.... if I think it
.... I can do it!!
During the Christmas/Winter break my 20 year old son and I were talking food. Now that he has lived in is own off campus apartment for more than a year and a half, he's had to fend for himself ... no more dorm food.
We set him up with the basics: pots, pans, wooden spoons, spatulas, mixing bowls, measuring cups etc... and a few recipes. On those days when there is a little extra $$ in the food budget and he gets tired of the Ramen noodles he likes to try family recipes.
All the pictures below were attempted by me, a 'seasoned' cook ... but inspired by a conversation we had.
While growing up my mom cooked a lot. We had the basics, hamburgers on the grill, boiled hot dogs, meat loaf, pot roasts, split pea soup ... good All American standards. And on special occasions we had some traditional German food. Food that my dad grew up with.
Beef Rouladan was one of those traditional foods. During this past break my son had a friend over whose family heritage is German as well. Kyle thought he would 'trick' me to see if I knew what Evan was having for dinner.... as I was tossing chicken for our Chinese Stir Fry.
They both seemed surprised that I knew about Rouladen ... a German meat roulade usually consisting of bacon, onions, mustard and pickles wrapped in thinly sliced beef which is then cooked. In some countries, the roulade is also known as "beef olive".
My meal was as wonderful as it looked! Yum! And sadly, Kyle did not partake in this delicious home cooked meal. He went back to school to start his 2nd semester as a Junior at the University of Iowa. Oh, I'm not that bad of a tease... the idea was brought up the day before he left. I need to 'perfect' it before he comes back 'home' to visit!
And look! This week my mom even sent me her recipe.... sort of.
She was taught to make it from my dad's stepmother. It appears that some recipes call for pounded meat to surround bacon and others call for the meat to surround a pickle spear ... just like any food, the recipes change by region, and by what the family has on hand to create the meal.
If you'd like my recipe, I'd love to send it to you ... just email me at prdesigns1@sbcglobal.net.
I'd love to hear from you ... but too, with modern technology, you can just as easily Google search to find the hundreds of varieties of Rouladen recipes. Team bacon or team pickle?
I'm learning to become an expert in Possibilities!
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