I haven't made that in eons. And we love it. I make potato pancakes to go with it. (I'm not a fan of spatzle.) But then every time I've eaten it was in a so-called "German" restaurant and if you were to turn the plate upside down the spatzle would not fall on the table. We discussed that earlier in this forum and I got a lot of different recipes for it but I have never tried them.

Hey Rita, well I have germanic ancestry, and though not many recipes got passed down (or maybe even tastes), I make potato pancakes every time I have leftover mashed potatoes pretty much. My father (in his old age) won't even eat potatoes anymore...but he usually will eat potato pancakes. I have to say they're good.
He won't eat roasts..says they're dry...or too tough, etc. So we'll see if he likes this or not...even if he doesn't, I'll eat it. Roast beef style sandwiches work for me.

I'm German-Russian and grew up with Sauerbraten as a regular rotation meal. Mom served it with spatzle, mashed potatoes, potato pancakes, and even rice. The ancestral home was within a few miles of the Volga River so substantially farther east than Moscow, Kiev, etc. and in the path of the Mongolian trade routes and my family traded pickled watermelon for rice. My favorite with Sauerbraten though is plain mashed potatoes. Spatzle is just ho-hum, to me. Not worth the effort to make, cook, and clean-up.

Sauerbraten is just another version of pot roast. IMO, it's the best version! :)

Enjoy your meal. Sauerbraten makes great hot beef sandwiches if you have leftovers!

/tricia

My heritage isn't German - well, there may be some in there - but we had potato pancakes frequently from left-over mashed potatoes. But my Mother-n-law was full-blood German and she didn't make them that way, she made them with the raw grated potatoes, so that's the way I make them for the hubby. But I like them both ways.

My grandmother made them with mashed potatoes, so that was probably why I prefer the mashed method. I've done the raw grated potatoes before, but I can get the mashed potatoes variant drier whereas the raw potatoes are more like a hash brown cake. Both are still good ;)

Decided to also throw in freshly picked poblano peppers and sliced carrots. Going all out today (lol)...have leftover flan from yesterday still for dessert.

Sauerbraten is one of my favorite meals! I start craving it when the weather gets cool, so it certainly won't be long now. :)

I've tried several different versions, but always prefer the ones made with vinegar rather than wine or wine vinegar. To satisfy cravings immediately, my sister likes a shortcut version (not pre-marinated) that's made in the crockpot w/ vinegar and prunes as the base.

I always serve sauerbraten with noodles, hot German potato salad, red cabbage, pumpernickel bread, and cold beer. YUM!!!

Good luck with your trial run!

PS: but with the addition of poblanos and carrots I'd say it's no longer sauerbraten. lol!

This post was edited by party_music50 on Fri, Sep 12, 14 at 13:15

Nope, poblanos and carrots do not belong in a sauerbraten. My parents are from NW Germany, the Rhine region. This is the one I grew up with and make.

Rheinisher Sauerbraten

3# beef roast, top or bottom round
3 large onions sliced
ý red wine vinegar
ý water (mix with vinegar, enough to cover the meat in a non-reactive bowl.)
6 bay leaves
ý tsp whole cloves
12 juniper berries
ý tsp. whole black peppercorns
þ cup dark raisins
Apfelkraut to taste (NOT applebutter)

Marinate beef in the first 7 items. Liquids should cover the meat, turning once a day, in the refrigerator for 5 days.

Drain and reserve marinade, pat meat dry, and brown on all sides in butter/oil. Strain marinade and add to a Dutch oven. Cover and simmer until meat is tender but not falling apart.

To make the gravy, remove meat add the raisins and applekraut to taste. Thicken with roux and serve with potato dumplings/spatzle and red cabbage.

Note: gingersnap cookies and whole grain pumpernickel can be used if kraut is not available.

Apfelkraut is a fermented apple butter type but is not the as the standard butter. Available in German specialty shops and on line.

I didn't put them IN the sauerbrauten, just served as fresh pickled vegetables on the side.
My father didn't care for the sauce, I thought it was all delicious. We ate the spatzle quite well (both of us).

ROTFL!! I know it's not all that amazingly funny, but the whole poblanos and carrots dialog is playing out like a Monty Python sketch in my head. :) Thanks for the laugh!

I've had Sauerbraten on the mind since this thread started. Weather's just getting cool - perfect. I might cheat and pick up a premarinated roast at the German pork store down the road.

I know some consider it sacrilege but my German mom doesn't use ginger snaps. Nor Apfelkraut. And it's awesome.

Peppi - what's the difference between apple butter and Apfelkraut? Most sites seem to use the words interchangeably and some say "similar" without specifying differences. I've never had either.

Foodonastump, my mother never used gingersnaps or Apfelkraut either and neither do I. I marinate it at least for five days. And is it awesome.

FOAS, this site does a good job of explaining it it note that the kraut version is generally richer and thicker than the Apple Butter. Also much darker in color.

Also remember that this is a rhine area roast, so other regions of Germany may not use it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Apfelkraut