Our sour beef (sauerbraten), a German delicacy, is molded from a tangy, sweet, and spicy braised beef with onion and paprika. The recipe comes from a traditional family recipe that has been passed down for generations. It is easy to cook and very delicious. Enjoy it as an appetizer or snack on bread instead of bread.
Sauerbraten, or gravy-cooked roast beef, is one of Germany’s national dishes. The Classic Recipe calls for a meatless gravy enriched with mushrooms and other tender seasonings. But if you’re looking for something completely different, this recipe also includes a recipe for sour kraut that adds a sour flavor and nice crunch to everything else.
Sour Beef (Sauerbraten)
A deliciously rich and aromatic sweet-tangy gravy is served with the tender, marinated soured beef (Sauerbraten)
Instructions
- For a sour roast take a good, fat piece from the round. In the Summer let it lay in vineger 3-4 days and in the Winter 8-10 days. Then add bay leaves, cloves, allspice and perhaps a few juniper berries to the vineger; put it on the stove and bring to a boil; the meat should first be freshened, then pour to boil; the meat should first be freshened, then pour over it the boiling vineger, which prevents the juices from being lost from the meat.
- If the vineger is very sharp mix with alittle water. As onions harden in vineger they should not be added until ready to cook. In the summer the meat should be kept uncovered in a refrigerator or other cool place, turning it frequently, being careful hot to do this with the hands.
- Before cooking, lard the roast as follows , there of a finger, turn in a mixture of salt, pepper and ground cloves, puncture the meat all over with a sharp knife and out in the lardoons; sprinkle some more salt over the meat, but not too much -oversalting makes the meat tough.
- Get plenty of good fat quite hot in an iron kettle, put in the meat and allow the broth which gathers to steam away rapidly, lightly browning the meat all around, being careful to often turn it in the fat.
- Then put a heaping tablespoonful of flour in from the side with enough boiling water to cover the meat, covering the kettle at once so that none of the flavor may be lost.
- After a few minutes add for a piece of meat weighing from 5 to 6 pounds, 2 small carrots, 3 to 4 large onions and a piece of rye bread crust, and if necessary some of the spiced vinegar in which the meat has laid; then cover the kettle tightly and cook slowly but uninterruptedly for about 2-2.5 hours, turning the meat during this time and occasionally lifting it with a fork without piercing;add a little boiling water if necessary.
- A cupful of sweet cream put in during the last half hour of cooking greatly improves the gravy. When ready to serve put the meat on a warm dish and set it in the oven while the gravy is being prepared.
- If the latter should have become too thick enough, put in a little flour; if it should be too sour and the color brown enough, put in a cupful of milk, then pass it through a sieve and cook rapidly; part of the gravy is poured over the roast and the remainder served in a gravy boat.
- Instead of the carrots, onions and bread crust, apiece of honeycake is frequently taken to thicken the gravy , where possible use a thin meat broth instead of the water.
- If one wishes to import a gamey flavor toa sour roast, roast it in pork fat with a few juniper berries with a medium fire until half done, add plenty of chopped onions and a pint of thick sour cream and then roast until done, basting often.
- Skim the fat off the garvy, stir into the latter a cupful of milk and bring to the table in a gravy boat.