Beef Birds (?)

I have no one else to ask, so I shall ask it here. When I was a kid (a long time ago), my mother used to make a dish that I think she called Beef Birds (I don't know why; there were no birds involved). It was basically some sort of thin sliced beef wrapped around a slice of carrot and perhaps some other vegetable(s), then baked or sauteed? She was of German descent.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Perhaps it is known by some more familiar name, but I don't know.

Not familiar with it, but it sure sounds good! (Especially if you add a little kraut cooked with the beef on the side).

Howdy!

The word 'birds attached to a meat dish is something I associated with veal (which I think of as the Micheal Jackson of meats... poor boy was raised in a box -- shame he passed it on... and now I'm thinking of my favorite Micheal Jackson joke, which I got from a Mark Read/Chopper book and will not give out here).

Here are some sites that give recipes for veal birds.

http://southernfood.about.com/od/vealcutlets/r/bl30512r.htm

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,veal_birds,FF.html

http://www.geocities.com/webcipes2/ray/s-files/s111.html


There's tons of them out there. The dish is basically fillets wrapped around stuffing and braised.

There's also a South American dish that involves taking a flank steak and rolling it around some vegetables and hard-boiled eggs that might float your boat.

I think the german name is rouladen.Gradma would make it sometimes.

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Beef Birds: Uccelletti Scappati
Recipe copyright 2000, Mario Batali. All rights reserved.
Ingredients
12 (3/4-inch) thick slices of eye-round beef
12 slices prosciutto
12 sage leaves
12 slices Italian round peasant bread, cut into cubes
1/2 pound pancetta, cut into 1-inch cubes
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Preheat the grill or broiler.





Cover each slice of beef with a slice of prosciutto, place a sage leaf in the
middle of each slice of prosciutto, and roll up, securing the rolls on wooden
skewers, alternated with chunks of bread and pancetta cubes. Brush the meat with
the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and cook on the grill or under the
broiler until the beef is cooked through.

Sounds like a rouladen to me. Pickle, mustard, onion, and uncooked bacon are wrapped in a slice of beef which is then braised. You could put carrot, garlic, etc. in as well. Wine and broth make a good braising liquid. Not sure what type of seasonings would go well. Probably Penzey's Bavarian.

A completely different type of beef bird was stuffed with stuffing and braised.

A cook I worked with some years ago used to talk about his mother making veal birds. He said her version was thinly sliced veal stuffed with carrots, a bread stuffing, very thinly sliced ham, all rolled up into individual servings, sauteed and served with a brown mushroom sauce. Both his parents were German. He said his mother made rouladen, too, but with a whole beef roast butterflied and stuffed with onions, carrots and pickles. That would be served with thickened pan juices and potato pancakes or dumplings stuffed with a fried crouton. He also talked about his mother's desserts, but that's another topic!

We had these growing up. My mom called them veal birds as well.

You used to be able to buy ground veal in oval patties at the grocery store. She would sprinkle these heavily with garlic salt, put in a filling of bread stuffing, secure them with a toothpick and broil them.

I loved them sooooo much.

I appreciate all the responses. In my case, I had forgotten all about them for many years. Maybe it was reading various food posts here on Roadfood that made me even remember. Nostalgia makes me think they were fantastic all those years ago. Pwingsx made me remember the toothpick; I had forgotten that. I know if my mother was still alive and cooked the meal today, I would be highly praising the dish. Now I have to seek them out; or try it myself.

Thanks again.