SAUERBRATEN AUF NORDDEUTSCHE ART
(Sauerbraten North German Style)

3 1/2 - 4 lb. boned rump or shoulder of beef, or shoulder of pork, or
fresh ham
1 qt. buttermilk
juice of 1/2 lemon

Sauce:
2 c. red wine
2 c. water
1 T. salt
1 bay leaf
4-5 peppercorns
1 T. vinegar
3 T. butter
3 T. flour
1/2 c. lebkuchen, broken into bits, or stale gingerbread, or crushed
gingersnaps
1/4 cup raisins or currants

Wash and dry meat. Place in deep bowl, cover with buttermilk and lemon
juice, marinate in refrigerator 2 days, turning several times. Remove,
wash off buttermilk. Place meat in pot or kettle, add red wine, water,
salt, bay leaf, peppercorns, and vinegar. Cook covered, 2 1/2 - 3 hours
or until very tender. Remove meat. Strain stock, measuring 3 cups.
Melt butter in saucepan, stir in flour, then slowly stir in stock,
simmer until slightly thickened. Add lebkuchen, gingerbread, or
gingersnaps and raisins or currants, cook until sauce is thickened. Add
sugar to taste if desired. Makes about 10 servings. (Adapted from the
"Sauerbraten auf Norddeutsche Art" recipe in The Art of German Cooking
by Betty Wason)

Notes: I used boneless pork shoulder. This was the first time I'd made
it with pork and I'll never go back to beef. But then pork is my
favorite meat. Make sure the pork roast is a lean as possible, ask
butcher to trim it well while he's boning it. I cooked it in the
slow-cooker. I looked in the manual for the times to use. My slow
cooker goes from 1-5 on the heat settings. I used 5 until it
got up to heat and then turned it down to about 4. It took about 5 -
5 1/2 hours, but I used a bigger roast than called - about 5 1/2 lb. -
for so I don't know if it would have needed less time using the size
called for in the recipe. This was also the first time I had made
sauerbraten in the slow cooker. (I was actually surprise to find a
sauerbraten recipe in the slow-cooker book!) Also, I did not bother
with the butter and flour. I just used gingersnap crumbs. That's what
I've always used. Too hard to come by lebkuchen and never have any
gingerbread around either. Also I don't put in the raisins or currants
and I don't add any sugar. It gets a hint of sweetness from the
gingersnaps so sugar isn't necessary. I just put the slow-cooker pot on
the stove and brought the juices to a simmer and stirred in the crumbs
and cooked until thickened. If you want a thicker gravy, mine was not
very thick, then you may need to use additional flour.
--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?