5 Star Rouladen

This recipe comes all the way from Germany, literally. It came from Carl's great-grandma, who taught it to her daughter-in-law, Carl's grandma. She then passed the recipe to her daughter-in-law, Carl's mom. So naturally, my mother-in-law followed tradition and honored me with this recipe. And now (with a touch of hesitation as I feel as though this is sacred ground I am treading here), I'm sharing it with you!

The first time I had this meal was just a few short weeks into my relationship with Carl. I'll be honest, it didn't look all that appetizing, but my hesitations quickly fled after my first bite. This dish is so tender, so juicy, basically a festival of flavors in your mouth! So, if you have ALL day to cook, and I'm not exaggerating, and you want a guaranteed to please feast, include this one on your menu. It won't fail you!

Start with this cast of characters:

• 3 lbs sirloin tip- cut as thin as humanly (or bladely...) possible. Call ahead to your butcher. Tell them you need it REALLY thin and mention that freezing it for awhile helps. Trust me on this.
• 6 white onions, diced
• 1 lb bacon, chopped very finely, but not cooked
• Salt
• Pepper
• Mustard
• 1 stick of butter
• Small metal skewers- most commonly used for turkey

Make an assembly line of sorts with 3 pieces of meat laid out flat. If there are holes in it, just adjust the meat so they overlap. Give the meat a nice coating of mustard, a sprinkle of onion and bacon and season with salt and pepper.



Starting on the end closest to you start rolling it up and then pull the sides in- secure with a metal skewer. Hard to explain, but the visual should help. Repeat until the sight of meat, mustard and onion make you want to punch someone. Or until you run out of meat...that works too.



Heat up your skillet and melt the butter in it. If you do a full batch, you will most likely need two skillets, electric skillets work the best! Once the butter has melted, lay each of the meat rolls into the pan and cook them on medium until browned, turning once. This should take approximately 20-30 minutes.



Crank the heat down until the liquid is BARELY bubbling. Let it cook for approximately 4 hours. This could vary though, but when the meat is almost falling apart, it's Rouladen!




With the leftover drippings, make a gravy with water and cornstarch. It is a requirement to serve this with mashed potatoes. Trust me. (I've made you trust me a lot with this haven't I? Don't worry....I'm trustworthy)


We are looking at meat, more meat, mustard and onion. How much more German can you get? I plan to make this dish for many years and hope to pass the tradition on some day!