about it too much. Serve with mashed potatos!