My! Is it raining apples around here or what?! For the last few weeks, I have been receiving a generous portion of apples from my CSA. Now, I have enough at home to have my own farm! No, I am not kidding. Although, I grew up with the famous adage "An apple a day....", I am not much of an apple-in-the-fruit-form eating person.
I had to come with with ways of consuming the fruit before they went beyond the point of salvage. They are gorgeous fruit and it would be a sin to let them go. So, I made Apple Angel Cake that made my neighbors happy and an apple tart. I also made jars of apple sauce.
After a bit, we got rather tired of all the sugar and I racked my brains to come up with savory uses for the fruit. One brainwave resulted in a Salad with water cress, slivered apples, shaved celery and prosciutto with goat cheese and a lemon dressing.
A few days back, I was in the mood for something more elaborate. I toyed with the idea of stuffing meat with fruit. Not novelle, but the idea captured my fancy. For the protein, I chose beef, just because I hadn't eaten it in a while. :) Hence, was hatched the scheme for a Beef Roulade.
Btw, did you know, they sell pounded out beef in the super market? I was thinking I would have to use my own muscle when I found a cut called Brasciola (which is also the name of an Italian dish) that was just perfect for my purpose.
I wrapped the meat around goat cheese, apples and chorizo and baked it for just a bit and served with a refreshing Apple and Parsley Root Puree, drizzled with spicy bechemel sauce. It was lovely!
The apples add moisture and infuse flavor and chorizo makes sure that the dish isn't too sweet while adding it's own punch of flavor. The cut of meat is not very flavorful by itself, but works as a good vehicle to deliver the flavors of the stuffing.
Oh! And, yesterday, I made this, an Apple and Red Grape Cobbler. Yes, I know. A bit of sweet again and but not by much. And, it's gluten free! :)
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Beef Roulade
1/2 lb thinly sliced beef, Brasciola cut
2 oz goat cheese, room temperature
1 Macintosh apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 chorizo link, casing removed (you can also use hot Italian sausages)
1/2 medium onion
1 clove of garlic
salt, pepper and oil as needed
Heat some oil in a pan, saute the onions and garlic until soft. Add the sausage meat and saute over low until cooked completely. Set aside to cool for a bit.
Meanwhile, arrange the beef in one layer and season both sides with salt and pepper. Spread the goat cheese over the beef evenly and arrange the apple slices over it. Next, spread the cooled chorizo mixture.
Starting from the end closest to you, roll the beef tightly to form a roulade. Tuck in any stuffing that may have oozed out. Gently transfer to an oiled oven-proof dish. Bake at 400F for 10-12 minutes. Keep an eye on it as it cooks really fast.
Remove from pan, slice and place over apple-parley root puree. Garnish with fresh parsley and drizzle Bechamel sauce and serve.
Apple and Parsley Root Puree
1 small ripe mackintosh apple, peeled, cored, cubed
1 root of parsley, cleaned and boiled
1 T cream
Whip everything together to a puree. Season with salt and pepper as needed
Bechamel Sauce
Recipe here. I used the oil from the sausage as the fat for the roux.
For more apple recipes, click here