Silesian beef roulade - tradiotional filling is made of pickled cucumbers, mustard and bacon.
Ingredients: (4 servings)
- 480g of beef or tenderloin
- 200g bacon
- 2 pickled cucumbers
- 1 onion
- 1 tbsp mustard, salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp sweet pepper powder
- 100g butter
- 1 Bay leaf
- several allspice berries
- 1 - 2 cups water
Cut the meat into (1 cm) thick slices.
Lightly pound meat with a pestle. Season beef slices with salt and freshly ground pepper. Thinly spread mustard on top of each slice. Place bacon, pickle, and onion slices on one end of each slice.
Roll up slices, tucking the ends in and securing with thread.
Heat butter in skillet. Brown rouladen well on all sides. Once all rouladen are well browned, add 1 - 2 cups of hot water, bring to simmer and cover. Simmer for about 1½ hours. Remove rouladen. To thicken gravy, combine about 1 - 2 tbsp flour in a little cold water and stir gently into cooking liquid until slightly thickened. Season gravy to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. If you wish, add sour cream to the gravy. Remove thread to serve rouladen with their gravy.
You can also prepare a roulade from pork instead of beef - braising will take less time.
Cook potatoes until tender, drain them, mash while they’re still hot. Let cool off, place in a medium bowl. Add egg, starch and salt, mix together.
Form plum size dough balls, make a small hole in the center of each dumpling with your thumb.
Boil water in a pot, add a teaspoon of salt. Put dumplings into boiling water, cook them for 2-3 minutes, until they float on the top.
Slice cabbage in half lengthwise. Use a sharp knife to cut a V-shaped notch around the white core and discard it. Slice both pieces in half again so you have 4 quarters, then thinly slice each piece crosswise into 0,5 cm-thick strips.
Cook the chopped cabbage with bay leaf, allspice and salt. Dice bacon and melt into greaves. Peel and chop the onion.
After cooking, strain the cabbage, add raw onions, greaves with fat, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and simmer together on low heat for about 5 minutes. Serve warm.
LITTLE CABBAGE CHEMISTRY - You see, the leaf color of red cabbage can vary drastically depending on the pH of the soil. If the soil is acidic, the leaves will appear more red. If the soil is more alkaline, the leaves will appear more blue.