Rouladens

Grilladens

Finally the rouladen recipe I promised – sort of.  Never one to leave well enough alone I decided to grill rather then braise these puppies.  I used some steak seasoning on the meat as well.  You could use some commercial chemical nightmare if you want, but I make my own blend so I control what is in it, though I am a little lax on rodent hair parts per million rule.  Next time I think I may substitute Jalapeños for the pickles as well.  

This is actually a very simple recipe.  The toughest part, pardon the pun, is the meat.  Finding round steak sliced thin enough may be a job. The market I use caters to Europeans so they had the round steak sliced to about 1/8 of an inch, specially for rouladens. You could pound a regular round steak with a meat mallet (or your noggin), but I find that doesn’t really thin the meat very well and can actually weaken the fibers to the point where it won’t hold together.  You could get the meat dude to slice it for you – might be the best answer.

Ingredients


  

Thin Round Steak steaks
Thick sliced bacon
Dill Pickle Spears
Mustard (the imported German sharp stuff is the best for this)
Steak seasoning
String

Place the steaks flat on the prep surface and sprinkle both sides with steak seasoning.  Rub the seasoning into the meat a bit.  On one side, spread the mustard to coat the surface of the steak.  Place two to three strips of bacon on top of the mustard.  Placing the pickle spear on the end, roll it up in the meat and tie it off.

I had Ms. Phos tie off the grilladens because of her acumen in beef roping, and she did a marvelous job.   Set the grill up for indirect heat. I used a combination of lump charcoal and hickory chunks, I like the smokey taste the wood imparts. I left the rouladens on the grill for ten minutes, then turned them. I started keeping an eye on them after about eight more minutes. “keeping an eye on them” is a highly technical culinary term meaning watch so they don’t burn. The total time is really going to vary upon meat thickness, heat, and if a butterfly in Peru chose this very time to flap his wings. If the center is at 160 degrees F, you are probably good to go – remember you’ll want the bacon cooked through.

With mustard, bacon, and pickle...


Ready for the grill...



Ready to eat...





Steak seasoning

1 Tsp      Garlic powder
1 Tsp     Onion powder
1Tsp      Cayenne pepper
1Tsp      Chipotle Pepper
2TBS     Brown sugar
Pinch of salt

Just mix and pour into a shaker.  You’ll want to taste the mixture to see if anything needs to be added, but I have had good luck with the proportions listed above.