Beef roulades have been one of the most popular dishes in German cuisine for decades and are also prepared in Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic.
This is a braised dish, which means that meat is cooked for a long time at a rather gentle temperature, making it very soft. At the same time, a sauce is created in such dishes. We have already described several braised dishes and if you read the recipes for Goulash, Carbonade Flamande and Bavarian Duck, for example, you will quickly recognize similarities.
To prepare beef roulades, you need the right piece of meat and that is a slice about 4 mm thick, usually a good 40 cm long, from the topside, a part of the hind leg. In the countries mentioned, this is offered in most butchers’ shops, elsewhere you probably have to ask for it to be cut in this way.
Salt, pepper and mustard are essential. Gherkins and bacon are classic fillings. We also cut carrots, celeriac and onions into sticks the same width as the meat and about 1.5 cm thick. We briefly sauté these vegetables on all sides in 2 tbsp of butter and season with a pinch of salt and sugar.
A slice of meat is spread out, seasoned well with salt and pepper on the top and then generously coated with medium-hot mustard. The meat is then covered with slices of thinly sliced pork belly, as this cut of beef contains little fat and would become too dry when braised without the bacon.
A piece of gherkin is placed on top near one end, followed by the sautéed vegetables: a piece each of carrot, celeriac and about the same amount of onion.
Then place the end of the meat over it and roll everything up tightly. If the slices were very wide in the middle, the edges should be folded inwards a little. What you want is a compact, stuffed roll that is about the same thickness at the edges as in the center. Then tie the rolls together with a string (alternatively, you can secure the end with a toothpick).
The oven is preheated to 160 degrees Celsius. Then comes what always comes first when braising: the roulades are browned well on all sides in a little neutral oil over a medium-high heat. This step is essential for the roasted flavors that make the meat and sauce so delicious later on. Place the roulades in the hot oil and only turn them when the bottom side is dark brown – and so on. Hectic flipping of meat is almost always wrong, except when stir-frying in a wok.
Remove the fried roulades from the pan in which coarsely diced root vegetables are now sautéed. Typically, these are onions, celeriac and carrots. You don’t need to peel the latter, just wash them briefly. This is followed by tomato paste, which is also roasted and thus loses its acidity. Season with a little salt and pepper.
Now a little butter and flour are added. Stir everything well and let it brown on the bottom of the pan to create roasting aromas.
Then some port and red wine are added. This mixture is left to simmer until it has the consistency of syrup. Only then do we add beef fond and spices like bay leaf, juniper berries and peppercorns.
The seared roulades are placed in the sauce and simmer in the oven with the lid on for 2 ½ hours. They are then so soft that they can be cut into pieces without a knife.
When they have cooled down a little, remove the strings.
The sauce is passed through a pointed sieve and the vegetables should be squeezed out with a ladle so that no flavor is left behind. Then reduce over a high heat until the sauce has the desired consistency. Season to taste with salt, pepper, sugar if necessary and, for acidity, either a little good vinegar or medium-hot mustard.
If preferred, a little cold butter can be stirred in with a whisk for binding, flavor and shine. You may also add a strip of orange or lemon peel and leave to infuse for a few minutes. Then the roulades are put back into the sauce and warmed over a low heat.
Beef roulades are often served with mashed potatoes and red cabbage, but today we had them with pasta. Also fantastic.
For this recipe, we took a lot of inspiration from Alexander Huber, the 11th generation (!) of his family to prepare sensational dishes in the tiny and somewhat remote village of Pleiskirchen in Bavaria – with a star in the Michelin Guide. We can only warmly recommend a visit and we also recommend his latest cookbook. Anyone interested in Bavarian cuisine will be very happy with it.
Ingredients ( for 4 people):
8 thin, long slices of beef from the topside
Salt and pepper
Medium-hot mustard (approx. 4 tbsp)
8 thin slices of bacon
8 smaller gherkins (otherwise 2 large ones, cut into quarters lengthwise)
4 carrots (approx. 1 ½ for the filling)
½ celeriac (approx. 400 – 500 g), some of which for the filling
4 onions (approx. 1 ½ for the filling)
A little neutral vegetable oil for frying
2 tbsp tomato paste
100 g butter
2 tbsp flour
150 ml port wine (alternatively more red wine)
250 ml red wine
1 l beef stock
2 bay leaves
6 peppercorns
6 juniper berries (crushed lightly with the flat side of the knife blade)
To taste:
Salt and pepper
Optional: lemon and/or orange zest
Butter
