Beef roulade + Recipe

Making a beef roulade is very simple even if you don´t have that much cooking experience. The most important thing to do is to gather the ingredients and make them  ready before starting to cook. With all the ingredients ready on hand, your cooking is halfway done.

There are many variations in cooking this dish depending on how fillings are preferred by the cook . 

Some like it with pickles or with bacon and cheese, some use only vegetables.  And so, if you plan to make this dish, think first on how you would like your fillings would have to be.

Here´s how I prepare mine:

Ingredients:

1 Kg beef filet cut thinly (of good 4 pieces

size of about 250 grams each)

emmentaler cheese (gouda will also do) 

thinly ready-cut ham 

Soy sauce (optional)

3 1/2 cups Beef broth

ground dried garlic

Salt & pepper 

Créme fraíche 

cornflour (optional)

For additional fillings:

1  cup zucchini, 1 cup red bell pepper

1 medium onion, 1 cup celery stalk 

(all cut into small cubes)

4 mushrooms - sliced

1 clove crushed garlic

1 tbsp butter 

Preparations:

1. Prepare and cut the meat thinly, pounding it carefully to extend the side and to make it larger for later folding. Stack the pounded meat on a platter and set aside for later use.

2. Heat a larger pan with 1 tbsp butter under medium heat, fry the crushed garlic,  the onions, bell pepper, zucchini, sliced mushrooms and the celery stalk until all are brown in color.

Add 1/2 cup of the beef broth and simmer in low heat until the veggies become soft (but not too soft). Cook until the liquid evaporates and the vegetable pieces are glazed. Set aside as filling and the rest braised veggies as additional pieces to be served  with the roulade + gravy later.

3. Spread the meat on a cutting board to fill it... beginning with the ham, then the cheese and the vegetable filling....

4. Fold all the sides using metal skewers or toothpicks to tightly close the holes

to prevent the melted cheese from flowing  out of the roulade.

Season with salt, pepper and ground garlic on all sides.

This is optional, you may brush the meat with soy sauce too if you like.

5. In a hot pan with  2 tbsps olive oil, fry each roulade for about 2 minutes on each side. Add the 3 cups beef broth and simmer under low fire for abou 40 minutes.

Take out the roulade and put them in a bowl, set aside.

Meanwhile, add 2 tbsps of créme fraíche to the pan, stirring constantly that it completely blends with the broth.

If necessary, add 1 tsp of cornflour dissolved in 2 tbsp water to thicken the liquid and to make it into a gravy.

Put the roulade back to the pan and coat each of the pieces with the gravy.

Arrange each roulade on a plate, adding the braised vegetable (rest of the fillings, to add color to the plate) plus a bit of the gravy. 

Serve hot with cooked rice and green salad  with tomatoes and  vinaigrette.

Happy Cooking!