Grandma’s Beef Rollmops
Grandma always made Rouladen when Uncle Paulie would come to visit because he loved them so much. The words rollmop (pronounced rallmup) and rouladen were interchangeable. From what I can tell, every German family has a different way of making rouladen. It is a floured and pounded thinly cut piece of meat filled with bacon and onions. Some families also throw a pickle spear in there. Grandma didn’t. Grandma also didn’t have this recipe written down, it was passed on to her in the kitchen. Luckily she taught my Mom how to make it and I’ve been over to her place twice to learn the steps. There are a few steps…. Anyways it was time to try this on my own for my own family.
Grandma would get a large round steak and have it thinly sliced. It was important to her to have the bone in. The meat she got was about a foot long in an oval shape but cut as thin as possible by the butcher. She would get two of these large pieces to make two giant rollmops. These would be cut into inch and a half pieces and served with egg noodles and mushroom gravy.
The name of the game with Nona’s rollmops was how thin everything had to be. This meant it would be more tender when finished. The white onion had to be sliced paper thin- so that it almost dissolved inside the beef. The bacon had to be the thinest as well because it was not cooked before going inside the beef. It would cook inside and all of the drippings would stay encapsulated and soak into the beef.
Grandma believed that salt made meat tough, so before pounding the steak, only flour was added. You start with a light tap to get the flour to stick on the meat and then you pound the crap out of it before flipping it over and doing the same process again. Flour was always kept in a powdered sugar shaker at the lakehouse, as it has always been at my mothers house, and I don’t know how I’d live without the ease of flour being accessible and so easily distributed the same way. You just shake the shaker on the meat when you flip it.
Then the onions and bacon are added. The meat is rolled into a long loaf. Grandma used skewers instead of string. I used string and made four small rolls.
Grandma had a heavy bottomed pot that was used for the rollmops. I used my Dutch oven and it worked out. First put butter in the bottom and brown the outside of the meat, all the way around. Then remove the meat and set aside. Add a little more butter and the mushrooms. After the mushrooms have browned, ad the gravy mixture below and bring to a simmer.
Grandma had a jar for gravy. I christened one last night. It’s easier to make sure to get all the lumps out of the flour by shaking the jar than by trying to whisk them away. In the jar, ad a couple round tablespoons of flour, beef broth, and pepper. Shake the jar. Open the jar and add Gravy Master. Close and shake again. Add to browned mushrooms and throw in some more water if it seems too thick.
Put rolls in, top with lid, and simmer for up to an hour. The point is to tenderize, so longer in the gravy wouldn’t hurt at all. Turn rolls every once in a while to cook evenly. Cut into one and a half inch pieces and serve with extra wide egg noodles.
Tonight, because we were thinking about how much my Uncle Paul loved this dish, we also made pecan pie. He loved the pecan pie that Toodie would make at Pauline’s Supper Club. Toodie learned to bake from her mother in law Pauline. My Great Grandma Lorraine and Pauline were good friends. I just began to organize Lorraines recipes and a couple of the dessert cards say from Pauline on them. This pecan pie recipe did not, but I’d like to think maybe it was similar to the one Toodie would make. Derek made the pastry crust which turned out wonderfully. The pie was super yummy too!
Lorraine Breens Pecan Pie
Beat together 3 eggs, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/3 teaspoon salt, 1/3 cup melted butter, 1 1/8 cup dark karo syrup, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup pecans. Pour into pastry lined pan. Bake 50 minutes at 375º.
