A German Cooking Lesson - Rouladen & Windbeutel - Beef Rolls & Creme Puffs

Christine is one of our family's dearest friends.  Not only was she one of the first people we met when we moved to town 27 years ago, she also babysat two of my daughters while I taught school. She is a warm bundle of infinite patience and love, as well as being a fantastic cook!  I still remember coming into her house to pick up the girls and being treated to the most mouth watering smells coming out of her kitchen.  She generously offered delicious samples and tastes, so I was thrilled when she agreed to teach me a thing or two about German cooking.  Christine was 17 and living in Germany when she met Randy, who was in the U.S. army, at a church social event.  They fell in love, got married, and moved to the United States.  They now have two married sons, four grandsons, and are still sweethearts!  When Christine first moved here, she did not have any of her own family around to teach her how to cook, but successfully taught herself how to make the German dishes she remembered from home.  Her U.S. family and friends benefited from her persistence since she has always been so kind in sharing her cooking with others - like me!  A few days ago we spent a laughter filled afternoon together in the kitchen and the results were just delicious.

The first dish we tackled was Rouladen which is meat rolled around a filling, browned, braised, and served with gravy made from the cooking skillet.  For dessert we made both regular and chocolate creme puffs or German Windbeutels - literally "wind bags"!

Rouladen

Ingredients for 6 to 8 Servings:

Page from Christine's mom's cookbook

2 pounds of  thin sliced  top  round steak
1/2 cup  horseradish mustard
3 to 4 onions, diced
1 cup sliced dill pickles or 8 dill spears
Optional: 8 slices cooked bacon
salt and pepper
2 to 4 tablespoons cooking oil
1/2 cup flour
4 cups of beef broth
2 to 3 tablespoons cornstarch
To serve with the rouladen and gravy:
6 to 8 potatoes
1 jar prepared red cabbage
Something to hold the rolls together:
small skewers, metal rings or cooking twine

Directions

Cut the 2 pounds of thin sliced top sirloin into 8 equal pieces.  Spread each piece with 1 tablespoon mustard, 1 tablespoon chopped onion, 3 or 4 pickle slices (or 1 spear), and shake some salt and pepper over it.

Roll the meat up, starting with the narrower end first.  Hold the roll together with cooking twine or skewers.

On medium high, heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a large skillet. Place the rolls in the skillet and begin to brown them.  You may have to do this in batches or use two pans.

Sprinkle each roll with a tablespoon of the flour.

When the rolls are browned on the bottom, turn them over so the other side can brown as well.

Pour 2 cups of beef broth over the rolls, cover and let simmer for at least 2 hours or until the meat is very tender.  Check them occasionally and give the sauce a stir to ensure that it doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan. Add more beef broth if it is needed.  About a half hour before serving, peel and cube the potatoes.  Place them in boiling water and cook them until a fork pierces them easily.  Right before serving, carefully remove the skewers, metal rings, or twine and put the beef rolls on a serving platter. Stir the sauce in the pan making sure that all the yummy bits on the bottom get mixed in.  To thicken the sauce so it becomes gravy, mix 1 cup of the beef broth with the cornstarch and pour it into the pan. Stir it in and continue to cook until the gravy thickens.  Warm up the prepared red cabbage in a pan or microwave and place in serving dish.

Grab a ladle and serve the rouladen with the red cabbage, potatoes, and the gravy.  Enjoy!

Windbeute

Ingredients for 18 small puffs;

1 cup water

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

1 cup flour

4 eggs

To add for chocolate creme puffs:

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For filling:

1 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup prepared vanilla pudding

For ganache:

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy cream, divided

A few tablespoons of confectioners sugar

Directions:

 Put the water and butter into a pan and heat until it boils. Stir to mix the water and butter together.

If you are making schoko windbeutel or chocolate creme puffs, mix the flour, cocoa, and sugar together.

Turn the heat off. Dump all of flour (or flour/cocoa mixture if you are making the chocolate puffs) in at once and quickly stir with a wooden spoon. The mixture will form into a play-dough like ball.

The dough has to cool until it is just barely warm before you can add the eggs.  So use the time to make the chocolate and white chocolate ganache which will top the puffs.  Put each type of chip in its own bowl.  Add 1/4 cup heavy cream to each one, and microwave each separately for thirty seconds.  Stir to combine.  If needed, microwave each a few more seconds. (Christine actually uses a food processor to combine them by heating up the cream by itself, pouring it over the bits, and then processing the mixture.)

When the dough is cool enough, beat the eggs in - one at a time - until well mixed in and dough is glossy.  It is so much easier to do this with a food processor rather than by hand.

Using spoons, drop the dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Try to make a little "cap" on the top of each one. Bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until crisped outside and browned.

Immediately, so they don't get soggy, use a sharp knife to cut the tops almost all the way off. 

While the puffs are cooling whip up the cream with the vanilla and sugar until peaks form. Set half of it aside and fold the other half into the prepared vanilla pudding.  Assemble the windbeute by spooning plain whipped cream into some puffs and the pudding mixture into others. Top each puff with a sprinkle of confectioners sugar or a drizzle of either or both the ganaches.

Two very happy cooks!