Way back in graduate school, our family lived in Eagle Heights which was the married student housing at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. I loved living there with other families from all over the globe. Some friends from Germany taught me how they made their version of the classic German Beef Rouladen. We loved it and made it part of our regular dinner rotation along with many other recipes we learned from lots of students from other countries. I will share some of our family’s favorites from time to time.
Here are the ingredients for this delicious dish. The only other ingredients are a couple cans of Campbell’s Beef Consommé (not shown in this photo – see below) and some corn starch for thickening at the end. Although the ingredients are few, the flavor is spectacular.
To serve 4 people, I start with about 1 & 1/4 pounds of very thinly-cut top round which is often called Milanesa cut. A famous Italian dish called Milanesa uses this thinly-cut beef or veal.
I carefully lay out the pieces of beef on a piece of waxed paper or cutting boards. I smear plain yellow mustard on the pieces like you would if you were making a sandwich. I sprinkle on some salt and pepper and then add one half of a thick-sliced piece of bacon, a Kosher dill pickle spear, and a chunk of white onion.
Next I begin rolling up the meat in little packages.
I tie each little meat packet with 2 pieces of cotton kitchen string so the filling doesn’t slip out of the ends during cooking. Your packets should end up looking like this.
Chop up the rest of your onion into large chunks and add 2 extra dill pickle spears chopped up in about 1-inch pieces. Add more onion or pickles if you like. Set these aside until after the meat packets are sauteed.
Next, I heat up a small amount of cooking oil in a large Dutch oven-type pan. I add bacon fat to this oil for the rich flavor it gives the Rouladen.
As a side note, I just sauteed some pieces of bacon in my pan which made enough bacon fat to cook the meat packets. You can see the marks where my bacon cooked still in the pan.
At this point, I made sure the pan was quite hot and I placed the meat packets in the hot fat to begin browning them.
Looks great, doesn’t it? It smells delicious, too! When they are nicely browned on the first side, turn them over using tongs to brown them on the other side.
After the second side browns, add the chunked up pieces of extra onion and pickle. Let them saute for a couple minutes. Then add the 2 cans of the Beef Consommé.
Turn the heat down to low and put a lid on the pan. Simmer on low for about 1/2 hour and then turn the packets over in the liquid and replace the lid and let the food simmer for about another 15 to 20 minutes.
Mix up 1/4 cup of cornstarch with enough cold water to dissolve it evenly. Now remove the meat packets from the broth and place them on a warm plate. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the broth and simmer on low heat until the broth boils and thickens – about 5 minutes. Put the meat packets back into the thickened broth and replace the lid and turn off the heat. Alternately, place the pan on a “keep warm” burner if your stove has one.
At this time, I make a pot of plain noodles for serving the Rouladen. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add your noodles and cook according to the packaged directions or until they are done how your family likes them.
If you have access to a store that carries real German noodles, use those. Another great source of excellent noodles is Amish people. They often make and sell them at Farmer’s Markets, etc. Sometimes you can find the homemade-style noodles in the freezer section of a well-stocked supermarket.
Put the cooked noodles on serving plates and add a nice Rouladen packet or two on top of the noodles. Spoon some of the delicious sauce with the onion and pickle pieces around them. Snip the string from around the packets on the top and slip the string from the meat and discard it.
Sehr gut! as a German person would exclaim.
German Beef Rouladen
Serves four people.
1 & 1/4 pounds thin-sliced beef top round
4 slices of thick-cut hickory-smoked bacon
8 Kosher dill pickle spears – plus a couple extra for chunks
1-2 large white onions
yellow mustard
salt and pepper
2 cans Campbell’s Beef Consommé
1 – 12-ounce package of Extra-Wide Egg Noodles
Lay meat slices out flat and smear yellow mustard on them. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Add 1/2 piece of bacon and a dill pickle spear and a chunk of the white onion. Roll up meat forming a nice little packet. Tie the Rouladen in two places using cotton kitchen string.
Chop up the rest of the onions and the 2 pickles into large chunks and set aside.
Saute the packets in hot oil or bacon fat until browned on both sides. Add the extra onion and pickle chunks and saute another couple of minutes. Add the 2 cans of Consomme and simmer with a lid on for about 30 minutes. Turn the packets over in the sauce and simmer another 15 minutes or so.
Remove the packets to a warm plate. Mix 1/4 cup cornstarch with some cold water until it is dissolved. Add it to the simmering sauce in the pan and stir it well to blend. Simmer about 3-5 minutes until cornstarch is cooked and has thickened the sauce. Put the meat packets back into the thickened sauce and simmer another couple minutes – turning them to coat them evenly. Turn off heat while you cook the noodles.
Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Drain and place on serving plates. Spoon a couple Rouladen onto noodles and some of the sauce with the onion and pickle chunks. Snip the string and slip it off of the Rouladen before serving.
This dish can be served along with some German Red Cabbage with excellent results.
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