Sauerbraten

Finally did it -- yup, marinated (or do you say pickled?) a piece of meat for 4 days...and the results were delectably fantastic. Sauerbraten is one of the most popular Deustch dishes that Amerikaners think of, but it's usually done awfully wrong. Now that I've tried to make it myself, I can see how many failure points are there! Probably the toughest part is drying the meat before you sear it to brown it. It's tough and having the meat tied with butcher's string that has been soaking for four days is even more difficult.

I love a good challenge and this was perfect for me -- the vinegar smell was unmistakable and luckily I did this while Ryan was out in Los Angeles and I had run of the household.



After tying up the meat, you dunk it into a watery, vinegary marinade full of onions, pickling spices, cloves, carrot bits, and more. Then, a few times a day you turn it over -- back and forth.



I used a pretty traditional recipe (from Mimi Sheraton's book) but have since seen several "speedy" Sauerbraten versions that might be interesting to try...

Tschüß!!