Grandma’s Classics: beef roulades (Rouladen)

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Dinner / Lunch

A German surprise package traditionally filled with pieces of dill pickle, mustard and thinly sliced bacon. The tart flavour of mustard  and dill pickle is a must, but to complete the filling I prefer thinly sliced vegetables like carrots, onions and bell pepper to bacon. 

 
beef roulades.beef roulades

Beef Roulades

for the roulades:
6 pieces of boneless beef round (pounded)
6 teaspoons Dijon mustard
6 dill pickles (sliced lengthwise)
1 big white onion (cut in thin wedges)
1 red bell pepper (cut in thin strips)
2 carrots (sliced lengthwise)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

for the sauce:
3 tablespoons olive oil (or 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 tablespoons butter)
1 carrot 
2 small onions with the skin on (halved)
3 cloves of garlic
1 stick celery , preferably with the green
1 leek
1 tablespoon Hungarian paprika powder
2 glasses of red wine
3 cups of vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste

Place slices of beef on a work surface and season both sides with salt and pepper. Spread one side with mustard. Arrange evenly vegetable and pickle slices on each slice of beef. Roll up the roulade and secure with kitchen twine.
Heat the oil in a casserole and sear the beef roulades on all sides – they should be brown but not too dark. Remove the roulades. Add the onions, garlic, carrots, leek and celery to the casserole and cook stirring constantly. Return the roulades to the casserole and add the red wine, the vegetable broth and the paprika powder. Bring to a simmer.  Cover and cook for about two hours on low heat.

Best with Knödl and red cabbage !

roulades

creamy cauliflower soup with lemon and thyme

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Soups

creamy cauliflower soup with lemon and thyme
(yields 4-6 servings)

1 tablespoon butter 
1 white onion, diced
2 tablespoons water
500ml milk or sugar free nutmilk
1 cauliflower,
100g freshly grated parmesan
2 teaspoons fleur de sel
a few twigs of fresh thyme
1/2 lemon, peeled and diced
pink or white pepper
4-6 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

In a saucepan melt the butter, add the diced onion, a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons water and cover with a lid. Slowly sauté the onions until soft and translucent. Add the milk and heat it together with the onions.

In the meantime cook the cauliflower in salted water until soft.

Blend the onion/milk mixture with the cooked cauliflower slowly adding the grated parmesan and 2 teaspoons of fleur de sel. If the soup turns out too purée-like add some more water or milk. Finally season with salt and pepper.

Before serving top each bowl of soup with fresh (or dried) thyme, pink pepper, lemon cubes and a teaspoon olive oil.

Spin-offs:
You may substitute cauliflower by broccoli, salsify or zucchini.

tarocco oranges with beetroot, red onions and cilantro

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Salads

At the foot of the Etna grow the best oranges in the world, Tarocco, Moro and Navel. The Tarocco is a half-blood orange, juicy and delicate, with a balanced sugar/acid ratio and a very aromatic flesh. It’s called half-blood because the fruit flesh isn’t as red as the other blood oranges. The colour is influenced by the temperature fluctuations in the night, because all blood oranges need night frost to develop their beautiful red colour.

Tarocco oranges with beetroot, red onions and cilantro

beetroot, cooked and sliced
tarocco oranges, peeled and thinly sliced
red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
leaves of cilantro
extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper for the vinaigrette.

Place ingredients on a serving dish and sprinkle with the vinaigrette.

 

tarocco (2 von 3)

celery salad with a date and roasted hazelnut dressing

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Lunch / Salads

rice and hazelnutssalad ingredientsred onion

celery salad with a date and roasted hazelnut dressing
(another fresh and light recipe of my daughter Viktoria)

3 sticks celery, sliced

for the dressing:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 medjool date, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 small handful hazelnuts, roasted and chopped
pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
pinch of spice mix”Ruf der Oase” by Herbaria (contains gomasio, dates, pine nuts, raisins,granulated orange, parsley, mint, garlic and hibiscus blossoms)

Makes for a perfect lunch combined with white rice and a tiny bit of harissa. Enjoy ❤️!

 

bento box with celery salad and rice

 

homemade tomato ketchup

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Lunch / Snacks

 tomato ketchup
(yields about 100-150ml ketchup)

1/2 red bell pepper
3 sun dried tomatoes
1-2 ripe tomatoes
1/2 small onion
a small piece of red chili
about 1/2 cup water(amount depending on the consistency you want)
a pinch of salt 

Put all ingredients into the blender and blend at full speed.

banana brew

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Breakfast / Snacks

New year, new me, new tool! Guess what, I got a nutribullet look alike and downloaded a nutribullet app.

Here’s the first recipe I tried and ❤️ it.

banana brew
(yields about 500 ml)

1 frozen banana
2 tablespoons cashews
2 tablespoons rolled oats
1 tablespoons cacao powder
1 pinch ground cardamom
1/2 cup coffee
1 cup unsweetened nutmilk

 

banana brew

Snickers sea salt truffles

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Sweets

The idea for this sweet began with some serious Snickers cravings and the discovery of red and purple confectioners foils. Dark chocolate, peanuts and caramel – sounds easy enough!

Snickers sea salt truffles
(yields 20 truffles)

150g high quality dark  chocolate,65 to 80% cocoa
100g peanuts
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon coconut oil
sea salt flakes 

  1. Melt the chocolate in a bowl in a hot water bath.
  2. Spoon a little of the melted chocolate into every confectioners foil and gently turn each of them so that the chocolate covers the sides of the foil as well. Place them in the fridge or freezer. (You should have at least half of the chocolate left, for covering!)
  3. Chop the peanuts roughly; it’s perfect to have both small and bigger pieces. 
  4. Roast them in a small pan.
  5. Take out a third or half of the roasted peanuts and let them cool already.
  6. Add the sugar and coconut oil into the pan with the other peanuts, and on a low heat, stir continuously until the sugar melts, and caramelises your peanuts. Let them cool while you proceed with the next step.
  7. Take the little chocolate bowls out of the fridge or freezer and half fill them with dry roasted peanuts. Then put the caramelized peanuts on top (they go solid when cooling down, but don’t panic: you can chop them again if they turned into a massive caramel block)
  8. Lastly, cover the little bowls with melted chocolate again. Put them into the fridge for a few minutes, then you can add sea salt sprinkles (without them sinking). Then leave them in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. 

 

melted chocolate in a bain marie snickers trufflessnickers trufflessnickers truffles