Recipe to make potato dumplings and roulade for Xmas!

1. Cook the potatoes in a pot of boiling, salted water until tender. Let it cool down slightly and peel. Rice the potatoes (or mash if you don’t have a ricer). Let it cool down completely (cover and refrigerate).

2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a skillet over medium heat, add the bread cubes, fry and stir until golden brown and crunchy. It takes around 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer croutons to a bowl using a slotted spoon, reserving the browned butter in the pan to be used later.

3. Mix croutons, riced potatoes, potato starch, eggs and salt to make a smooth dough that holds together when formed into dumplings. If the mixture is too moist, add a bit more starch.

4. Form dumplings, like a ball, adding a few croutons to the middle of each dumpling.

5. Bring salted water to a simmer.

6. Drop the dumplings gently into the pot of salted, simmering water. Cook until they float to the top. It takes around 1-2 minutes. Then cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes, flipping the dumplings halfway through.

7. Remove the cooked dumplings with a large spoon, place them onto a serving plate and drizzle them with the reserved brown butter. Best served after 10 minutes when dumplings firm up.

8. Place beef slices on a work surface. Apply to each beef slices about 1 to 2 teaspoons of mustard and sprinkle a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add one strip of bacon and a slice of German pickle on each beef slice. Roll up the beef slices, tucking in the sides as best you can and securing the beef rolls with toothpicks or cooking twine.

9. Heat butter and/or oil in a heavy pot (make sure it’s oven-safe if baking in the oven) and generously sear the roulades on all sides. This will ensure good base for a rich and flavourful gravy. Once down, remove the roulades and set them aside.

10. Use the remaining oil/butter, add onions to the pot and a little more butter or oil if needed. Cook the onion until soft and translucent. This takes around 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the chopped carrot and celery and cook for another 5 minutes. Pour in water and bring everything to a rapid boil for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 2-3 more minutes. Add the beef broth, tomato paste, bay leaf, sugar, salt and pepper.

11. Nestle the beef roulades in the pot. Cook the roulades covered on low fire for 60-90 minutes until tender). For the most even cooking we recommend transferring the pot to the oven preheated to 160C and cook for about the same time.

For the gravy:

1. When the beef is tender, remove the roulades from the pot and set aside.

2. Pour the liquid and vegetables through a strainer and reserve the liquid. (You can eat the vegetables on the side or puree them in the blender and then return them to the gravy.)

3. Return the strained liquid back to the pot and bring to a simmer. Thicken the gravy with cornstarch. For a creamy gravy you can also add a few tablespoons of heavy cream at this point. Simmer whisking constantly until the gravy is thickened.

4. Carefully remove the toothpicks or cooking twine from the roulades and return them to the gravy and heat through.

5. Serve the roulades and gravy with potato dumplings. Enjoy!