Saurebratten

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Saurebratten is a traditional German dish, basically it's marinated roast beef that becomes very tender as a consequence of the many days of marinating in the fridge with a little bit of vinegar and red wine that helps tenderize even tough cuts of meat. Then the other ingredients give it a spicy sweet nature as well. This dish dates back to Roman times presumably Julius Caesar brought it across the Alps into Germany. In southern Germany it served with spetsla which is small egg noodles with an interesting cut to them. It is made from inexpensive (relatively) cuts of beef is still a great value, about $6/lb, tastes great and is easy to make. Costco, Sam's Club, BJ's and your local grocery store all have stew meat, bottom round, chuck beef roasts from October into the late winter.

Prep time: 30 minutes, plus 4 days to 2 weeks marinating in the fridge

Cook time: 4 to 4.5 hours

Total time: about 5 hours
Yield: 10 - 16servings

Ingredients

• 3 lbs to 6 lbs of beef round or chuck - Beef Chuck roast or Bottom Round or Top Round. Chuck is more tender, but fattier. Use 3 to 6 lbs of beef. 5 or 6 lbs makes enough for 4 meals for 4 people, or 3 meals for 5 people

The marinade

• Bay leaves - 8 to 10 leaves
• Onions - 2 large sweet onions
• 2 large carrots , diced
• 1 large leek, if you have one, otherwise don't worry, chopped, thoroughly washed and drained to remove any dirt
• 3 cloves garlic , minced that 3 tablespoons minced
• 2 large sprigs thyme , or 1 teaspoon dried
• 2 small sprigs rosemary , or 1 teaspoon dried
• 2 bay leaves
• 10 juniper berries , cracked
• 5 allspice berries
• 6 whole cloves
• 10 whole black peppercorns , cracked
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt (optional - I skip it for heart reasons!)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 1/2 cups dry red wine (e.g., pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, )
• 1 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups water.
• Ginger snaps - 6 to 12 ginger snaps. Since this is a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe, the preferred ones are Irwin's "Spiced Wafers", but if you can’t get these, just get the best ginger snaps you can.  Cheapo brands have an “off” flavor.
• Olive oil a few tablespoons for browning the beef
• Salt and pepper  - salt is really optional. I don't add any salt.

The following are added later, to the cooking pot

• thickener: 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour or corn starchh
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 3 ounces ginger snap cookies , crumbled
• 1 tablespoon honey

 

Served with:

• Spatzle (Cooked Egg Noodles). If you want to lower the fat and cholesterol, you can used the Yolk-less egg noodles.
• Rotkohl - cooked red cabbage

EQUIPMENT

• Dutch oven or heavy pot or a corckpot / slo-cooker

Directions:

Step 1 - Make the mardinade

Chop the onions and carrots. Anything under 1/2 inch will do. Cut the ends off 3 lemons and then slice them thinly (1/8 inch). I also pick out and discard any seeds I see.

 

Put all of the mardinare ingredients above in a heavy non-reactive (meaning teflon, ceramic, or stove top safe glass stock pot or enameled Dutch oven

Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and allow it to cool to room temperature.

Step 2 - Marinate the beef

Put the roast in a container (like a plastic tupperware) with the marinade, so it is submerged and place it in the fridge for at least 4 days, preferably 7-14. If the meat is NOT completely submergedyou mustturn the roast over once every day.

SStep 3 - Cooking day 4 to 14 days later

Remove the roast, pat it dry with paper towels, and strain the liquid from the vegetables. Reserve the liquid and the vegetables.

Step 4 Brown the meat

Heat the olive oil in a large pot (the tall sides work better than a fry pan to over splattering hot oil) .

Put the beef  in.

Brown, stir and flip until it is evenly browned,

about 10 minutes over medium to medium-high heat.

 

Step 5 - Cook

Into a large cooking pot or slo-cooker:

• Add the strained vegetables from the marinade to the pot to heat for 5-7 minutes.
• Stir in the flour or corn starch, cooking the mixture for a minute or two to thicken.
• Add the liquids that you strained from the marinade, bring it to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent lumps.
• Add the raisins, honey and crushed ginger snaps.
• Put the the roast back in the pot.
• Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 2-4 hours or until the meat is very tender.

 

The roast will be ready when it reaches an internal temperature of 190-200 F which breaks down connective tissues for a fork-tender result.Keep checking the roast every 20 minutes or so for doneness.)Let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.

 

Step 6 - Make the sauce or gravy

Strain the cooking pot liquids and heat.Note: you can adjust the flavor and tickness now, you can dilute it with a little water or broth.

Spoon the gravy over the sliced Sauerbraten and serve immediately.

 

Typically served with Rotkohl which is easy to make, but they do sell it at Aldi, and some form of potatoes:

• Boiled small potatoes,
  Or (and these are available on Amazon, also WalMart)
• Bavarian Spätzle, Bavarian egg noodles
• Semmelknödel (Bread dumplings)
• Kartoffelklöße .(Potato dumplings)

 

 

 

 

NUTRITION

Approximate, per 100 grams

Calories: 503kcal
Carbohydrates: 22g
Protein: 72gFat: 16g
Saturated Fat: 6g
Cholesterol: 187mg
Sodium:200 mg to  986mg (low if you skip the added salt)
Potassium: 1424mg
Fiber: 2gSugar: 9g
Vitamin A: 3644IU
Vitamin C: 7mg
Calcium: 109mg
Iron: 9mg