German Comfort Food - Sauerbraten (part 2)

In Sauerbraten Part 1 we began marinating the roast.  I know that all of you have been religiously turning your roast in the marinade every 12 hours for the last couple of days, right?  Excellent!  Now it's time to complete the transformation from just another roast, to that ever so evocative of German dishes.... Sauerbraten.....

As I eluded to in the previous post.  You will require about 6-10 Gingersnap cookies to finish off the gravy.  You did remember to get some gingersnaps, right?  If you forgot, you can always use stale Gingerbread (crumbled up) or even go so far as to use Gingerbread Cookies (crushed), if you have some lying around.  I never do, so I opt for the gingersnaps purchased from a grocery store.  Luckily, I have not eaten all of them as well. :)

Saurbraten

(Part 2)

4 TB Unsalted Butter
1/2 cup Water
6-10 Gingersnap cookies, pulverized (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup)

Remove the roast from the refrigerator and let is warm up for about 1/2 hour.

Remove the roast from the marinade to a stack of paper towels and dry the roast thoroughly, for just as Julia says, "Wet meat doesn't brown as well."

Strain the marinade into a large bowl, to remove the miscellaneous adjuncts. (Coriander seeds, Bay Leaves, Peppercorns, Onions, Carrot, etc.)

Wash the pot and preheat the oven to 300F degrees.

Place the clean pot over medium heat and melt 4 TB of Unsalted Butter.

Once the butter has melted, place the roast in the pot and sear on all sides, until nice and brown.

 By all sides, I mean even the ends.

Once the roast is all browned and delicious looking, pour the marinade over the top.

Bring the marinade to a boil, on the stove.

Cover.... and move to your preheated oven for about 2 - 2 1/2 hours.... Turning the roast every hour.

This is usually when I put the cookies into a ziploc bag.

And smash them into infinitesimal crumbs with a rolling pin, then set them aside until everything is ready for them to meet their gravy thickening destiny.

Once it has braised to a nice and tender slab of deliciousness, remove from the oven.

Extract the roast from the marinade and slice it up (as best you can, it will fall apart for the most part).

Tent to keep warm whilst you finish the gravy.

Pour out the marinade into a measuring cup.

You need at least 1 1/2 cups of marinade/meat juices, I usually have about 2 cups. (which is OK by me, cause that just means more gravy)

Add this back to the pot and fortify the marinade with 1/2 cup Water.

Bring this to a simmer over medium flame and add the Gingersnap crumbs.

Stir them in well, then bring the whole thing back to a simmer again.

Continue simmering until the sauce thickens into a rich and deliciously spiced gravy.

Lay it out on a warm platter and douse it with gravy.

Don't forget to save some back for your guests..

Serve, with Spaetzle & Mushrooms and Fried Red Cabbage.

MMMMMMM Germany on a Plate!

Fütterung der Raubtiere!!
~~

Little Sparrows in Butter - Spaetzle

It's been a long time in coming.  I figured since I was going to all the trouble of making Sauerbraten, that the perfect side dish would be Spaetzle.  Since my braten is still sauer-ing in the refrigerator, this is the perfect opportunity to blog about these delectable little German sparrows.  For that is what Spaetzle means.... Little Sparrows.  Personally, I don't think they look anything like birds, but who am I to judge?

Spaeztle is a form of egg noodle flavored with nutmeg; at least in it's basic form.  So the ingredient list is fairly short - eggs, milk, flour, salt and nutmeg.  Now as far as how to form noodles?  Well, opinions abound as to how it should be done.

• You can smear the dough across a board and cut spaetzle into a pot of boiling water with a knife.  
• You can use a press (that looks like a potato ricer).  
• You can even go to a kitchen gadget store and purchase a "spaetzle grater" contraption.  

Honestly, though I am all for cool kitchen gadgets and stuff, I prefer to use what I already have lying around.  A rubber spatula and my steamer insert from one of my pots.  The holes in the bottom are JUST the right. (which happens to be 1/2 cm or about 1/4 inch in width) You can also make use of a colander as long as there are enough holes in the bottom and they are a little on the larger side. 

I simply hold the steamer insert over the boiling water and press the batter/dough through the holes with my spatula in a sweeping motion.  Simple, easy and no special gadgets need apply.

Afterwards, I like to saute them briefly in butter and sprinkle with a little German cheese such as Bergkase.  Noodle Nirvana!

Spaetzle

(with Bergkase)

2 large Eggs
59 ml (2 oz) (1/4 cup) Whole Milk
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 tsp White Pepper, ground
1/4 tsp Nutmeg, grated
127g (4.5oz) (1 cup) AP Flour
3 quarts Salted Boiling Water
2 TB Unsalted Butter
Bergkase, grated

First, combine the Eggs, Milk, Salt, Pepper and Nutmeg in a medium bowl.

Whisk everything together until well combined.

Add the Flour and stir (with a spatula, not a whisk - I forgot to remove it) until......

you have a soft, somewhat sticky, dough.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the gluten in the flour to relax a little.

Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil and salt liberally (make it like the ocean)

Grab your steamer insert or a colander.....

(the holes should be at least 1/2 cm or a little less than 1/4 inch in diameter)

Place it over the boiling water and load it up with the  chilled dough.

Rub your spatula back and forth to force the batter through the holes.

Boil the spaetzle for about 4 minutes (or until they float)

Meanwhile, begin heating 2 TB Butter in a large skillet set over medium flame.

Remove the spaetzle from the water with a skimmer.

Add to the hot skillet and toss with the melted butter.

Remove from the heat when all glossy with buttery goodness.

Finish off with some grated Bergkase if you like.

MMMMMMM  and now for a totally gratuitous extreme close-up.....
 

Fütterung der Raubtiere!!

~~

German Comfort Food - Sauerbraten (part 1)

I love my comfort foods.   Macaroni and Cheese, Lasagne, Corned Beef Pinwheels, Chicken and Dumplings, Boeuf Bourguignon, Lentil Soup, Biscuits and Gravy, Stroganov, and Pasta Carbonara, to name just a few.  There is one comfort food though, that I don't make very often.  This is mainly because, as a single person, there is no possible way I can eat my way through a 4 lb hunk o' beef.  Something of that size is better regulated to the proverbial "holiday get together". Sadly, those usually already include a large turkey, a BBQ, or a leg of lamb, leaving no room for an additional large roast.

I speak not of Pot Roast, per se, but of that most quintessentially "German" of dishes on this large blue marble.  Sauerbraten (Sour Roast).  

As luck would have it, we are going to have a small get together with a family friend, so it's time that I whipped this recipe out and brushed the cobwebs off.  And it's a good thing, because Sauerbraten takes a little forethought.  You must begin marinating the meat 48-72 hours ahead of time.

So what exactly IS Sauerbraten?  Well, it's sort of Germany's answer to Boeuf Bourguignon.  Though considering the antiquity of the recipe, it's more correctly stated that Boeuf Bourguignon is France's answer to Sauerbraten.  Legend has it that the recipe stems from when Julius Caesar was shipping in meat for his legions during one of his campaigns against the Thuringians.  In order to preserve the meat, it was stored in amphora full of vinegar.  Since the Romans had a tendency to simply colonize the areas of their conquests and merge with the local peoples, the defeated Thuringians, Bavarians, and Saxons were eventually exposed to this soured meat. The flavor was well received and eventually became part of the local cuisine.

Granted, the Thuringians, as well as several other tribes that inhabited the area in Europe that we know today as "Germany", originally used this method of marination on Horse meat.  Horse can be a very tough chew, but the vinegar marinade has the added benefit of tenderizing the meat. While I am normally a stickler for tradition, I will be foregoing the horse meat for this recipe.  While I have eaten A LOT of things that most people would not, from Opossum to Bear and back again, but I find the idea of eating horse to be somewhat horrifying.  I know it is still eaten in Europe; France, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands & Iceland just being a few, but I find horses to be too intelligent to be eaten.  I am not even overly fond of them, but when you look them in the eye, you can see that they have a level of self awareness beyond that of a sheep, cows and pigs.  Heck, they are even smarter than goats (being from a goat dairy, it really annoys me to say that).  Sorry, I firmly believe that it's on par with eating your dog, your cat or a dolphin.  But that is just how I feel about it. 

Thus, when I make Sauerbraten, I use a big chunk of beef.  Parts such as the Bottom Round, Top Round, Rump or Chuck are good choices and tend to be cheaper pieces of meat.  Basically anything you would use for a Yankee Pot Roast will be just fine.

But we gotta get this chunk of Bovine marinating, so it's time for me to quit yappin and get to cookin.
I am going to do this post in 2 installments because of the amount of time required.  It will give you a chance to follow a long it you want.  :)

An old Corningware 5 quart pot works GREAT for this, since it goes from the stove to the refrigerator to the oven to the table.   LOVE this stuff.  (That is why this recipe will be posted to Corningware411 as well)

Sauerbraten

2 Onions, sliced
1 rib of Celery, chopped
1 Carrot, chopped
4 Bay Leaves
7 whole Clove Buds
1/2 tsp Coriander Seed
3/4 tsp Black Peppercorns
2 1/2 cups Water
1 1/2 cups Red Wine Vinegar
3 1/2 - 4 lb Beef Roast

Later you will need (just so there are no surprises in the second installment)
1/2 cup Water
1/3 cup crushed Ginger Snaps

Grab a 5 quart pot and add the Onions, Celery, Carrot, Bay Leaves, Cloves, Coriander and Black Peppercorns.

Pour in the Water and the Red Wine Vinegar.

Cover the pot and bring to a boil.

Remove from the heat and add the meat to the hot marinade.

Turning to coat.

Cover again, and place in the refrigerator.

Turn the meat every 12 hours for at least 2 days (48 hours) but preferably 3 days (72 hrs)

Your patience and perseverance will be rewarded.
~~

Through the magic of the Blogverse you can Fast Forward to Sauerbraten Part 2