Roulade with Silesian Dumplings & Red Cabbage

This meal comes from the region of Silesia in Poland. Representative of Silesian history, this meal incorporates German, Polish, and traditional Silesian elements. Smacznego!

Roulade Recipe:

Roulade Ingredients:

-6 slices of roast beef                                       

-6 slices of bacon                                             

-6 slices of pickles       
-1 onion (minced)                                        

-brown mustard                                              

-2 bay leaves

 -salt and pepper

-water
-frying oil
-allspice

Sauce Ingredients:

-2 tablespoons wheat flour

-half cup cold water

-water from cooking roulade

Other Materials:

-metal skewers or thread

-meat tenderizer

Steps:

1.     Flatten the roast beef slices with a meat tenderizer into thin slices.

2.     Sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides.

3.     Spread mustard on one side. Place bacon and pickle on top and sprinkle with onion.

4.     Starting from one end, roll the strip tightly until the end.

5.     Stick skewer through roll or wrap the roll with thread to prevent from opening. Repeat steps 1-5 for each slice of roast beef.

6.     Heat oil in Dutch oven (or other pot, if no Dutch oven is available). Place roulades in the Dutch oven and cook until brown on both sides.

7.     Pour cup of water (or enough to cover roulades) and add two bay leaves and spices into Dutch oven and bring to boil. Then lower temperature to low, cover and let simmer for at least 45 minutes until soft. While it is cooking, add extra water as the water will evaporate.

8.     Take out the roulades, let them cool until they are safe to touch and remove skewers and/or thread.

9.     To make sauce, add two tablespoons wheat flour into a half cup of cold water and blend well. Pour this mixture into the pot (which still has water in it from roulades), continuously mixing, and bring to boil. Sauce should become thick.

10.  Pour sauce on roulades.

Source: Kolodziej family recipe shared by Urszula Kolodziej.

                                                                                                                                          

Silesian Dumplings Recipe:

Ingredients:

-1 kg (2 lbs) potatoes

-1 to 2 eggs

-6 decagrams (2 ounces) potato starch

-4 decagrams (1.5 ounces) wheat flour

-salt

Steps:

1.     Wash potatoes, then peel, boil, cool, and grind.

2.     Add eggs, potato starch, salt (to taste) and mix.

3.     With your hand, form small balls about the size of an egg from the potato mixture and slightly flatten.

4.     Sprinkle them lightly with wheat flour to prevent sticking.

5.     Fill large pot halfway with water. Add salt and boil water. Take half of the dumplings into the pot and stir. When the dumplings rise to the top of the pot, stir again and let them boil for about two more minutes. Then remove the dumplings from the pot using a slotted spoon. Repeat this step for the other half of dumplings. Serve hot immediately.

Source: Original recipe found in Kuchnia Polska by Stanisław Berger, translated and edited for clarity by Anastazja Kolodziej.

                                                                                                                                                                  

Red Cabbage Recipe:

Ingredients:

-1 (3 lb) red cabbage, shredded                      

-1 onion, shredded                                         

-2 tablespoons butter or canola oil                            

-1 cup water                                                    

-4 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
 -4 tablespoons brown sugar
-1/2 teaspoon black pepper 
-salt

Steps:

1.     Cook cabbage and onion in a large pot for about 5 minutes or until softens.

2.     In another container, mix water, vinegar, brown sugar, pepper and salt until sugar is dissolved. Add to cabbage mixture. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low.

3.     Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is tender, about 10 minutes.

4.     When cabbage is soft, taste and add more spices if necessary. Stir in butter or oil. Serve warm.

Source: Recipe provided by students for a school project at the Gimnazjum w Marklowicach, a junior high school in Silesia, edited for clarity by Anastazja Kolodziej.