(Almost) My Grandma's Rouladen: Melissa D'arabian

Chicagoland Chef du Jour's Note:

This is a delicious version of beef rouladen. I have tried a couple recipes over the years and I was not always happy with the tenderness of the meat. In my quest to get tender slice of beef, I sought out a recipe using red wine > a meat tenderizer. I am happy to report that I struck gold with this recipe. The addition of red wine made all the difference. It was fall apart tender. I had hope for nice pretty slices, but that didn't happen. I did modify the recipe just a tad and added 1 C of beef broth so there would be enough liquid to braise the meat in while baking. I'm glad I did or there would not have been enough sauce. Recipe courtesy Melissa d'Arabian and Food Network.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 6 slices bacon, cut into lardons
• 1 1/2 lbs round steaks, flatiron, flank steak, butterflied open if necessary (by you or your butcher)
• salt, to taste
• fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 large yellow onions, diced, divided
• 2 tablespoons dill pickle relish
• 1 -2 tablespoon vegetable oil, as needed, if not enough bacon fat rendered, I did not use
• 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 cup beef stock, broth
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice
• kitchen twine

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In a Dutch oven over medium-low heat, cook the bacon crisp to render the fat. Once the bacon is cooked, remove from pan and set aside. Reserve the rendered bacon fat in pan.
3. Begin prepping the meat: If the meat is too thick, you may butterfly to make thinner.
4. Salt and pepper the steaks and lay flat on a large cutting board. Pound to tenderize. Flatten to 1/2" if possible. Flip & pound the other side. Repeat as necessary to ensure thinness. I like to cover the meat over & under with a piece of clear plastic wrap to minimize messiness while tenderizing the meat.
5. Brush the top side of the slices with enough mustard just to coat.
6. Spread with dill pickle relish.
7. Sprinkle HALF the onion on top of the pickle relish.
8. Starting at the short end, roll the meat up jellyroll style, and secure with kitchen twine in 3-4 places. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
9. Reheat the bacon fat to the Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the meat and brown all sides of the meat.
10. Remove the meat from the pan. Add oil if necessary and add the remaining onion, carrot and celery; cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.
11. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Scrape up any bits off the bottom of the pan, then add in the canned tomatoes with their juice. Add the beef stock.
12. Nestle the meat back into the pan, bring to a simmer, cover and bake until the meat is tender, about 90 minutes. Turn the meat once halfway through cooking. If you need to add a bit more stock, do so. The sauce will be on the thick side and full of the veggies.
13. Let rest for 5-10 minutes. Do not remove the twine just yet.
14. Slice meat 1" thick with the twine in place or not. It will be fall apart tender and the beef may shred. No worries, it still tastes fantastic! I would suggest using a sharp knife or an electric knife.
15. Serve with mashed potatoes, YUM! Ladle the sauce over the meat and potatoes. Enjoy!