Barley & Mushroom Pilaf with Beef Roulades

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The flavours of good comfort food

#GoOrganic – Eat Healthy, but Don’t Eat Boring!
This is what I am after, and so am giving you recipes to help you make the transition to organic, based on organic ingredients readily available in the market. I would love for you to try these recipes to see for yourself how you are not missing out,rather are gaining by miles of flavour, good health and enjoyable eating experiences. This recipe is really one of my favourites and I know you will love it too.

Comfort food is not always about fatty cream sauces, nor is it about simple carbs, sugars or butter-laden sauces. Comfort food can be good, organic, complex and multi-layered in flavour. Comfort food is an experience that makes you tuck in and want the experience to never end. So eat, enjoy and feel at home… this is what this dish is to me! I absolutely love making this and completely enjoy having it, hope you will too.

Ingredients

Serves: 4-6 Cook Time: 30 mins

For Organic Beef Roulades

  • 4 OBE Organic steaks
  • 500g assorted mushrooms, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic crushed
  • 2 tbsp DS Premium Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Fresh thyme springs
  • DS Himalayan salt to taste
  • Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
  • Dijon mustard to taste
  • 2 DS Organic Pickled Cucumbers, halved vertically
  • 2 cups organic beef broth

For Barley & Mushroom Pilaf

  • 2 cups organic barley, washed and drained
  • 2 cups organic Beef Broth
  • 1 tbsp DS Premium Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 cup chopped assorted mushrooms
  • 1 tbsp DS Pickled Organic Zaatar
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • DS Himalayan Pink Salt to taste
  • Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 tsp organic grape vinegar
  • Chopped parsley to garnish

Start by making the barley Pilaf. Sauté the chopped mushrooms, minced garlic and pickled zaatar in the olive oil until cooked through and the mushroom is ever so slightly browned. Season and remove from the heat and set aside.

Bring the beef broth to a boil, add the barley and bay leaf then bring the mixture back to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and leave to simmer, covered until the barley is fluffy and cooked through and all liquid is absorbed. Once the Barley is done, remove from heat, add the vinegar, the mushroom mixture and mix well. Cover and set aside until ready to plate.

While the Barley is cooking, make the beef roulades. Start by making the mushroom filling. Sauté the chopped mushrooms and crushed garlic in olive oil. Season and continue to cook until the mushrooms are completely cooked through and almost resemble a paste. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Trim any visible fat from the steaks (keep the trimmings) and pound the steaks between two sheets of baking paper  until thin enough to roll. (note that thick meat will unroll as it cooks). You can cut each steak in half for shorter roulades. Spread the flattened steaks with Dijon mustard (amount to your liking, but it does enhance the flavour). Top the mustard with the mushroom filling. Sprinkle lightly with fresh thyme leaves and season. Place the halved cucumber pickle at one end and roll the meat to enclose the filling. Secure with toothpicks. Repeat until all meat had been rolled.

Place the fat trimmings in a large, ovenproof, deep frying pan and heat until they render. Add the roulades and brown on all sides. Once browned, add the beef broth, thyme springs and place in 450F oven for 20 minutes.

Once done, remove from pan, discard the toothpicks and half the roulades.

To serve, layer the barley & mushroom pilaf, top with the halved roulades and drizzle some gravy* on top. Garnish with fresh thyme leaves and some finely chopped parsley. Serve Hot with a side of assorted Organic Leaves Salad dressed with a simple vinaigrette.

*To make the gravy:

pass the pan liquids from cooking the roulades through a sieve. Place the liquid in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Thicken with brown bread crumbs and simmer to reduce.

If you have missed on the previous #GoOrganic posts find them on these links:

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