Grandma's Rouladen Remix

A few years ago I spent some time going through my grandmother's recipe cards. I tested out the recipes that I remember from my childhood of vacations spent at my grandparent's house in Westmoreland, New York.  Grandma's recipe was simple and quite good but I knew I had to try my hand at my own version, while keeping hers in mind.

To start, I headed to my local butcher, Close to the Bone since they carry some of the best locally raised Canadian beef in the area and I knew that the key was starting with great beef.  Even though this dish doesn't require a special or expensive cut, it truly is all about the beef and that great beefy flavor and smell.  It's all about the smell of it cooking for me.  Whenever I smell rouladen cooking I'm sent back to my childhood, walking into Grandma and Grandpa's kitchen and having that rich smell permeate the whole house.  Whether you were hungry or not, the smell would get you and if by some small chance it didn't Grandma would force food on you anyway.  They always talk about Italian grandmothers and their need to feed, well it apparently also applies to German grandma's too!  The big pot that it braised in would be brought over to the table and we'd all sit down, of course fighting over who got the good spinning chairs, and Grandma would serve. We'd oblige by inhaling the beefy oniony goodness.

Sour Cream Drop Cookies

This is another one of my Grandmother's recipes. When I first saw this recipe I was intrigued at the use of sour cream. I've seen plenty of cakes, muffins and breads that use yogurt or sour cream but haven't really come across anything, much less a cookie that used sour cream. Let's be honest, I haven't really been looking, but I am always on the look out for new recipes and I can't say I noticed anything like this before. I don't remember eating at Grandma & Grandpa's when I was younger but it was one of the many recipes in the book my Dad has back at their house. As most of my Grandmother's recipes have been, this was super easy with very little by way of directions, just through it in a bowl mix and bake.

Sour Cream Drop Cookies
makes 20-24

1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1¾ cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ cup shortening
¼ tsp salt
½ cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375F. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Drop onto a prepared cookie sheet, leaving an inch between each drop. Bake in preheated over for 12-15 minutes.

These weren't exactly a hit with the boy, although he couldn't pinpoint exactly what he didn't like about them. So, I brought them into the office and they went over very well. Everyone at the office tends to prefer it when the boy turns his nose up at something because it means they'll get more. The cookie has a light and cakey texture that I liked. I may try to use cocoa powder next time for a chocolate cookie.

Sauerbraten

Now I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess than many of my readers aren't familiar with Saurbraten. This was something my grandmother made when I was quite young and that my mother also made when i was younger. It's another of Grandma H's recipes that I wanted to try for since it's a traditional German dish but also because it's my grandmother's recipe and according to the recipe card a recipe that came right from our German ancestors.

But I'm digressing, many of you have probably never heard of Saurbraten so from our good friends at Wikipedia here's a quick definition: "German, from sauer sour + Braten roast meat, is a roast from Rhineland, Saarland, Silesia, and Swabia. While Rhineland Sauerbraten is sweetish and contains raisins and lebuchken, Swabian Sauerbraten contains neither sweetening nor raisins. Sauerbraten was originally made from horse meat or venison, but today beef is more commonly used, except by traditionalists."

OK so traditionally made from horse meat sounds a bit shady, I'll give you that, but growing up we always had it made with beef and that's what my grandmother's recipe calls for and how I made it. What's great about this is that you can take a cheaper cut of meat since it will be tenderized by the vinegar and spices and then braised til it practically falls apart. Making it a very budget friendly main course.

Sauerbraten

3 lb rump roast
1 Tbsp whole spices (I used pickling spices since it's a whole spice blend that has many of the spices found in traditional sauerbraten recipes)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 onion - sliced
1½ tsp salt
⅛ tsp butter
1 cup (or more) vinegar (I used Cider Vinegar)
1 cup water
salt & pepper

1. Mix spices, sugar, salt, pepper & onions with water and vinegar in a non-reactive container with a lid.
2.Place roast in liquid. It should be covered completely, if not pour enough vinegar into the container to cover the roast. Let sit covered in the refrigerator for 1 week
3. After 1 week take roast out, brown it and braise in 1/2 water, 1/2 marinade until tender.
4. Thicken juices for gravy (i made a quick roux with flour and butter and streamed in the warm cooking juices whisking all along to make a nice gravy.

What came out of this was a deliciously tender just sour enough roast that even the boy, who doesn't like vinegar all that much, really enjoyed. Sauerbraten is traditionally served with spaetzle which would be very tasty, although I made pierogi as well braised red cabbage with apples, the sweetness of which really balanced out the sourness of the meat. It was a really hearty meal with some great well-balanced flavors, perfect for a Sunday night comfort meal. Enjoy!

Grandma's Rolladen

To go along with Grandma's pierogi, I made her Rolladen, a tasty German meat dish that both my brothers love. For those of us unfamiliar with Rolladen (or Rouladen as it's traditionally spelled) here's what wikipedia has to say:

"Rouladen (or Rinderroulade) is a German meat roulade consisting of bacon, onions, mustard and pickles wrapped in thinly sliced beef and then cooked. The dish has sometimes minced meat or only bacon and onion filling. Rouladen is traditionally served for dinner. Red wine is served with this dish."

Now I know the post is titled Rolladen, and that's because it's my grandmother's recipe and how she spelled it on the recipe card. I know, I know it's not the "correct" spelling, but it's hers so I'm going with it. Also, the wikipedia definition includes a few more ingredients in the beef roll that my recipe does, but I wanted to try Grandma's recipe as written before I started messing around with it.

I apologize to not starting the post with a photo but while it's a tasty dish, it's not the most photogenic. But since I took a photo and there may be some of you who haven't heard of rolladen here you go anyway, a beef roll that I cut into to show the tasty onions in the middle.


Grandma's Rolladen
serves 4-6

3-4 lbs round steak
4-5 large onions
salt & pepper
butter

1. Cut meat into slices, approximately ½ inch thick. Place onion slices, salt, pepper and a small tab of butter on each piece. Roll up and tie with heavy string.
2. Brown beef rolls in olive oil (or hot shortening). When all sides are brown, pour water over to cover and Simmer 2½ to 3 hours or until tender. Adding more water if necessary.
3. Remove meat rolls and unwind thread. Thicken the cooking juices for gravy and serve.
I'm quite happy with how this turned out, although the "thicken the cooking juices for gravy" directions didn't work out so well for me. We went without gravy, but I think next time I'll make a roux with some butter and flour and whisk in the cooking juices for gravy. The onions really help keep the beef really moist and add tons of flavor. It smells delicious while cooking and went really well with the pierogi or would also be great with spaetzle.

For my next go I think I will play around with some of the other filling ingredients, especially some nice grainy mustard and maybe try pickles too. I've really been enjoying making these recipes of my grandmother's it makes me feel as though I'm carrying on some of our family traditions that I will be able to pass along to my own kids and grandkids someday. Enjoy!

Pierogi

This recipe is another of my Grandma H's. If you aren't familiar with pierogi, you have no idea what you are missing. They are a tasty dumpling often filled with potato and/or cheese. According to wikipedia:

"Pierogi (also perogi, perogy, pirohi, piroghi, pirogi, pirogen, pierogy, pirohy, or pyrohy), from the Proto-Slavic 'pir' (festivity), is the name most commonly used in English speaking areas to refer to a variety of Slavic semicircular (or, in some cuisines, square) boiled dumplings of unleavened dough stuffed with varying ingredients. In English, the word pierogi and its variants are pronounced with a stress on the letter 'o'."

We have been eating pierogi for as long as I can remember, although I can't say I ever remember my grandmother making them from scratch. I'm still honing my skills with making doughs, learning how elastic a particular dough should be, when to add more flour or more water. So going into this one I was a bit nervous. But was surprised at how well it came together. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, while my grandmother made everything from scratch I don't think she ever had a ton of time to do things. Thus it would have to be easy. There was no recipe included for the filling, so I made up my own based on some web research and what I remembered liking in the pierogi we would eat growing up.

Pierogi
makes about 20

FOR DOUGH
2 eggs
½ cup water
2 cups flour
½ tsp salt

FOR FILLING
1 large potato
up to ¼ cup buttermilk
up to ¼ cup extra sharp cheddar - shredded (I actually used MacLaren's Imperial Sharp Cheddar which looks like a shady cheddar spread but was actually perfect and really tasty on it's own too)
salt & pepper

TO FINISH
1 Tbsp butter
½ small onion - roughly chopped

FOR DOUGH:
1. Mound the flour on a kneading board and make a hole in the center. Drop eggs into the hole and cut into flour with a knife.
2. Add salt & water and knead until firm. Let rest for 10 minutes, covered with a warm towel.
3. Divide dough in half and roll thin, using flour as needed. Cut circles with a large biscuit cutter.

FOR FILLING:
4. Peel and dice potato and boil until tender. Drain water and put potatoes in food processor. Pulse potatoes in food processor and stream in buttermilk a Tbsp at a time until smooth (how much cheese and buttermilk you need depends on the size of potato, taste it as you go). Fold in cheddar cheese.

TO ASSEMBLE:
5. Place a small spoonful of filling a little to one side of each round dough. Moisten edge with water and press edges firmly together. Be sure they are sealed to prevent filling from running out.
6. Drop pierogi into salted boiling water. Cook gently for 3 to 5 minutes. They are done when they begin to float, remove from water with a slotted spoon.
7. In a large skillet brown butter over medium heat. When browned add onions and pierogi. Sauteing until each side of the pierogies is golden and the onions have just begun to brown.

These were a winner with the boy. The dough was a bit tough to roll out and I think I could've gotten it thinner and they would have been even better, but overall I'm happy with my first attempt. It's not necessary to do the final step with the onions and butter, but it makes them taste oh so good with the soft onions and the browned bits that it's worth the extra effort and extra pan. I really like that the recipe is part my grandmother's and part mine. I can't wait to try them again with different fillings. Enjoy!

"Hostess" Cupcakes

I woke up yesterday morning, my first day home after a nice trip back to New England, with and itch to bake something. My parents are both fabulous cooks so when I am visiting, I don't spend much time in the kitchen. Plus we were going to a family get together at the Boy's cousins house that evening and I can't help myself, I just need top bring some sort of sweet treat! I had a recipe from my grandmother for a Black Chocolate Cake and Fluff Icing. I don't remember this cake but when I took the recipe my father raved about it. I don't have a good cake pan and if I am making something new to bring to someone's home I like cupcakes because I can try them and make sure they turned out ok before giving them to anyone else! Rather that make a straight chocolate cupcake, I decided to make a version of a Hostess Cupcake, using the fluff icing as the filling and to pipe a little "H" on each cake (the "H" is for my and Grandma's last name since it is a creation from the 2 of us, her recipe and my method of assembly) and making a chocolate ganche to top each cake.

Black Chocolate Cake
makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 heaping Tbsps unsweetend cocoa powder
1 1/2 Tbsp butter (this is the amount I used, on the recipe card it says butter the size of the walnut)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Line cupcake tin with papers or butter and flour each cup. Evenly divide the cake batter among the 12 cups. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 17-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes our clean.
3. Let cool completely before assembling.


Fluff Icing

1 cup granulated sugar
2 egg whites
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla

1. Beat first 4 ingredients together in a small mixing bowl for 5-8 minutes. Add vanilla when mixture begins to thicken.


Chocolate Ganache

4.5 oz semisweet chocolate - chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Heat cream over medium high heat until just boiling. Pour over chocolate (In a nonreactive bowl) let sit for 30 seconds and then whisk until smooth.


Assembling cupcakes
1. Using the cone method (cut out a cone shape from the top, cut off the pointy cone part, stuff the whole with filling, then put the top back on) fill the cakes with fluff icing (you can spoon it or I used a ziploc bag that I just cut the corner off of to pipe the icing).
2. Spoon the chocolate ganache on top of each cake, use the back of the spoon to coax the ganache in an even layer over the top of the cake.
3. Using a piping bag with the smallest tip (or a ziploc bag with a very tiny cut in the corner) pipe on whatever letter or doodle you'd like.


I loved making these, first because it's my grandmother's recipe and second because I got to dunk the pointy part of the cone in the fluff icing and eat it as I assembled the cupcakes. They were a total hit at the family get together too!

Spaetzle

To go with my Slow Cooker Pot Roast I decided to take a page from my mom and my Grandmother. Mom served spaetzle with her pot roast that inspired mine and when I was home over Thanksgiving my father pulled out a bunch of recipes from my grandmother, one of them was for spaetzle. What is spaetzle you ask? According to Wikipedia (and what I know from my mom) "are a type of egg noodles and small dumplings found in the cuisine of Germany". They are perfect with any kind or beef dish in place of potatoes or rice.

Since it was Saturday and we were taking it easy it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try to make spaetzle from scratch and I liked that I had my grandmother's recipe to guide me. Below is the recipe and she wrote it, with my tweaks in red.

Spaetzle
makes 6 servings
Printable Recipe

2 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
water
1/3 cup butter or margarine (not sure anyone still uses margarine, but it's on the card)

1. In a large bowl, using a fork, combine eggs, flour, salt and 1 1/2 cups of water until smooth. Add enough additional water, about 1/4 cup, to form a thick smooth mixture.
2. Into a large pot of boiling water (I used 1 1/2 cups chicken stock and 1 1/2 cups water), press the batter through a large-holed colander or spaetzle maker. Gently boil 5 minutes, then drain. (I didn't have a large hole colander or a spaetzle maker to I used a method I saw Guy Fieri use on Guy's Big Bite. Place dough mixture on a clean cutting board. Flour both sides of the dough and roll into a long rectangle, approximately 12 by 2-inches and 1/8-inch thick. With pizza cutter, cut into strips, 2-inches in length and 1/4-inch wide. )
3. In a large skillet melt butter and cook until lightly browned but not burned. Add spaetzle and toss to coat well.

I'm so happy I have now added one of my grandmother's recipes to my arsenal. The boy had never had spaetzle before but really liked it. I know, I know the browned butter is completely not figure friendly but it would be a mistake to skip it and not have the nice crunchy & golden pieces of spaetzle. Do it, once in awhile won't hurt and I promise you won't regret it.