GERMAN DINNER

Sauerbraten mit Rotkohl und Kartoffelklöße

Sauerbraten with red cabbage and potato dumplings

 

Sauerbraten

Sauerbraten is a beef roast, which rests in wine/ vinegar marinade for one week before cooking it.  It takes a little preparation and patience, but you will love the meat, because it becomes really soft and juice.

Ingredients for the marinade: 

2.5 lbs. Beef roast (shoulder piece)

2 Carrots

4 Celery stalks

2 Medium sized yellow onions

4 Garlic cloves

4 Whole gloves

2 Bay leaves

10 Peppercorns

1 Tablespoon sugar

A dash of salt

2 Cups of wine

1 Cup of red wine vinegar

Wash the meat and pat it try. Cut all the vegetables in 1-inch pieces, it doesn’t have to be exact, since it goes in the marinade.

Then mix the vegetables, spices, wine and vinegar together add the meat and put in a freezer bag or in an airtight container. Whatever works for you, just make sure your meat is covered with wine and vinegar and put in the fridge for a week.

Ingredients for cooking the Sauerbraten: 

2 Medium sized yellow onions

2 Tablespoons honey

2 Tablespoons of fat

4 Tablespoons of raisins (you can’t leave them out if you don’t like them)

After one week, take your meat out of the marinade. DO NOT THROW out the marinade. Pat your meat dry. Add the marinade in a blender and mix well until there are no pieces left, you have now a fabulous sauce.

Add 2 tablespoons fat in a roasting dish. Turn your stove on to high heat and add the meat and onions and brown it for a couple of minutes each side. Then add the honey and the marinade/ sauce and lower your stove to medium/ low heat. Let your meat cook for at least 2 hours with cover and turn it every 30 minutes.

After the meat is cooked, take it out and place it on a cutting board. If your sauce/ gravy isn’t thick enough add some flour or starch to thicken it up. Mix it again with a blender or hand mixer. Add the raisins, if you want and let your gravy boil for a couple of seconds.

Slice your meat, add your gravy and enjoy it.

Kartoffelkloesse

Ingredients: 

1 lbs. of Russet potatoes

2 Eggs

Approx. ½ cups Potato starch

Nutmeg

Salt

Pepper

You need to cook your potatoes ahead, because they need to be cool for the pressing process. I cook mine usually the night before.

Wash and cook your whole potatoes with skin and some salt. When they are soften, peel them

immediately and let them cool down.  Add them into the press and push them through into a bowl. (It’s a little workout). Add eggs, spices and starch to the potatoes and Knead mixture in bowl until smooth dough forms, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is sticky.

It is really hard to determine how much starch you need, since some potatoes are starchier then others. I would probably say a half-cup.  Form the potatoes in little balls and place them on a cutting board. Work in batches, cook dumplings in large pot of nearly boiling salted water 10-15 minutes (or until dumplings rise to top).

Use slotted spoon and transfer dumplings to large bowl.

You should place no more than 4-5 dumplings in your pot at any one time in order to prevent them from sticking together or touching during cooking, which will cause them to fall apart.

Rotkraut
 

Ingredients: 

1 Head red cabbage cut in small pieces

2 Medium sized apples, peeled and cut in small pieces

2 Medium sized yellow onions, peeled and cut in small pieces

2 Bay leaves

4 Gloves

1 Tablespoon ground all spice

2 Tablespoons honey or brown sugar

1 cup of red wine vinegar

1 cup of water

2 Tablespoons of bacon fat

Salt and Pepper to taste

Red wine to taste

Add the fat in a large pot and brown the onions. Add the cabbage and the other ingredients. Mix it well and cover. Let it cook on low heat for 1.5 hours and mix it every 30 minutes.

After it is cooked add some salt, pepper and some wine if needed.