Making TasunkaWitko’s Sauerbraten!
Printed From: The BaitShop
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Forum Name: Recipes, Cooking, Game Processing and Food in General
Forum Description: From the lake, the field, the garden or the campfire! Family and ethnic recipes also encouraged!
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Topic: Making TasunkaWitko’s Sauerbraten!
Posted By: rivet
Subject: Making TasunkaWitko’s Sauerbraten!
Date Posted: 28 October 2009 at 20:37
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During an exchange of local goods, TasunkaWitko sent me a few
excellent, very old books from a Time-Life series on foods from around
the world. One of them was about Germany. I've begin to read it and the
first recipe that jumped out at me was for Sauerbraten- something I
have never made before, and looks perfect for this time of year. Coincidentally our grocery is running a sale on Angus rump roasts, which the recipe calls for, and must be marinated for 2-3 days. Oh yeah, good deal!  The meat must be marinated in a mixture of spices, onions, red wine and red wine vinegar. I know we've got the bay leaves somewhere around here in the cabinetry. Although the recipe calls for Juniper Berries, can't find them here, so I'm substituting a couple whole cloves. That's the only spice I could think of that matched the pungency of juniper as closely as possible, though the real thing is definitely critical...oh well!  SO, into the marinade it will go later today. I will continue to update this post through the process, cooking, an finished dish. Thanks a million, Tas~! That's an outstanding series and I appreciate the chance to try the recipe's inside.  -------------  FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
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Replies:
Posted By: rivet
Date Posted: 29 October 2009 at 02:18
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Okay, so here we are later on.... Sliced up the onion thin like the book instructed, mixed the wine, vinegar, water and spices to boil.  After it boiled for a few minutes, off the heat and onto the windowsill to cool for a couple hours back to room temp. Boy, this smelled mighty fine! Wow.... Once cooled, I poured it over the roast and turned the meat a couple times to coat.  At this point it covered the bowl in plastic wrap, then into the fridge for the next 2 or 3 days. Probably make it Sunday. Will turn it a couple times a day to make sure it marinates well. Thanks for taking the time to look at my cooking, and I will continue to post progress pics as we go. ------------- FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
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Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 29 October 2009 at 05:46
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john - i'm really looking forward to seeing how this turns out. as a hunter of german ancestry, this is one dish i've always wanted to try, and the FOTW recipe looks to be very hard to beat. keep up with the notes and the foodview and i'll be reading. thanks ~ ------------- TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana  Helfen, Wehren, Heilen Die Wahrheit wird euch frei machen |
Posted By: rivet
Date Posted: 29 October 2009 at 06:33
Be glad to keep you posted, Ron! This is exciting to me, since you know how much I love traditional-historical cooking, and Sauerbraten certainly fits the bill. Goes back to Charlemagne and before, back to Julius Ceasar's campaigns in the land of the Franks, some say. It's an ideal way to fix a rump roast, and full of flavors that go well in winter. I was disappointed about the juniper berries, so I did a bit of research on the recipe and discovered that although they are a "must have" item, there are tons of recipes calling for cloves, allspice, nutmeg and various other spices, with the general gist being that any good strong spice is acceptable ( and welcomed) in this recipe; 'course not including hot peppers and such. So, cloves have been used for centuries in Sauerbraten so now I don't feel so bad!  Let me add that the bay leaves released a whole bunch of nice flavor during the marinade boil, something I wasn't expecting. Smelled outstanding! I used Mexican bay leaves, rather than the other regular no-name store-stuff in a jar which to me are worthless since they never smell like anything. If you want some I'll be glad to mail you a packet of them. Nice stuff! So the roast is marinading, I've turned it twice so far and it looks nice and pink. I decided to leave it in till Sunday rather than Saturday, so we'll have a full 3 day marinade which is the minimum all "authentic" recipes call for... "Okay, I'm with you fellers!"  Planning to make homemade noodles to go with it rather than boiled potatoes. Stay tuned! ------------- FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
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TasunkaWitko wrote:Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 30 October 2009 at 07:08
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hey, john - keep up with the updates ~ they are much appreciated. i'm good with bay leaves - the local grocery in havre sells two brands of "mexican" laurel or bay leaves (except one is from china?) and i agree that they have a much better bouquet and add a geat deal of great flavor ~ ------------- TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana Helfen, Wehren, Heilen Die Wahrheit wird euch frei machen |
Posted By: GOT14U
Date Posted: 30 October 2009 at 07:59
| very interesting. can't wait for the finished product |
Posted By: rivet
Date Posted: 31 October 2009 at 03:17
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Saturday Update Marination-Day Number 2! Been turning the meat about 3 times a day since I put it in. The marinade has really mellowed out, has a nice smell to it, the vinegar much toned down. As expected, it clouded from the fats and proteins, but it'll be good once reduced and cooked in. Here's a pic from about an hour ago when I turned it again. The submerged beef has taken a dark, ruby color and the part exposed to the air, a light tan. That ruby color is beautiful when I turn it, I'll try to get a pic of that next time. The 1/8 inch or so layer of fat on the underside has turned a darker, creamier color. It's gonna taste great when browned before cooking.  Back and forth Mrs Rivet and I have gone on what to make alongside-underside the Sauerbraten : Noodles, potatoes or what? Well as of today noodles are out. I was gonna make homemade egg noodles but that was nixed 'cause she said homemade noodles were too mushy. I never made them before and was looking forward to trying my hand at them, but no worries. I'll give that a whirl some other time. We both decided against plain old boiled, peeled potatoes as too non-descript...gotta have something better. Hey, there we go! OMG potatoes. Golden, crispy quarter chunks of roasted goodness will definitely add contrast to the dish....so there we have it. Earlier today I picked up some Dunkel (dark) beer to go with our Sauerbraten. Thanks for that FOTW book, Ron; got the idea for some rich beer with the feast from a section inside. Getting hungry just thinking about it, and I think I'm gonna feature some homemade bread too. Not sure what, but stay posted...it'll be good   Don't usually splurge on imported beer, but the sale price was too hard to beat. My grocery store was running a sale on all European imports at anywhere from $7.49 to $5.99 a six-pack, depending where it was from. Now that is an Octoberfest kinda deal! ------------- FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
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Posted By: GOT14U
Date Posted: 31 October 2009 at 05:30
| man this is shaping up to be a nice feast |
Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 31 October 2009 at 05:33
it's looking really nice so far ~ keep it up and keep us posted ~  ------------- TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana Helfen, Wehren, Heilen Die Wahrheit wird euch frei machen |
Posted By: rivet
Date Posted: 31 October 2009 at 13:06
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Allrighty, this is Halloween Night and though I didn't want to post
again on this recipe for fear of being overbearing, I had to. The Trick-Or-Treaters were just so cool, and this is my favorite holiday of the whole year. I didn't dress up this time. Two pics here~ the first is the best trick-or-treaters of the night, a Dad-and-Daughter combo from Oz; The Scarecrow And Dorothy. Excellent!  The second pic is the promised one of the beef when I turned it. The fat has taken on a nice hue and the meat is a deep ruby color.  Mrs Rivet says she'll make her famous braided Beer-Cheese Bread for the meal. Oh yeah, this is good stuff- you gotta see the pics. If only you could smell it.... So we're good to go till manana, when we begin the cooking. Stay tuned, it's going to be good. Thanks for looking! ------------- FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
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Posted By: rivet
Date Posted: 01 November 2009 at 02:14
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Today is the 3rd day of marinading and the beef looks fantastic. Got a great German meal planned and ready to go!
------------- FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
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Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 01 November 2009 at 03:04
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fixed the link ~ holy moly, that sauerbrauten looks great ~ ------------- TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana Helfen, Wehren, Heilen Die Wahrheit wird euch frei machen |
Posted By: rivet
Date Posted: 01 November 2009 at 04:45
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Thanks for fixing the link, Ron! You are The Man! Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't....
------------- FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
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Posted By: rivet
Date Posted: 01 November 2009 at 04:55
Okay, once the roast is browned, take it out of the stockpot and put it in a platter. Add the vegs and sautee them~ After they cook a bit, add 2 or 3 TBSP flour. Continue cooking then deglaze the pot.  After a bit add the strained marinade and bring to a boil-  Stir well and often. The flour will thicken up the sauce a bit,,,that's good. Once it is boiling, turn down heat to LOW and put roast in. Bring back to boil and turn heat back to LOW.  Cover tightly and let braise for 2 or 3 hours while OMG potatoes cook. More to come....thanks for staying true! ------------- FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
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Posted By: rivet
Date Posted: 01 November 2009 at 05:24
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Still time to go on the beef, and we must start
the Oven Roasted Potatoes. So we've washed, rinsed, chopped and boiled them, and now we must beat them properly. This is what the lid should look like rightly beaten OMG Potatoes....  And then we add the olive oil in scary quantities...OMG!!!   And cannot forget the "keeper of life"...salt. In OMG quantity!~  Into the oven they go in a nice pan at 350 F to bake until golden. They will be a perfect accompaniment to the Sauerbraten. ------------- FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
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Posted By: rivet
Date Posted: 01 November 2009 at 06:46
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I'll tll you what~ this was some good stuff! First time ever making Sauerbraten and it was delicious. Very mellow vinegar flavor, very mellow spices, all around good tender beef...what a feast. The rump roast is a tough cut, and the 3 day marinade was well called for and turned it into a nice tender roast.  The spices and vinegar were not overpowering as my wife thought they might be and mellowed out as the days went on. The final product was a nice evenly balanced and flavourful roast with a touch of red wine, a touch of vinegar and a touch of spice all playing together in harmony with the beef to make a substantial mouthful of flavor.  This is definitely a make-again recipe and want to try it with cabbage next time. Thanks for looking! ------------- FIRE IS OUR FRIEND!
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Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 01 November 2009 at 07:45
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it certainly looks excellent ~ my german blood is calling me on this one and i am sure i'll be trying it some time this winter ~ i have heard of sauerbrauten being topped with crushed gingersnaps before cooking and wondered if this was to offset the acidity of the wine and vinegar, but it sounds like that is not necessary. great meal! ------------- TasunkaWitko - Chinook, Montana Helfen, Wehren, Heilen Die Wahrheit wird euch frei machen |