Wednesday, September 4, 2013

German Style Savory Stuffed Flank Steak

This is a recipe I have developed over the years. It started with the first time I went to the only German restaurant the town I live in has and I had a dish called Rouladen, which I later found out meant stuffed beef rolls in German. I really liked the dish. It was like a stuffed Swiss steak with a lot of tasty gravy over Spaetzle noodles. I have tried many recipes over the years and I found the stuffing to be blander than I like so I continued to change it until I got to the version I cook today. It can also be made with smaller pieces of round steak but I like the beautiful presentation of a whole sliced stuffed flank steak on a platter, but you can change this recipe to make several small stuffed steaks using thinly cut round or sirloin instead of one big steak, but besides looking nice on a platter when sliced it is also easier to make a big one, they stuffing fits inside better. The dish is very good with small steaks or one large one.  I also like to serve the wonderful savory gravy this dish makes with homemade dumpling noodles that are similar to Spaetzle and are really easy to make, but any kind of pasta is good with this gravy.
Stuffed Flank Steak
2 pound flank steak
3 slices bacon
1 large dill pickle, sliced lengthwise in quarters
2 carrots sliced in half
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon stone ground mustard
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons bacon grease, or butter
2 tablespoons tomato paste
8 ounces beer
4 ounces red wine
8 ounces Beef Stock
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons flour
Homemade noodles or any pasta

Lay flank steak on a cutting board and pound it out as flat as you can get it. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and thyme. Then spread meat with mustard. Place the following ingredients so that they run the long side of the meat when you go to roll it around the stuffing: bacon, carrots, dill pickle, sprinkle with half of the onions, garlic and capers. Roll the steak around the filling and tie it together or secure with skewers. Heat bacon grease, or butter, in a large frying pan or a slow cooker and brown the meat for about 15 minutes or until it is lightly browned on all sides. Add beef stock, tomato paste, the rest of the onions, carrots, and beer or wine. Cover and simmer over medium low heat for about 45 minutes or until beef roll is very tender but not falling apart. Remove meat from gravy and keep warm on a platter. Mix 2 tablespoons flour or corn starch in 1/4 cup of water and stir into the gravy and bring to a boil. Remove the thread or skewers from the meat and slice it in thick slices where it sits on the platter and pour a bit of sauce down the middle. Serve the rest of the gravy in a bowl to put on the noodles and meat.
While the meat is cooking I make homemade noodles and either serve them boiled or brown them lightly in butter while making the gravy. Fresh pasta or dried pasta from the store works well also.

Homemade noodles: Using an electric mixer and blend 1 egg, 1 tablespoon oil, ¼ cup water, ¼ cup milk, 1 ¼ cup flour, ¼ teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon baking powder together. Mix well and set aside while you bring salted water to a boil. Using a spaetzle maker slowly pour the dough in it and through the holes into the boiling water. When the dumplings float to the surface they are done.

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