Mikes's German Sauerbraten

German Sauerbraten

In an ideal world you would mix up the ingredients below and marinate the beef in the refrigerator for two days before cooking. However, if you are like me, the objective of your crock pot cooking is to "throw the stuff together", let it cook, come home from work and eat. This recipe is a variation of sauerbraten that I have tried and enjoyed.

The ideal thing to serve sauerbraten over is a plate of spaetzle (a homemade noodle that is basically a miniature dumpling). I am from a German family so I have a spaetzle press that looks something like a ricer but with holes at the bottom only. When I make spaetzle it takes me about one full hour total to make them and clean up the stuff I used to make them. The problem is that the preparation time along with cleanup time for all the stuff with dough stuck in it is out of sync with the crockpot convenience thing. My 3 recommended alternatives to spaetzle in order of preference are:
Dumplings made from store bought dumpling mix
Potatoes (plain boiled or mashed)
Egg Noodles

Any basic vegetable goes along with sauerbraten, however, sweet and sour red cabbage or Brussels sprouts keeps the German feel going with this.

IMPORTANT NOTE: depending on your personal taste for sourness from vinegar, you may want to increase or decrease the amount below by 1/4 cup.

2 to 2 1/2 pounds beef (rump or sirloin recommended)
10 whole cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups water mixed with 2 beef bouillon cubes
4 bay leaves
1 cup cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
6 whole peppercorns
1 large onion, sliced
2 tablespoons sugar

Mix the water, bullion cubes, vinegar and sugar together and zap them in the microwave so you can dissolve the bullion cubes. Mix it up and pour into the bottom of the crock pot.

I like keeping the beef in one piece for making this recipe.

Massage the ground ginger into the top side of the beef. Insert the ten cloves evenly throughout the top side of the beef 9similar to how you would do for a ham).

Place the beef into the crackpot with seasoned side up.

Put the bay leaves and peppercorns into the liquid.

Sprinkle the onion slices over the top of the beef.

Let it cook on slow for at least 8 to 10 hours. If possible, turn the beef over a few times during the cooking process.

Put on your German Feather hat, put on your lederhosen, pour a beer and enjoy!