Sauerbraten is German dish of red meat marinated in a sour, vinegary sauce for a fairly lengthy period--I mean, more than your typical marinating meat for a couple hours for a pre-grill--before cooking. In my Mom's (and Mom's Mom's) tradition it is ideally served with Kartoffelklöse (potato dumplings), served with Sauerbraten gravy. Just my taste bud memory is bringing me closer to sensory nirvana!
I've successfully (to my palate) made Sauerbraten. The one time I tried to make the potato dish is still a depressing memory of placing the carefully formed dumplings into the boiling water, only to see them disintegrate into thick potatoey water. Bye-bye! Fortunately, I was only trying them out for me and no guests were involved. :(
Anyhow, today, I received third cousin Sue from Upstate New York's periodic family history newsletter Amongst the Trees containing a Sauerbraten recipe she calls "Rheinischer Sauerbraten for our Wirth family in Bad Dürkheim, Rheinland-Pfalz." It actually diverges a bit from the recipe I received from Mom--for one thing, it has some ingredients that would send me on some searches for items not typically found in a mainstream grocery store.
First, I will share here my recipe; I will then follow with the newly received Wirth-country recipe.
Sauerbraten (from Mom Wirth Janzen)
Prepare for cooking:
3 lbs. beef shoulder (or rump roast--boneless)--choose a cut of meat with fat
Rub it with pepper and garlic.
Place it in a crock or bowl.
Heat but do not boil:
equal parts mild vinegar or white wine and water
1/2 c. sliced onion
2 bay leaves
1 t. peppercorns
1/4 c. sugar
Pour this while hot over the beef so that it is more than half covered. Place a lid over the crock and put it in the refrigerator. Leave the meat there for a week or 10 days, turning it once a day.
Drain the meat, saving the vinegar, and cook the meat:
2 1/2 hours at 360 or
4 hours at 250
Gravy (for any Kartoffelklöse that survived!):
Thin the marinade drained from the meat with water, add gravy seasoning and cornstarch, and heat. (Obviously you're to be such an experienced cook, you need no specifications of what constitutes gravy seasoning or measurements!)
Sauerbraten (A Pickled German Pot Roast) from cousin Sue
(She notes it's often made with beef, but venison, pork, or turkey can be used, and that horsemeat is the ingredient of tradition--ugh!)
1 c. red wine vinegar
1 1/2 c. water
1/2 t. black peppercorns
2 cloves
5 juniper berries (see, here I don't know where to obtain the ingredient other than surreptitiously cruising neighborhood yards as I have no junipers)
2 bay leaves
2 lb. beef roast (boneless)
4-5 slices bacon, minced
2 onions, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
4 T. oil
salt
freshly ground pepper
3-4 Lebkuchen (um, not sure where I'd obtain such!)
1/2 c. red wine
3/4 c. raisins
apple butter, apple juice, or red currant jelly, to taste
Add water and red wine to vinegar in a pot. Bring to a boil. Grind down peppercorns, cloves, and juniper berries slightly. Add these as well as the bay leaves to the boiling liquid. Cook 2 more minutes, the remove from heat and allow to cool.
Place the beef roast in a medium bowl. Pour the cooled red wine/vinegar mixture over the beef so that it is completely covered in liquid. Cover meat tightly and refrigerate for 3 days, rotating meat daily.
To cook the meat, begin by heating oil in a roasting pot. Add bacon and cook until much of the fat has been rendered.
Remove the beef from the marinade and pat dry. Season meat with salt and pepper. Place in roasting pot and sear each side. Add vegetables to the pot and allow them to cook with the meat.
Pour the marinade through a strainer into the pot. Heat to a boil.
Add about 1 c. of hot marinade to the meat along with the Lebkuchen. Cover the pot; reduce heat to low and cook the meat for 2 hours. About halfway through the cooking, add the red wine.
Once the meat is finished cooking, remove it from the pot. Cover and keep warm. Pour the liquid and vegetables through a strainer into a bowl. Return the liquid to the original pot. Mix in raisins and allow the sauce to cook down until it is thicker. Season with salt, pepper, and the apple butter or red currant jelly.
Slice the Sauerbraten and serve with the sauce.
Sue adds "Mom made her Sauerbraten with the better known ginger snap gravy."
I've successfully (to my palate) made Sauerbraten. The one time I tried to make the potato dish is still a depressing memory of placing the carefully formed dumplings into the boiling water, only to see them disintegrate into thick potatoey water. Bye-bye! Fortunately, I was only trying them out for me and no guests were involved. :(
Anyhow, today, I received third cousin Sue from Upstate New York's periodic family history newsletter Amongst the Trees containing a Sauerbraten recipe she calls "Rheinischer Sauerbraten for our Wirth family in Bad Dürkheim, Rheinland-Pfalz." It actually diverges a bit from the recipe I received from Mom--for one thing, it has some ingredients that would send me on some searches for items not typically found in a mainstream grocery store.
First, I will share here my recipe; I will then follow with the newly received Wirth-country recipe.
Sauerbraten (from Mom Wirth Janzen)
Prepare for cooking:
3 lbs. beef shoulder (or rump roast--boneless)--choose a cut of meat with fat
Rub it with pepper and garlic.
Place it in a crock or bowl.
Heat but do not boil:
equal parts mild vinegar or white wine and water
1/2 c. sliced onion
2 bay leaves
1 t. peppercorns
1/4 c. sugar
Pour this while hot over the beef so that it is more than half covered. Place a lid over the crock and put it in the refrigerator. Leave the meat there for a week or 10 days, turning it once a day.
Drain the meat, saving the vinegar, and cook the meat:
2 1/2 hours at 360 or
4 hours at 250
Gravy (for any Kartoffelklöse that survived!):
Thin the marinade drained from the meat with water, add gravy seasoning and cornstarch, and heat. (Obviously you're to be such an experienced cook, you need no specifications of what constitutes gravy seasoning or measurements!)
Sauerbraten (A Pickled German Pot Roast) from cousin Sue
(She notes it's often made with beef, but venison, pork, or turkey can be used, and that horsemeat is the ingredient of tradition--ugh!)
1 c. red wine vinegar
1 1/2 c. water
1/2 t. black peppercorns
2 cloves
5 juniper berries (see, here I don't know where to obtain the ingredient other than surreptitiously cruising neighborhood yards as I have no junipers)
2 bay leaves
2 lb. beef roast (boneless)
4-5 slices bacon, minced
2 onions, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
4 T. oil
salt
freshly ground pepper
3-4 Lebkuchen (um, not sure where I'd obtain such!)
1/2 c. red wine
3/4 c. raisins
apple butter, apple juice, or red currant jelly, to taste
Add water and red wine to vinegar in a pot. Bring to a boil. Grind down peppercorns, cloves, and juniper berries slightly. Add these as well as the bay leaves to the boiling liquid. Cook 2 more minutes, the remove from heat and allow to cool.
Place the beef roast in a medium bowl. Pour the cooled red wine/vinegar mixture over the beef so that it is completely covered in liquid. Cover meat tightly and refrigerate for 3 days, rotating meat daily.
To cook the meat, begin by heating oil in a roasting pot. Add bacon and cook until much of the fat has been rendered.
Remove the beef from the marinade and pat dry. Season meat with salt and pepper. Place in roasting pot and sear each side. Add vegetables to the pot and allow them to cook with the meat.
Pour the marinade through a strainer into the pot. Heat to a boil.
Add about 1 c. of hot marinade to the meat along with the Lebkuchen. Cover the pot; reduce heat to low and cook the meat for 2 hours. About halfway through the cooking, add the red wine.
Once the meat is finished cooking, remove it from the pot. Cover and keep warm. Pour the liquid and vegetables through a strainer into a bowl. Return the liquid to the original pot. Mix in raisins and allow the sauce to cook down until it is thicker. Season with salt, pepper, and the apple butter or red currant jelly.
Slice the Sauerbraten and serve with the sauce.
Sue adds "Mom made her Sauerbraten with the better known ginger snap gravy."
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