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COOKINGWITH SCRATCH ©Sauerbraten:It’s a BIG Dealby BARBARA SIMMONSPhotos by KAREN FUCITOMaybe twice a year I make sauerbraten.It is a big deal. It involves forethought,planning, knowledge and skill.There are no real shortcuts.I can’t believe my mother used to cook likethis every day.I don’t use many convenience foods andenjoy making things “with scratch,” but onlyrarely do I make complete square meals like mymother, Gertrude Kertscher, did every day.Growing up, we could expect there wouldalways be meat, vegetables, potatoes and saladon the table followed by dessert.And there was always enough, no matter whohappened to stop by at supper time.At the house on Castle Rock Road, beforeHorst and Gertrude remodeled the kitchen,there was a big mudroom when you camein through the back door. There was a coatrack, a cabinet for all of our work shoes witha compartment for Horst’s gardening handtools and gloves, the washer and dryer, and atrapdoor that led to the basement. It wasn’tvery well heated, so we used it for extrarefrigeration, especially in the fall and winter.When she baked, Gertrude would put cakesand cookies out there to cool, and about onceevery other month, her sauerbraten sat in acrock on top of the shoe cabinet, marinatingfor an entire week.“We didn’t consider sauerbratena special meal. It was just anotherdinner with brown meat and browngravy. Looking back, I regret notappreciating it more, especiallynow that I understand how muchwork it is to make.”In her kitchen, Gertrude was in the zone. Sheloved cooking with all of her senses: smelling,tasting, stirring—it was like a dance. She neverconsulted a recipe. She just knew everything byheart. What still amazes me, especially when Itry to do it, is that she always managed to finishcooking all of the courses at exactly the sametime and served them piping hot.I was curious about the origins of sauerbraten,so I did some research. I found out it is actuallyattributed to Julius Caesar and the ancientRomans who marched up over the Alps andinto Germany, carrying their meat in crocksof red wine to preserve it. Every region inGermany has its own version of sauerbratenand, yes, some include crumbled lebkuchen(gingersnaps) for thickening the gravy.Gertrude never used any stinking gingersnaps.I haven’t changed the original recipe much.I’m faithful to the flavors of Gertrude’ssauerbraten—red wine, red wine vinegar,cloves, allspice, pepper, bay leaves, sugar, saltand onions, but I’ve made some changes.First, I use a well-marbled chuck steak insteadof a rump roast, as the rump roasts can turn outto be dry.The other things I’ve changed are usingmore modern kitchen equipment and differentpans to prepare the various parts of the recipe.Gertrude would use a Foley food mill to pureethe onions for the gravy—I use a blender.Gertrude used whole spices in the marinade, Ilike using ground spices.I have considered investing in onion goggles,as I do cry a lot when I chop the onions.Gertrude used her two-gallon copperbottomedRevere ware pot for the wholecooking process. I use my biggest (12”) castiron pan for browning the meat and cookingthe onions, and a big Dutch oven to slow cookthe sauerbraten on the stovetop or in the oven.I still have Gertrude’s Revere Ware pot andam quite attached to it.I love making sauerbraten. I love gettinggeared up for the process. I love using all of mykitchen equipment. And best of all, I love howit brings me back to cooking with my mother.For me, there is nothing better when I’mcooking a sauerbraten than having one of mykids walk through my door and shout: “Wow!It smells just like Oma’s house!”There is no higher praise.Bryant Kelly, OwnerProudly serving northwest New Jerseyfor more than 30 yearslaKe HOpatcOng, nJ973.663.4442www.KelcoPlumbing.comProviding Residential &Commercial Plumbing Services:• Plumbing service, repairs and installations• Boiler and Water heater installations• Oil to gas boiler conversions and gas lines• Custom Kitchen & Bathroom remodeling• New construction homesLicensed and fully insured Master Plumber License #12169Home Improvement Contractor #13VH0553540036LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Spring 2020
REAL GERMAN SAUERBRATEN(Like Gertrude used to make)The meat will need to marinate for at least five days.Marinade ingredients:1 four- to five-pound well-marbled chuck steak—the original recipecalls for rump roast, but chuck is more flavorful and tender. (Goodole’ Chuck!)2 teaspoons black pepper5 bay leaves2 teaspoons cloves1 teaspoon ground allspice2 tablespoons salt4 tablespoons sugar1 large onion, slicedRed wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar (for measurements, seemarinating instructions below)Marinating the meat:(Use twice as much water as vinegar—the meat must be submerged inthe marinade.)Approximately:1 cup red wine vinegar1 cup balsamic vinegar4 cups waterIf you are not sure exactly how much marinade to make, you can see howmuch liquid the meat displaces by putting it into the marinating vessel—alarge glass bowl or a big plastic container. I use a gallon-size plastic bucketwith a lid.Pour water over the meat until it is just covered. Remove the meat, set itaside and then measure the water.Figure out how much water you will need for a 2:1 ratio of water tovinegar. Save that amount of water, discard the rest, then add in the redwine vinegar and balsamic vinegar.Place the roast back into its marinating vessel, mix together marinadeingredients and pour over the meat. Cover with plastic wrap or seal andrefrigerate for five days, turning the meat once each day.“Five Days Later”Cooking the sauerbraten:4-5 tablespoons peanut oil or Crisco4 really large onions, cut into crescents (about 2 cups)1 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon sugar4-5 tablespoons flour1/3 cup water1/2 cup red wineRemove the meat from the marinade and pat it dry with paper towels.Put the marinade and all of its spices into a Dutch oven and heat slightly.Set aside.I remember Gertrude’s warning:“Don’t schreck [shock] the meat with cold marinade!”Use two tablespoons of the oil and add to a large frying pan. Heat untilit sizzles, then brown the meat well on all sides. Put the browned meat intothe Dutch oven with the warmed marinade.In the same frying pan, cook the onions in two tablespoons oil, addingin the salt and sugar. Let them brown slightly. Take a ladle full of marinade,add it to the onions and scrape up any browned bits. Put the cookedonion mixture over the meat in the Dutch oven. Bring the heat up untileverything comes up to a low simmer.Another warning: “Never, never let it come to a boil or it will come outtough!”On the stovetop, cover and simmer over very low heat for at leastthree hours. I prefer to cook the sauerbraten covered, in a slow (200°)oven for five hours, simulating a slow cooker.Remove the sauerbraten from the pot. Strain the cooked marinade,reserving the cooked onions. Pick out the bay leaves. Spoon off anyfat from the cooked marinade. Put the meat and cooked marinadeinto a large bowl and let it rest until the gravy is made.Making the gravy:In a blender, purée the onions and put them back into the Dutchoven. Take four cups of the cooked marinade and add it to thepuréed onions. “Abschmecken”: Taste and correct the seasonings asneeded, adding sugar, salt or more vinegar. Put the flour and waterinto a jar, cover and shake well to combine.Thicken the gravy with the flour-water mixture, whisking overmedium heat. Add in the red wine. Turn the heat off just after itcomes to a boil and thickens. Do not let the gravy boil for any lengthof time, as it will “cook out” and the flour will become thin again.Gertrude said her mother taught her never to make too much gravy.“It should barely be enough,” she used to say.Slice the sauerbraten and put the slices back into the Dutch ovenwith the gravy over very low heat. Turn off the heat, cover and let themeat soak up the gravy.Now finish cooking the rest of the dinner:These are some classic accompaniments to sauerbraten: boiled ormashed potatoes, noodles (spätzle) or dumplings (kartoffel klöße*),carrots or green beans and red cabbage.*One thing Gertrude never made from scratch was potatodumplings. She always used the Panni brand Authentic Bavarianpotato dumpling mix. She did have a couple of tricks for makingthem, though.GERTRUDE’S ENHANCED KARTOFFEL KLÖßE2 boxes (7.9 ounces each) of Panni brand Authentic Bavarianpotato dumpling mix (because 1 box only makes 7 dumplings,and that just isn’t enough)2 eggs1 ¾ cups cold water2 slices rye bread cut into cubes3 tablespoons butterIn a large bowl, whisk the eggs and water together, add in thedumpling mix slowly, whisking constantly so that no lumps form.Set aside.Fry the rye bread cubes in the butter until well browned.With wet hands, take a handful of dumpling mix and flatten itin your hand. Insert two rye “croutons” in the center, then roll intotwo-inch ball. The croutons allow the dumplings to cook all the waythrough.Bring four quarts salted water to a boil, carefully drop thedumplings in and simmer 10-15 minutes after they “swim.” Removeto a platter and serve hot.If there are any dumplings left over, they are incredible the nextday, sliced and fried in butter with some chopped onions.lakehopatcongnews.com 37
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