Not Your Grandmothers Sauerbraten Recipes

TRADITIONAL SAUERBRATEN

Steps:

• Place beef rump roast, onions, vinegar, water, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon black pepper, sugar, cloves, and bay leaves in a large pot. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 3 days, turning meat daily. Remove meat from marinade and pat dry with paper towels, reserving marinade.
• Season flour to taste with salt and black pepper in a large bowl. Sprinkle flour mixture over beef.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat; cook beef until brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Pour reserved marinade over beef, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until beef is tender, 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Remove beef to a platter and slice.
• Strain solids from remaining liquid and continue cooking over medium heat. Add gingersnap cookies and simmer until gravy is thickened about 10 minutes. Serve gravy over sliced beef.

TRADITIONAL GERMAN SAUERBRATEN

Steps:

• Wipe beef with a damp cloth and season with salt and pepper. Place seasoned beef in a large glass bowl.
• Combine vinegar, carrots, onion, peppercorns, cloves, bay leaves, and parsley in a bowl; pour over beef. Cover dish tightly with a lid or plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate beef, turning daily, for 3 to 7 days.
• Drain meat, reserving liquid and vegetables. Rub flour over all sides of beef.
• Heat butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat; brown beef on all sides, 5 to 10 minutes. Add onions, carrots, and 2 cups reserved liquid. Cover Dutch oven, lower heat to medium-low, and simmer until meat is tender, about 2 hours. Transfer beef to a serving platter.
• Stir gingersnap crumbs and sugar into the liquid in Dutch oven; cook and stir until sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes. Pour sauce over meat.

NANNY FLAY'S SAUERBRATEN WITH BRAISED CABBAGE AND NOODLES

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven. Season the beef with salt and pepper, and cook until golden brown on all sides, about 15 minutes. Add onions, celery, carrot, garlic, white wine vinegar, white wine water, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves, parsley, thyme and salt and pepper, to taste. Cover, and simmer 1 1/2 hours, turn meat, re-cover, and simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours longer until tender. Transfer to a large platter and keep warm. Strain cooking liquid into a bowl, remove 1/2 cup to be used for the braised cabbage and set aside. Heat butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk in flour and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Whisk in cooking liquid, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring, until thickened and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix in gingersnaps and honey, to taste. Carve meat at the table (not too thin or slices will crumble) and serve with plenty of gravy. Or carve in the kitchen, arrange slices slightly overlapping on a platter, and pour some of the gravy down the center; pass the rest. Serve with braised cabbage and buttered noodles.
• Heat butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft. Add the cabbage, cooking liquid and wine and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and cook until the cabbage is wilted, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well, return to the pan, toss with the butter and parsley, and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

SAUERBRATEN

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients except beef to form marinade. Marinate beef for two to three days.
• Cook meat in marinade on top of stove over low heat in heavy covered pot, about two to two-and-a-half hours or until tender.

RHINELAND SAUERBRATEN

Steps:

• Rump or round of beef should be well larded with thin matchstick strips of bacon or salt pork. Tie meat firmly with string in several places so it will be easy to turn without piercing and will hold shape. Rub well with salt on all sides and place in deep, closefitting glass or earthenware bowl.
• Combine vinegar and water and add onion, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, pickling spices and carrot. Bring to boil and simmer 5 minutes. Cool marinade thoroughly and pour over beef. Meat should be completely covered by marinade; if it is not, add equal amounts of water and vinegar until it is. Cover and place in refrigerator for 3 to 5 days; the longer it stands the more piquant the roast will be, so adjust time to suit taste. Turn meat in marinade 2 or 3 times a day, using string as handle.
• Remove meat from marinade. Strain marinade and reserve. Dry meat thoroughly with paper towels. Meat will not brown properly if it is wet, so dry as much as possible.
• Dice bacon and fry slowly in butter in 5-quart Dutch oven or casserole. When fat is hot, add meat and brown slowly. Using string as handle, turn so meat is well seared and golden brown (but not black) on all sides. This should take about 15 minutes.
• Remove browned meat and add sliced onions to hot fat. Fry, stirring from time to time, until onions are deep golden brown but not black.
• Return meat to pot, placing on top of onions. Add marinade until it reaches about halfway up sides of meat. Add fresh bay leaf and cloves (not those used in marinade). Bring marinade to boil, cover pot tightly with heavy, close-fitting lid, reduce heat and simmer very slowly but steadily 3 1/2 to 4 hours, turning meat 2 or 3 times during cooking. Add more marinade to pot if needed. If you cannot lower heat enough to keep sauce at slow simmer, place an asbestos mat or flame trivet under pot. Meat is done when it can be pierced easily with long-pronged fork or skewer.
• Remove meat to heated platter and strain gravy. Skim off excess fat and return gravy to pot. Melt butter in saucepan and when hot, stir in flour and sugar. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly until sugar mixture turns a deep caramel color. Be very careful doing this, as sugar burns all at once (if it become black, this part of the operation would have to be started again). Add sugar-flour to hot gravy and stir through briskly with wire whisk.
• Season with lemon juice to taste; gravy should have a mild sweet-sour flavor. Add raisins, which have been soaked and drained. Return meat to pot, cover and simmer 10 minutes. If sauce becomes too thick, add a little more marinade. Tablespoonful of tomato puree can be stirred in and heated 4 or 5 minutes before serving time, to enrich the color of the gravy. Check gravy for seasoning. Slice meat and arrange on heated platter and mask with a little gravy, serving rest in heated sauceboat. Serve with dumplings, noodles, boiled potatoes or potato pancakes.

NANNY FLAY'S SAUERBRATEN WITH BRAISED CABBAGE AND NOODLES RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven. Season the beef with salt and pepper, and cook until golden brown on all sides, about 15 minutes. Add onions, celery, carrot, garlic, white wine vinegar, white wine water, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves, parsley, thyme and salt and pepper, to taste. Cover, and simmer 1 1/2 hours, turn meat, re-cover, and simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours longer until tender. Transfer to a large platter and keep warm. Strain cooking liquid into a bowl, remove 1/2 cup to be used for the braised cabbage and set aside. Heat butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk in flour and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Whisk in cooking liquid, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring, until thickened and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix in gingersnaps and honey, to taste. Carve meat at the table (not too thin or slices will crumble) and serve with plenty of gravy. Or carve in the kitchen, arrange slices slightly overlapping on a platter, and pour some of the gravy down the center; pass the rest. Serve with braised cabbage and buttered noodles. Braised Cabbage: Heat butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft. Add the cabbage, cooking liquid and wine and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and cook until the cabbage is wilted, about 15 to 20 minutes. Buttered Noodles: Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well, return to the pan, toss with the butter and parsley, and season with salt and pepper, to taste.