Rouladen or Rinderrouladen is a German meat dish, usually consisting of bacon, onions, mustard and pickles wrapped in thinly sliced beef which is then cooked. The dish is considered traditional also in the Upper Silesia region of Poland where it is known as rolada śląska (Silesian roulade) and in the Czech Republic where it is known as španělský ptáček (spanish bird).
Beef or veal is typically used, though some food scholars tend to believe that the original version was probably venison or pork, and pork is still popular in some areas. The beef rouladen as we know them today have become popular over the last century. The cut is usually topside beef or silverside since this is the cheaper cut. The meat is cut into large, thin slices.
The filling is a mixture of smoked and cooked pork belly, chopped onions and chopped pickles (gherkins) which is at times varied by adding minced meat or sausage meat. The mixture varies from region to region. Rouladen are traditionally served for dinner. Red wine is often used for the gravy.
Serving
Rouladen are usually served with either potato dumplings or mashed potatoes and pickled red cabbage. Roasted winter vegetables are another common side dish. The gravy is an absolute requirement to round off the dish and is usually poured over the meat. Spätzle are a good complement to the dish since they soak up the gravy well.
Originally considered as a dish for common people, it is today enjoyed by many as a festive dish.
Young Duck with Red Cabbage (kachna s červeným zelím)
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Czech, Czechoslovak
Keyword: Cabbage, Duck
Ingredients
Duck
1appletart
1orange
2Tbsbaconchopped
1duck(approx 3 lbs)
salt & pepper
Cabbage
1smallred cabbage head
3-4Tbsbacon fat
1bay leaf
salt
Instructions
Duck
Peel the apple, core and quarter.
Peel and slice the orange.
Put these inside a clean washed duck along with the chopped bacon,
Rub the duck with salt and pepper.
Put it in the roasting pan and roast in a 350° oven.
Baste often with its own fat, roast for 1 hour and when the meat is tender raise the oven temperature to 400° to crisp the skin which should be golden brown.
Red Cabbage
Cut the red cabbage in half, take out the core and finely shred the cabbage.
Sprinkle with salt and let stand, covered in an earthenware bowl for a couple of hours.
`Squeeze the cabbage dry.
Heat in a deep saucepan the bacon fat, put in the cabbage, add the bay leaf but no water.
Cover saucepan and steam at a low heat for about 3/4 of an hour.
Dissolve yeast and half of the sugar in 1½ cups scaled milk, which has been cooled to lukewarm. Add 1 ½ cups flour. Mix and put in warm place to rise until bubbles appear (1 ½ hours). Add egg yolks, salt, rest of sugar, melted and cooled lard, and remaining lukewarm milk. Beat well. Gradually add rest of flour, mixing well after each addition until smooth and elastic.
Cover and place in warm place, until dough doubles in bulk. When dough is light, stir with spoon and let rise again. Shape into small balls about the size of a large walnut. Put into well-greased baking pans, well spaced, about 15 in a 10” x 15” pan. Brush top with melted fat and let rise in warm place until light. In center of each bun, make a small indentation with fingers and fill each with 1 tablespoon of filling. Return to warm place to rise again. Bake at 400° for 12-15 minutes until brown. Remove from oven, brush with melted fat, and remove from pans.
Mrs. Clarence Zajicek- Favorite Recipes of the Nebraska Czechs
