October(fest) Sauerbraten

Fall weather (all 2 days of it so far) means German food at our haus. We both have some German heritage and crave German food occasionally. We don’t have a good German restaurant nearby, so I make my own. When I first found this recipe in an old German cookbook of my great uncles, I laughed when it said marinate for three days, five if using a refrigerator! Joe loved it, so here is a marinated beef dinner that’s easy to make, but keeps you waiting a while. Since it’s just the two of us, you get some bonus leftover recipes.

Sauerbraten

Marinade:

• 3 1/2 lbs. Beef, chuck roast or rump roast
• 1 Cup Vinegar
• 1 Cup Water
• 1 Small Onion, cut in wedges and separated
• 1 Carrot, cut in thin slices
• 2 Sprigs Celery leaves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
• 4 Cloves
• 1 Large Bayleaf
• 5 Whole Peppercorns
• 4 Juniper Berries

Bring all ingredients except the beef to a low simmer in an enamel (or non-reactive) pot. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes. Let cool. Place beef in a large ziplock bag (the original recipe said glass container, it was written before ziplocks.) Pour marinade over beef, making sure it’s completely covered. Let marinate for 5 days in the refrigerator, turning each day.

Ingredients for cooking:

• 1 Marrow Bone (my dog got it after it as cooked)
• 2 Tablespoons Oil (original recipe said lard!)
• 2 Tablespoons Flour
• 2 Small Tomatoes (or a can of diced tomatoes, strained well)
• 1 Pint Soup Stock
• 1 Cup Sour Cream
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Remove beef from marinade and dry. Retain marinade. Heat oil in a heavy Dutch oven and brown beef and marrow bone well on all sides. Cut tomatoes into thin wedges and add to pot, mashing them in the hot oil from pan. As soon as tomatoes are soft, add vegetables from marinade. Add 1 cup of marinade, cover and simmer slowly for one hour. Add more marinade if needed to keep pot from going dry.

Remove beef and keep warm. Add flour to the oil (in my case, I mixed it with some melted butter since there was too much moisture left in the pot.) Add along with soup stock and dissolve any crust on bottom of pan. Simmer 10 minutes and add sour cream. Bring back to a simmer, salt and pepper to taste. Strain gravy and serve over sliced beef.

I served this with smashed red potatoes and sweet and sour red cabbage, traditionally it’s served with potatoes, noodles or potato pancakes.

Since I had leftovers, I created another dinner, adding shredded beef, sautéed mushrooms, peppers and red cabbage along with leftover gravy to wide noodles. It tasted like beef stroganoff.

I also made a weekend breakfast making a hash from chopped beef, smashed potatoes and some of the red cabbage, then served with poached eggs.

Tips: Can be made in a crockpot: after browning meat in a frying pan and sauteeing tomatoes, add everything to a crockpot, set on low and cook for 6 hours. then follow directions for making gravy. It can also be done in a 250º oven for 5 hours.

I make smashed potatoes by steaming the red potatoes with some broth in a heavy fry pan until softened. I add a little oil or butter, saute and then smash each one using a ball jar or glass.