German Sauerbraten Part I

I love to try different foods all the time. Japanese, Chinese (real Chinese, not your average every day orange chicken and pepper beef ;) ), German, English, French, Indian, Filipino. . . list goes on and on and on.

Perhaps it's just a theory I have, but I believe that the proper enjoyment of food is part of good Catholic home life. Enjoying food properly means exercising restraint, avoiding gluttony, thanking God for such nice food and the company of those you eat it with. Invite your priest over for a good meal that was meant to be savored, and you create memories that will last throughout your life. There are so many different cultural traditions involving food and how to eat it, it is fascinating to try some of them every once in a while.

Though coming from Austrian heritage, I don't think I ever had sauerbraten while growing up, so I always wanted to try it. German food has such satisfying sounding names that I am usually disappointed when finding out that most of them are really quite ordinary dishes, but they are still good. Sauerbraten is actually just a pot roast, but it is very good and the leftover gravy is wonderful the next day, served hot over slices of bread.

I also like this recipe because I had been trying to find creative things to do with all of the cheapo London Broil they sell at my grocery store in large quantities, which I freeze. This stuff is really hard to cook in a way that won't come out either raw or like leather, but a big chunk of it is the perfect size for a smaller pot roast.

Ingredients:

1 boneless beef pot roast, 4-5 pounds, rolled and tied (if you are using only 1-2 pounds of meat, half the amounts shown here for the marinade, etc. Experiment)

1 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup dry red wine (I am using Chianti)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon black pepper corns, whole
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
6 Juniper Berries OR 1 oz gin

And if you have some leftover coffee, you can add up to 1/2 cup of coffee. The Austrians can find a way to put coffee into just about anything.

Put everything except the roast into a non-reactive (that means either non-metal, like a crock pot, or stainless steel, don't use aluminum) pot. The pot should be big enough to allow the roast to sit in the middle of the pot and not be touching any of the pans sides or the pot's cover.

Bring this marinade just to a boil, then turn off the heat and let it sit until it's cool. Add the roast, turn it to coat with the marinade, and cover it so it's air-tight. It will now sit in the fridge for up to four days. The longer you marinade it, the better it will taste. I like to kind of aim for Sundays, so I'm putting my sauerbraten in the fridge today.

The rest of the recipe will be posted on Saturday evening. In the meantime, the ingredients needed for the rest of the cooking will be vegetable oil (I'm using extra virgin olive oil), chopped onions, chopped carrots, chopped celery, ground ginger, beef broth, and some flour.

I will also post two recipes for side-dishes I am going to serve with the sauerbraten; Spatzle, which are German egg dumplings that are served on the side and covered with the gravy, and Braised red cabbage with apples, which is basically red sauerkraut. Yum yummy!

**Interesting tid-bit: sauerbraten is mostly served in the fall/winter months, and if any of the family members had colds or the sniffles, the mammas would make them sit in the kitchen while the vinegar/onion mixture came to a boil, and then have them breathe the very pungent steam. It really clears the sinuses and makes your head feel much better when you have a stuffy cold.