Oma's Old-Fashioned German Rouladen
Chuck roast is wrapped around bacon, onion and pickle then seasoned and simmered in a rich pan gravy. It is so tender and flavorful, it'll make you cry! You definitely want to make this...it's worth the effort!
Ingredients:
10 strips of chuck roast cut thin, approximately 3+ pounds. Ask your butcher to do this!
15-20 strips of bacon, cooked until almost crisp yet still limp
Dijon or German mustard
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large onion, cut in half and sliced very thin
Swiss Cheese, very thin slices (optional)
Long pickle spear cut in a long, thin sliver
Vegetable oil
Water, divided
1/2 C. red dry wine
1/4 cup all purpose flour (or cornstarch for a gluten-free option)
Sour cream, optional
ROLLING
Take a strip of chuck roast. It should be about 1/4 inch thick. If it is too thick, pound it down to the correct thickness.
Spread the meat with a thin layer of mustard, then sprinkle with pepper and salt (go easy on the salt).
Lay a strip or two of bacon on the meat. This depends on how wide your meat is. You don't want the bacon to stick out the side.
Cover that with a thin layer of sliced onions, you can saute onions first if desired.
Lay on Swiss cheese, cutting in half to fit if necessary and not extending to the end of the meat.
Lay a pickle sliver on top of cheese
Starting at the small end, roll the meat with it's contents into a tight cylinder. Secure with butcher's twine or toothpicks.
BROWNING
Put about 2-3 tablespoons of oil in the bottom of a heavy sauté pan. When the oil is hot, add the meat rolls (rouladen), and cook, turning as necessary, until it is very brown on all sides. This takes about 22-28 minutes. When the meat is browned, place in a large dutch oven.
Add red wine to the saute pan that you browned the meat in over medium-high heat, scraping up the brown bits and drippings stuck to the bottom of the pan until it is reduced by half.
Add 2 C. of hot water to the saute pan and stir.
Pour this sauce over the meat in the dutch oven. If you didn't get everything from the pan, add a little more water, scrape again and pour over the meat. Add enough water to cover the meat by about 2/3.
SIMMERING
Bring to a boil on the stove top, then reduce heat, cover and simmer very low for 1 1/2 hours or until meat is fork tender. Add water if liquid goes below half. After the meat is tender, remove to a plate and cover with foil.
Whisk together 1/4 C. flour and 1/4 C. water until smooth. With the heat off, and to the pan juices whisking until it is incorporated. Turn heat back on and simmer until sauce thickens. Taste for seasoning.
Remove twine or toothpicks before serving.
Serve with sour cream (optional) along with noodles, potato pancakes and sweet and sour red cabbage! adapted from makinglifedelicious.com
