Apples all the way - Beef Roulade with Apple Parsley Root Puree

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! :)



For more apple recipes, click here



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

Filipino Chorizo Croquetas for Kulinarya Cooking Club

Finger food = Happiness. Really, nothing like dipping a nice deep fried tidbit into sauce, biting into the succulent sauce drenched part, savoring the warmth and flavor and repeating the process without a care for double dipping etiquette ;-). But, the best part is licking your fingers when the plate is cleaned out and reliving the flavors in those tiny remnants... :)

This weekend, I threw caution and all morbid thoughts of the weighing scale to the winds and unwound at home with plates of nice fried food. Some spicy Indian and some intensely Spanish influenced but with the Asian twist. And, in just perfect timing for this month's Kulinarya theme which was to make Filipino-Spanish dishes. Thanks to Ziggy from My Filipino Kitchen and AC from Acdee for this wonderful theme.

I have to say, when I first saw the theme I was bit stumped. I had decided that I didn't want to make sweet dishes for this challenge and that left me with a lot of research to do and much looking around and learning about the cuisine, which, I suspect was the intention of the theme-givers! :)

I shortlisted quite a few dishes. I mean the list of Spanish influenced dishes in Filipino cuisine is long indeed. That is just the ones that perhaps are more common and don't have very Filipinised names. I wonder at how many savor on behind the cloak of ethnic names!

Anyway, after musing much over Adobo, Estofado, Bicol Express and so many more mouthwatering dishes, I finally settled on making the Filipino version of Spanish Croquettes. My reasons were two fold - one I was already itching towards making something fried after almost a year of abstinence on that regard and two - we had tasted bacalau croquettes in Brazil and loved them despite my abhorrence of dried fish.

So, in a quest to relive memories, satiate desire and fulfill a challenge, I made my version of

Filipino Chorizo Croquetas! The Filipino version is distinctive in using a mix of potatoes and meat for the filling rather than the Béchamel sauce used in Spanish versions. My interpretation uses both taters and sauce in the filling. It's a simple to make and a delight to keep on eating :))

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Filipino Chorizo Croquetas

2-3 medium yukon potatoes, boiled

2 chorizo links, casing removed

1/2 large spanish onion, diced fine

2 cloves of garlic, mined

3 T Béchamel sauce

(I used the sausage renderings for the fat to add flavor)

1 cup bread crumbs

salt, pepper and oil as needed

Oil for frying

In a little oil, saute the onions and garlic until softened. Add the ground chorizo and cook until done. Season appropriately. Let cool until you can work with it.

Meanwhile, mash the boiled potatoes into small chunks. Add the cooled meat mixture to it and incorporate well. It will be a flaky mixture. Add the Béchamel sauce and about 3 tablespoons cup of breadcrumbs and combine well. The mixture will still be slightly wet.

Heat the oil in the frying pan to 350F. When ready, shape the croqueta filling into cylinders and roll in bread crumbs to coat completely. Fry in oil until golden brown all over.

Serve with spiced Béchamel sauce and ketchup!

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Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colourful cuisine.

Each month we will showcase a new dish. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.

If you’re interested in joining the Kulinarya Cooking Club, please leave a comment in this post. Also, check out the  KCC Facebook page for news, updates and to browse through what everyone in the club created this month.