There are lots of recipes for Rouladen “out there,” but this one is mind – and I like it very much!

1 large flank steak, pounded gently to about 1/4″ thick – or, you can ask the guy at the meat counter to run it through the tenderizer a couple of times – once crosswise and once lengthwise.
1 8 oz pkg of Pepperidge Farm Cornbread stuffing
1 8 oz pkg of Pepperidge Farm Herb Breadcrumb stuffing
1/4 c sweet pickle cubes, drained
1/4 c dill or bread and butter pickles (your choice), cubed and drained
1 hardboiled egg, chopped coarsely
1/4 c coarsely chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans are best)
1/2c coarsely chopped Red Delicious apple
4 c beef broth (or more) (NOTE: NOT bouillon!!)
butter
Canola oil

Use beef broth and butter to make the stuffing, following directions on the packages. (Don’t forget you are basically doubling the recipe.) Add pickles, egg, nuts and apple. Mix lightly and set aside.

Take the flank steak and lay it out on the counter with the shorter, narrower end toward you.

Lightly mound the stuffing mix to about 1/2 inch thick on the flank steak, leaving about 1 inch clear around the edges.

Roll away from you, sweeping any extruded stuffing back into the roll.

Use kitchen twine to securely tie up into a roll. Seal off the ends using toothpicks or twine to keep them closed.

Heat Canola oil in the bottom of a cast iron Dutch oven until a few drops of water “pop” when dripped into the oil. Sear all sides and ends of the meat roll. Reduce heat to low. Add a couple of cups of beef broth and cook about 1 hour, or until the meat is done.

Set meat aside on a plate, covered with foil to keep warm. Make a flour slurry (2 Tbs flour to 1/2 c water – I shake it up in a mixing shaker), and whisk into the cooking liquid. Heat slowly with constant stirring to make a nice gravy. You can make it thicker if you wish by adding a little more flour to the water. Taste and add salt and pepper as your taste dictates.

Serve with a mixed salad and a nice glass of wine. Even though it’s considered a “white” wine, I really like Liebfraumilch with German food. There is just something about it that makes German food taste really nice.

I got this recipe from the wife of a Major in the Air Force when the XH and I were in Utah. I really liked that gal! She’s the one who first told me that “3 moves – 1 fire.” Wish I could remember names. I’d love to look her up.

Southern Fried Chicken Sunday Dinner

{{Herself Sez: This is a lovely dinner that my little Grandmomma made on most of the Sundays when I was growing up. It was (and remains) one of my very favorite meals. The Ol’ Curmudgeon does NOT like chicken (or duck, or turkey – he does, however, like fresh quail, deep fried and served hot), so I’m going to provide most of the recipes for this one.}}

Menu
Fried Chicken
Rice
Gravy
Green Beans
*Cobbler

* Check out the Ol’ Curmudgeon’s Cobbler recipes, and pick your favorite. I REALLY like blackberry the best, but I don’t turn down any cobbler that is well cooked.

Amounts: Enough for the number of people you will be serving:
1 c uncooked rice per two people
1 c uncooked green beans per two people
1-2 pieces of cut up chicken per person
1/2 c cobbler per person

Green Beans

My little grandmomma used canned beans in the winter and fresh beans in the summer. She would sit with a bowl in her lap and a newspaper on the floor. She’d snap off the ends of each bean and carefully destring as the snapped it into pieces. Strings and ends were dropped on the paper to be wrapped up carefully and thrown away.

If using fresh beans, cook, in very lightly salted water to cover all the beans. Bring to boil then cover and reduce to simmer. Cook for about 1 hour. If desired, a very small piece of salt pork may be used instead of the salt. We often use a slice of hog jowl – makes the beans sooo sweet! (If using frozen green beans, reduce time to about 30 minutes.)

Figure the time against the rice and the chicken so they all come out ready together.

Rice

Cook according to directions on the rice package. My little grandmomma used to cook rice in a double boiler. The rice we have now doesn’t do well in a double boiler. You will have to figure the time against the time for the chicken.

Fried Chicken

3 Tbs Crisco per piece of chicken in frying pan, heat to about 350 deg. That’s when a drip of water not only sizzles, but skips across the top of the oil. Don’t let it get too hot, nor too cool.

Pat pieces of chicken dry with paper towels. Dip in seasoned flour (salted and peppered). Dip in egg / milk wash (1 egg per cup of milk, well beaten together). Redip in seasoned flour.

Gently place chicken pieces in frying pan. Allow to cook on one side, then turn and cook on other side. Takes about 5-8 minutes per side, depending on how thick the chicken is. Don’t let the coating burn. Cook long enough that the juices no longer run pink when pierced with a fork.

Remove from skillet and drain on paper towelling.

Gravy

After the chicken is cooked and is draining, pour off all but 3 Tbs of oil from the chicken. Scrape up all the bits from the bottom of the skillet so they will incorporate into the gravy. Add 3 Tbs flour to the skillet and stir well to mix. Heat gently until light tan. You’ve just made a roux. Turn off heat.

Heat 1 c milk until steaming, but not boiling. Turn heat on to low under the skillet again and restir the roux, then slowly add the warm milk, stirring vigorously to mix the roux and the milk. Once the roux and milk are well mixed, add salt and pepper to taste. Continue to heat and stir. Don’t rush the process. The milk will gradually thicken. Once it’s thickened, thin with additional warm milk as desired for the consistency you prefer.

Put the cobbler you made the day before in the oven at about 250deg F.

Serve the plates.

By the time people have finished eating, the cobbler should be ready. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream on top if desired. If using whipped cream, flavor it with a little vanilla – yummy!

It takes a few times to get all the dishes to come out right at the right time. Don’t be afraid to experiment and fail. It happens. It took Julia Child about 35 tries to get her mayonnaise to come out to her taste. Most of her dishes made on TV had something “wrong” with them. So persevere!

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I first heard of Turkish Delight – something the English apparently have fairly frequently. I remember when I first read the series, I wondered about it, and wondered what it was.

Well, it’s a perfectly nauseatingly (to me) sweet concoction. I looked and found a fairly authentic recipe on About.com. For those who like horridly sweet things, here it is:

Turkish Delight – Lokum

By Saad Fayed, About.com

Turkish Delight is a candy that originated in Turkey in the 1700’s. The candy was featured in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, by C.S Lewis. The White Witch tempted a character, Edmund, with Turkish Delight. This easy Turkish Delight recipe will tempt you, too!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients:

4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups cornstarch
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
4 1/4 cups water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons rosewater
1 cup confectioners sugar
Vegetable oil or shortening

Preparation:
In a 9 inch baking pan, grease the sides and bottom with vegetable oil or shortening. Line with wax paper and grease the wax paper.

In a saucepan, combine lemon juice, sugar and 1 1/2 cups water on medium heat. Stir constantly until sugar dissolves. Allow mixture to boil. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, until the mixture reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine cream of tartar, 1 cup corn starch and remaining water in saucepan over medium heat. Stir until all lumps are gone and the mixture begins to boil. Stop stirring when the mixture has a glue like consistency.

Stir in the lemon juice, water and sugar mixture. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer for 1 hour, stirring frequently.

Once the mixture has become a golden color, stir in rosewater. Pour mixture into wax paper lined pan. Spread evenly and allow to cool overnight.

Once it has cooled overnight, sift together confectioners sugar and remaining cornstarch.

Turn over baking pan containing Turkish delight onto clean counter or table and cut with oiled knife into one inch pieces.

Coat with confectioners sugar mixture. Serve or store in airtight container in layers separated with wax or parchment paper.

No, I haven’t tried it, so I don’t know how it really tastes. It’s just too sickly sweet for me.