Polish Kitchen/ October 27, 2023April 19, 2024

‘Zrazy’ Polish Beef Rolls

‘Zrazy’ are perfect for autumn and winter seasons. It’s a slow, comfort food we all need especially when it’s cold and rainy / snowy outside. The aroma of simmering meat will cover you like a blanket.
Do you have some time to spare? Play in the kitchen and make some ‘zrazy’ :).

Ingredients / 4 servings

1 lb beef, I used beef eye round, cut against the grain to ¾ inch thick portions, use anything good for roasting or braising
Canola oil, ghee or lard for frying
4 slices Polish style bacon (boczek), preferably not smoked
1-1 ½ tsp Dijon mustard
1-2 cucumbers in brine cut in four wedges, ‘kiszone ogórki’, the kind you’ll use for making cucumber soup (Krakus or Bacik brand, or anything from the European deli)
1 small onion, cut in wedges
1 bay leaf, peppercorns, freshly ground pepper and salt
Fresh or dry mushrooms, optional

Preparation:

Clean and dry the meat. Use a meat tenderizer to shape every portion. Pound down to no thicker than half an inch. Be very careful not to make any holes. I use a wooden tenderizer which is more gentle for this work.

On high, stirring constantly, sauté briefly the onion and cucumber until they get some color. Use a little salt and pepper.

Spread about ¼ tsp or slightly more mustard over each piece of beef. Use freshly ground pepper, I like lots of it. Be careful with salt. The rest of ingredients like bacon, mustard or cucumber are salty already. I didn’t add any additional salt this time.

Arrange the onion and cucumber on the meat and roll it up. Secure it with toothpicks or thread.

On high, heat the oil, ghee or lard. Brown rolled ‘zrazy’ on all sides for a short time.

Place them in a pot along with all the juices from the frying pan. Add a bay leaf and about 5 peppercorns. If using dry mushrooms, it’s time to add a small handful, cleaned and cut in small pieces.

Cover the ‘zrazy’ with water and simmer on low for 1½ to 2 hours adding more water only if needed.

Meanwhile, if using fresh mushrooms, sauté them with butter. Butter adds so much flavor :).

Taste the sauce and adjust the spices, salt, pepper. If you decide to use fresh mushrooms add it now and simmer a little longer.

Thicken the sauce with flour, if needed. How much flour? It depends how much sauce you have. Just mix flour with a little cold water before adding hot liquid. I reduced my sauce to the point where no flour was needed.