Every food has a story. It is a story of family and friends who gather in love, and the story etches a connection that transcends miles and generations. Remember the earliest family dinner you can—hidden way back in your memory and you will discover you can almost taste it. Can you smell the meat roasting or the cake baking? For me, I can almost taste the syrupy (no runny) golden peach preserves that dripped off my grandma’s biscuits and I can still smell the pot roast that my mom made nearly every Sunday.
Foods of our ethnic heritage are sometimes so strong that you might not have been at the dinner table or on the stool in the kitchen while grandma made that special dish, but you still have a connection. Even if you weren’t in the picture, you just know it is right and know that your family, even generations back, must have gathered around the table and enjoyed these same flavors. I love food of every culture, but though I devour Italian, Mexican and Asian foods, I know that my family roots weren’t there. But German food is different. I don’t recall my mom or grandma making schnitzel or sauerkraut, but every time I eat those specialties, I am connected to generations of Ensmingers. My mom’s family emigrated from Germany before the Revolutionary War. In fact, following religious persecution and honestly a beheading for witchcraft (oh, I love a good Halloween story) Ensmingers arrived in this new land at a port in what is now Pennsylvania. I am not that far removed from a strong German culture, for my grandfather moved to the Kansas City area when his young sons were taught German in the central Missouri schools.
Why am I telling you all of this? Our Les Dames d’Escoffier chapter is hosting a Heritage Pot Luck and I was thinking about what to prepare. What is my food story? What foods do I remember from my childhood or what foods do I hope my children will remember? I suddenly wanted to make sauerbraten. I had never made it before and I don’t remember my mom ever making it but it felt right. I discovered that the recipe for this classic dish seemed oddly familiar–it was almost déjà vu. It was not hard—sure, it had to marinate several days but it doesn’t take much attention. The connection was undeniably there. The smell of the roasting meat took me back to my family table and yet the flavor was suddenly current and comforting for a cold, fall day. I dug out an antique family platter and serving the meat from it was just perfect. Why hadn’t I made it before?
I will now make it often and I invite you to make it too. If not this dish, try to discover and prepare one dish that links you to generations of your family and let me know what flavors and emotions you discover.
Sauerbraten*
2 cups dry red wine
1-1/2 cups red wine vinegar
3 large onions, thinly sliced, divided
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 bouquet garni (1 tablespoon pickling spices, 14 whole cloves, 8 whole black peppercorns, 3 bay leaves, 3 sprigs thyme, 2 sprigs parsley–see tip below)
1 (4 to 5 pound) beef bottom round roast
2 to 3 teaspoons Kosher salt, divided
4 tablespoons butter, divided
4 slices bacon, chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup golden raisins
6 gingersnap cookies, crumbed (about 1/2 cup crumbs)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Stir together wine, wine vinegar, 1 onion, carrot, and bouquet garni in a large saucepan. Stir in 4 cups water. Heat until boiling. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Season beef liberally with 2 teaspoons salt and place in a large, nonreactive bowl. Pour cooled brine over meat. Cover and refrigerate 4 to 5 days. Turn meat daily.
When ready to cook, preheat oven to 325°F. Remove beef from marinade and pat dry. Strain marinade, measure out and reserve 5 cups. Reserve bouquet garni.
In a large Dutch oven, over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until bacon is browned and crisp. Using a slotted spoon remove bacon, leaving drippings. Place cooked bacon in a paper towel lined bowl, cover and refrigerate.
Brown meat in hot drippings over medium heat, turning to brown each side evenly, and cooking until meat is well browned. Remove beef from drippings, place on a plate and set aside.
Add remaining 2 onions to hot drippings and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are well done and are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Place browned beef in onions. Add bouquet garni and pour reserved 5 cups marinade over beef. Heat until liquids are rapidly boiling. Cover, place in oven and bake about 3 to 3 1/2 hours or until roast is very tender.
Place beef on a serving platter, cover and keep warm. Strain liquids into a bowl and set aside. Discard bouquet garni.
Melt remaining butter in the Dutch oven over medium heat. Add flour and sugar and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste is very smooth and becomes an amber color, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually stir in reserved liquids. Stir in raisins, gingersnap crumbs, lemon juice and reserved bacon. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to bubble. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, 10 to 15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Season liquids to taste with additional salt.
Thinly slice beef and arrange in a deep platter. Spoon sauce over meat.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.
Tips:
To make a bouquet garni, arrange spices in the center of a square of cheesecloth. Bring edges up to enclose the spices and tie with a string.
* This recipe is credited to Saveur magazine and is adapted from a recipe by Mimi Sheraton, printed in October, 2012.
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