Stuffed Round Steak, Pyzy, and Mushroom Gravy

Based on my recent trip to Poland and some of the wonderful food I had there, I decided to try to make my own Polish meal, from scratch, with not much for recipies. I made three different things:

1. Mushroom Stuffed Round Steak
2. Pyzy (potato dumplings)
3. Mushroom Gravy

My first challenge was the gravy. I had some excellent mushrooms and mushroom sauces in Poland, but those used fresh Polish mushrooms, something you can't really find here. I tried to find chanterelles, but alas, no on seemed to have any. So I settled for baby bellas. I chopped about three medium onions and softened them in 2 or so Tablespoons of butter with a dash or two of salt, and cooked until most of the moisture was released and the mixture was starting to caramelize a bit. I added a bit more butter, then two Tablespoons of flour, cooking for a minute to make a roux. Then I added 12 oz of O'Doul's non-alcoholic beer, about a quarter cup of cream, a half cup or red wine, and a half cup of beef broth, stirring to make a sauce. To this I added about 12 ounces of quartered baby bella mushrooms. I let this cook slowly at low heat for a good half hour until the mushrooms were tender but still recongnizable. Finally I seasoned with a bit more salt and pepper. Smacznego!

I could not find a larger round steak, so settled for two pieces each about 5 inches by 10 inches. I lightly salted and peppered them, then set aside for a bit. For the stuffing I took about two large onions, halved and sliced, and sauteed them in a few Tablespoons of butter until softened, then added about 12 ounces of sliced baby bella mushrooms and cooked the mixture until tender. To this I added the crumbs of four slices of white bread (processed in a food processor) and some beef broth just to moisten a bit. It made a fairly dry dressing. To form the roulade-like "loaf," I basically made a sandwich of the two pieces of round steak with the stuffing in the middle, closing up the sides well. I tied it with butcher twine. Now to cook it.

I got a heavy pan good and hot, medium high, then added a few teaspoons of oil and seared the "roll" on all sides, top first. Once it was good and seared I left it in the pan, added a bit of beef broth, and baked in a medium hot oven (375) until done but not overdone, about 150 in the center of the dressing. I let it rest a bit on the cutting board, then removed the butcher string and sliced in half on the bias. You can see the result in the picture.

The pyzy were fairly easy as well. I took about three mediums size russet potatoes, peeled then and cut into chunks, then boiled in salted water until tender. When they were done, I drained them, then let them dry out a bit in the hot pan. Finally, I pressed them through a ricer into a bowl. To this I added about a half cup of flour, a quarter cup of mashed potato flakes, and one beaten egg, as well as a half teaspoon of salt. I took two more slightly larger russets, peeled them, then grated them on the fine setting of the grater. I drained them in a strainer and pressed to remove as much moisture as possible, then added to the other mixture. I added this all to the food processor and processed a number of pulses to combine, then added more flour until the dough was somewhat thick. I used a portioning disher to make small balls, rolled them with a little flour, then boiled them in salted water. Once they floated, I waited another 3-5 minutes to ensure they were cooked through.

Finally, I put this all together on a plate, the lices of mushroom stuffed round steak, the pyzy, and the mushroom gravy. My friend Tommy was the lucky recipient of this wonderful meal. If he spoke Polish, I know he'd have proclaimed it bardzo smaczne!