Beef Rouladen

This is the recipe I was talking about in the 1st page of Germany... the recipe where the comment was saying how a person spat it out. I don't know what the original of this dish is supposed to taste like, and there are different variations of recipes, but I did enjoy this dish. I thought it tasted like a hamburger without the roll.


- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 4 slices thin top steak                                
- salt and pepper
- 4 bacon strips
- 1/2 large onion, cut into think wedges
- 1 1/2 tablespoons oil
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons flour
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 pickles, sliced in half lengthways


1. Lightly spread mustard on one side of the steaks. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place 1 strip of bacon, 1 slice of pickle and a few onion wedges on each. Roll up and secure with toothpicks.


2. In a frypan, brown the rolls and drain. Add the broth and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours until tender.


3. Remove meat and keep warm. Combine the flour and water until smooth, and gradually stir it into the broth. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly until thick and bubbly. Remove toothpicks from the rolls and add to the gravy.

Bierocks

I was a little disappointed with recipe. I was expecting to have a huge mouth of flavour, but maybe I didn't put enough salt in the filling. Last week, I made bolognaise (I know that's not German), but I thought maybe I could use left over bolognaise sauce as the stuffing.


- 1 cup hot milk                      
- 1 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons shortening
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 packet (1/4oz) yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 450g mince
- 450g cabbage, shredded
- 1 onion, chopped
- pinch of allspice
- salt and pepper
- melted butter for brushing


1. Combine the milk, sugar, shortening and salt. Cool to lukewarm. Add the yeast, (dissolved in warm water). Stir in flour and knead. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place until it is doubled in size.


2. Meanwhile, in a frypan cook the mince, cabbage, and onion. Add the allspice, salt and pepper.


3. Roll the dough 1/4 inch thick and cut into squares. Put 2-3 tablespoons of the mixture in each. Fold the corners to the middle, pinching together at the top. Place on a baking tray and let rise for 10 minutes.


4. Bake at 220 degrees celcius until golden brown. Brush with melted butter.

Dumpling soup

This was the 1st time I ever made, even tasted dumplings. I'm not sure if I like them or not yet, they're a different, funny textured thing.


DUMPLINGS:                        
- 1 cup flour
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons milk
- 1 teaspoon salt


SOUP:
- carrots, diced small
- water
- celery, diced small
- onion, diced small
- chicken, cubed


1. Cook all soup ingredients in the water. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it and drain. Save the chicken, broth, and carrots. Cut into small pieces and add it to the broth.

2. Make the dumplings by mixing all the ingredients and dropping spoonfuls into the boiling broth. Boil for about 5 minutes, add 1 cup of cold water, and cover the pot and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Meatballs Stroganoff

I really do enjoy a stroganoff dish, and I have already made a beef one and a chicken one before. I came across a recipe for meatballs stroganoff, and I thought I would try this one, I never heard of one made with meatballs before. Also, for the first time, the onion actually stayed in my meatballs, even throughout cooking.


- 1/2 an egg, lightly beaten      

- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon onion
- 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
- pinch of dried marjoram
- pinch of garlic salt
- pinch of pepper
- 225g beef mince
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/2 tablespoon oil
- 1/2 can cream of mushroom soup
- 6 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons sour cream
- hot cooked egg noodles (to serve)


1. Combine the first 7 ingredients and mix well. Roll into small balls.


2. Gently roll balls into flour and brown in the oil. Drain and return to the pan.


3. Combine the soup and water and pour over the meatballs. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the meat is not pink, stirring occasionally.


4. Stir in the sour cream and serve over the noodles.

Potato Rivel Soup

I have no idea what a Rivel is. I think it is a dumpling (or kind of dumpling), because it is the same ingredients for dumplings. As the weather is starting to get quite cold here, I am starting to enjoy soups. The only problem with me having soup for dinner is that it doesn't really fill me up. So when I saw this recipes for a potato soup, I thought it might be filling. Also I wanted to know what a rivel was.

- 4 medium potatoes

- 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

- 2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
- 1 tablespoon butter
- salt and pepper to taste

- 1 cup water

- 1/2 can evaporated milk


RIVEL:

- 6 tablespoons flour

- 1/2 an egg

- salt to taste

1. Cube your potatoes ready to cook. Cook all your soup ingredients (except the evaporated milk) in a large pot until the potatoes are soft.

2. Smash about 1/4 of the potatoes and stir through the soup thoroughly.

3. Mix together all your rivel ingredients. Drop spoonfuls into the soup. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

4. Add the evaporated milk and simmer for a few minutes.

Germany

The first country my random choosing came to was Germany. While looking for German recipes, I noticed that there were a lot of hearty stew like dishes, along with a lot of cabbage as well.

Now, I have come to realize, that not only is it NOT all stews, soups, and cabbage dishes, Germany is also influenced by Austrian, Swiss, and even French tastes. Also, I understand that different people have different ways of cooking the same meal. For example, I found a recipe for Beef Rouladen. In the comments for this particular recipe, someone wrote that her father spat it out as soon as he tasted it, said it was nothing like the original. I thought to myself 2 things... 1. maybe the person commenting didn't follow the recipe properly and 2. there's no harm in trying a new recipe, and considering I haven't tasted the original version before, I'll either like it or not based on the recipe itself.

So this week my kitchen smelt German... The German dishes of:
1. Potato Rivel Soup
2. Meatballs Stronganoff
3. Beef Rouladen
4. Roasted Vegetable Rice Bake
5. Dumpling soup
6. Bireocks
7. Barley Soup
8. German Christmas Cookies

A NEW IDEA

So, while I've been looking for new recipes to cook and taste, I got an idea. There are so many different recipes out there and some I thought I'd never try, so, to try and make my choices as mixed up as I could, I have decided to travel around the world via my kitchen. 

Each week, I will be cooking 6 dishes (which will be my dinners), and 1 sweet (to satisfy that sweet tooth mine) from 1 country. 

These countries will be chosen by random... I have written a list of around 70 different countries, and I just drop my finger to one with my eyes shut.