Beef Sauerbraten
Note: Another one of those PYO favorite approach to cooking a dish.
-- Cooking Light Magazine (August, 2002) warns that
marinating tough, chewy STEAKS in a high-acid marinade may make them mushy. This cook
can't remember this being a problem with the recipe below. To be safe, I switched from
wine vinegar (6% acidity) to Apple Cider vinegar (5% acidity) and added wine for the
liquid.
-- Martha Stewart uses tomato paste and ketchup, red wine, stirs
in sour cream at the end, does not marinade, and serves with mashed potatoes.
-- Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook marinates for 24 hours,
uses tomato puree, red wine, adds crushed gingersnaps and raisins at the end, and serves
with Spaetzle (a German-style noodle or dumpling).
-- Joy of Cooking marinates 2-4 days in a mild or wine vinegar,
uses water instead of wine or tomatoes for the liquid, adds vegetables and cooks as for
pot roast, and serves with potato dumplings or pancakes. It is marinated 2-4 days.
Planter opts for no tomatoes or sour cream, a vinegar marinade diluted by wine, and, serves over noodles or with Latkes.
3 lb beef (shoulder, chuck, rump or round )
coarsely ground black pepper and salt to taste
For the marinade:
1/2 cp wine vinegar
1/2 cp red wine
2 cps water (add a cube of beef broth if desired)
1 onion, sliced
2 bay leaves
2 t peppercorns
1/4 cp sugar
For the vegetables (use more if you like to serve the veggies with the meat):
1 carrot, chopped
1 rib celery, diced
1 small onion stuck with 3 cloves
1. Heat marinade ingredients and pour over beef, covering more than half the roast.
2. Cover with lid and refrigerate 2-4 days for maximum flavor.
3. Prepare vegetables.
4. Drain meat, reserving marinade, and brown meat on all sides.
5. Place on top of vegetables in roasting pan using heated marinade for liquids.
6. Bake 3-4 hours at 300-325 degrees. Add liquid if necessary to avoid cooking down.
7. Remove from oven when done, add 1/4 cp brown sugar and roast an additional 5-10
minutes.
8. Remove meat from pot and thicken stock with flour or crushed gingersnaps.
9. Meat should be sliced into 1/4" slices before serving.