D ~ Week 1: Rouladen

Week 1: Mima's Rouladen with gravy & mashed potatoes

Tuesday, January 3rd

When I think of my childhood one of my favorite times was dinner (or supper) at Grandma Pierce's. She always had a good spread of food. One of the best meals ever quickly became my favorite; Rouladen. Rouladen is a traditional German food that her family enjoyed and she passed the love of it down to her kids and grandkids.


One of my favorite meals is Rouladen with gravy & mashed potatoes! This is an old family recipe passed down from my great-grandma, Mima Trzeciak. While I've enjoyed this meal several times, I've never actually made it all. Tonight however, it seemed fitting to start out with a favorite and I figured I couldn't screw it up too badly. 


Mima's Rouladen


Ingredients: 
- 6 cube steaks
- 3 pickles, diced
-  1 medium onion, diced
- 5 - 6 slices of bacon, diced & fried up
- yellow mustard
- toothpicks or string
- 1 tsp beef bouillon (more or less)
- 1 c water
- Pepper (optional, to taste)


Directions:
- Turn oven on to 350 degrees.
- Spread each cube steak generously with mustard. Sprinkle pickles, onion and bacon on top the sprinkle with pepper. 
- Roll up the steaks carefully, making sure the bacon, pickle & onion doesn't all come out. Secure with toothpicks. I used cheap toothpicks and just stuck them straight in, Mima would either tie with string or toothpicks.
- Place rouladen (rolled steaks) into a deep baking pan or roaster. 
- Crush the bouillon up and mix in the cup of water. Pour bouillon water over steaks.
- Cover and bake for 1 hour & 30 minutes.
- Once rouladen is cooked remove from pan to a serving dish. Use drippings to make gravy.
* You can cut the strings or take out the toothpicks. Twist toothpicks to come out easier. We all think it's fun to take out our own toothpicks but it's up to you!


Goes great with mashed potatoes!  My family typically eats it with red cabbage, gravy, and a green salad. I'm not a fan of red cabbage so I didn't show any here, I can't have it tainting my plate! 

Above: Rouladen with gravy, mashed potatoes & gravy and a green salad.

Below: My clean plate!!! MMMM good!