Young boys learn how to be fabulous from their mothers. I, always aspired to culinary greatness, would look up at my mother while she was cooking, thinking “Wow, Mom makes everything taste so good. I want to learn to do that. Mom’s so cool.”

As we near Mother’s Day, I reflect on my mom and her cooking. I remember Mom’s only attempt to cook Beef Wellington. She had a big silver platter with the Wellington on it, with a perfect crust. Mom was in her ’70s finest and those curtains in the background, oh my!

Mom’s classic signature dish is Rouladen – a recipe in her family. Rouladen is a German meat roulade consisting of bacon, onions, mustard and pickles wrapped in thinly sliced beef and then cooked. The dish sometimes has minced meat or bacon and onion filling. Rouladen is traditionally served for dinner with red wine.

Dude, this stuff is magic, not just because it’s been stamped into so many childhood-dinner memories, but, because the flavor is simple and classic. You don’t get that here in the land of Mexican and Italian food.

The meat you use is a thick sliced round steak or flank. I go to Costco and buy the big, thin sheets of flank steak, so I can make a batch. If you cook them half way, they will freeze pretty well. Rouladen is served with either German potato dumplings or boiled potatoes with fresh parsley on top. Roasted winter vegetables is another common side dish.

Rouladen is often considered common people food, but this is incorrect.

The dish is traditionally a celebratory food for the wealthy and upper middle class, who ate it at the end of hunting season, mid winter. Various regional recipes can be found on the Internet. The combination of meat, mustard, pickle and gravy is a sure bet to please your palate and is inexpensive and low fat, for the most part.

So take a moment this year and pay a little culinary tribute to your Mom. Have her over and treat her to German Roulanden.

“Meat rolls filled with bacon, onions and pickles. Delicious, easy recipe learned while visiting Germany.”

Ingredients:

1 cube beef bouillon

Directions:

Cut the flank steak into thin filets, about 1/4-inch thick and 3-inches wide. Generously spread one side of each filet with mustard to taste. Place bacon, onions and pickle slices on each filet and form into a roll. Use string or toothpicks to hold the roll together. Heat a skillet over medium heat and melt butter. Place the rolls in the butter and sauté until browned. Pour in 2 1/2 cups of water and add the bouillon cube. Stir the cub to dissolve it. Simmer the rolls for about an hour.