Thursday food report

Tom decided a few weeks ago that he wanted to make sauerbraten. He found this recipe online and we had the results for dinner tonight. It was wonderful. We were unable to find the juniper berries, but a search for substitutions online suggested using peppercorns or a bit of gin or just omitting them. Since they were listed as optional, we opted for nothing. This takes time because the roast has to soak for a couple of days, and then it cooks all day in the slow cooker. But Tom says it is pretty easy. And it was great! Quite nice for a cold Wisconsin night.

Kate's Easy German Sauerbraten

Original recipe makes 8 servings

 

2 cups water

1 cup red wine

1 cup cider vinegar

1 lemon, sliced

1/2 large onion, diced 

1 glove garlic, diced

10 whole cloves

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon juniper berries, crushed (optional)

1 teaspoon whole pepper corns 

4 pound boneless beef chuck roast 

2 cups chopped onions

2 cups chopped carrots 

1 cup diced celery

8 gingersnap cookies crushed

1. Heat water, red wine, cider vinegar, lemon, 1/2 onion, garlic, cloves, bay leaves, white sugar, salt, juniper berries, and peppercorns in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Allow marinade to cool and pour into a resealable plastic bag. Add beef roast, coat with marinade, squeeze out excess air, and seal bag. Marinate in the refrigerator 2 to 3 days, turning the roast twice a day.
2. Place onions, carrots, and celery in a slow cooker. Remove roast from marinade and place atop vegetables. Strain marinade and pour 2 1/2 cups over roast; reserve remaining marinade.
3. Cover and cook roast on Low for 8 hours. Turn slow cooker off. Transfer roast to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil. Strain cooking liquid into a large bowl and return vegetables to slow cooker to rest.
4. Heat about 3 cups cooking liquid and gingersnaps in a saucepan over medium-high heat, adding reserved marinade as needed, until gravy is thickened, about 10 minutes.
5. Slice roast and serve with vegetables and gravy

That is the recipe if you follow the link above.Tom insists that raisins go with sauerbraten, so he added about 3/4 cup of raisins and cooked them in the gravy until they were tender.

This says it makes 8 servings, which is pobably true if you have bread or salad or something to go along with it. We each had a big serving of meat and veggies and about half was left over for another day. Tastes to me like this may be even better tomorrow.

This is one reason (of many) why the library ladies think Tom spoils me.