Tips on Cooking Sauerbraten
Posted in European Travel, Food, Travel | By Shelley Gillespie | Tags: Food, Germany, Recipe
When I lived in Germany, I was trying for an authentic experience while living in a rural community near Stuttgart. My local market had an array of items, some of which I was familiar with, some not. But, sauerbraten had to be the quintessential German fare. I was so excited when I saw a vacuum packed pre-soured sauerbraten waiting for me! (Keep reading for recipe!)
I took the sauerbraten home and, following the package instructions, I began cooking it slowly for hours. The brine it was packed in was used to cook it.
Hours later, proud of my accomplishment, I served the sauerbraten to my husband and myself along with noodles and other German accompaniments.
The whitish sauce looked fine, the meat was tender, the meat was INEDIBLE!!
It was so sour that, well, I’ve never puckered that hard – even when madly in love. I couldn’t get to the second bite. My husband agreed, as kindly as possible. We ate the rest of the dinner.
I threw away the sauerbraten. That was the first and, probably, only time I have ever discarded the main course!
(What I should have done, I later learned, was discard the brine and start with fresh water. The meat was already plenty sour enough.)
Here’s a recipe for a sauerbraten that will be edible:
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups of cider vinegar
1 ½ cups of water
2 bay leaves
5 peppercorns
3 whole cloves
3 pounds rump roast
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup minced onions
1/3 cup fat
1 ½ cups warm water
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 Tablespoons water
Directions:
3 days before serving, combine first 5 ingredients in large bowl glass bowl (not plastic).
Set beef into mixture, sprinkle with salt and minced onions, cover and refrigerate for 3 days.
Turn meat over each day to marinate both sides.
After the 3 days, take meat out of the marinade and dry well. (Save the marinade separately.)
In Dutch oven or heavy skillet, heat fat, then add meat and brown on all sides.
Strain 1/3 c. of the marinade, add to the meat, cover an simmer for five minutes.
Add warm water and simmer for two hours until the meat is tender.
Blend cornstarch and water, blending until smooth, then add slowly to boiling liquid. Add salt to taste.
Turn meat several times so it is well-coated with gravy.
Transfer meat to platter, slice and serve. Can be served with potato dumplings or noodles and red cabbage.
Makes 4 servings.
(Courtesy of German-American Cookery, A Bilingual Guide, by Brigitte Schermer Simms, Charles E. Tuttle Co,)