Grandma used no spices. It was a Lithuanian thing. Veggies and herbs flavored her meats. I didn’t appreciate her cooking when I was a kid, but now her style gives me … well … a change of pace. This Sauerbraten is a real change of pace from roast beef or Italian beef. If your don’t have kids to feed, you and your adult friends will love this tangy use of roast. You will have to shop the veggies used in this recipe. I usually don’t add leeks because their too expensive but … found them available singly (as opposed to in a bunch) … very affordable for the amount you need in this recipe. Same always goes for ginger. You need very little. Other flavorings include cloves, whole or ground, allspice as berries or ground, black peppercorns (sorry Grandma) and bay leaves. The liquid marinade is supposed to contain red cooking wine and vinegar … I used cheap grape juice and apple cider vinegar. Surprise … no garlic … and you will agree garlic doesn’t belong in this tangy recipe. That’s quite a comment coming from me. I chop fresh garlic and add it to everything. Here’s a whole list of ingredients. Normally you will double the amount shown. Roast was not on sale so I only made 2 ½ pound of roast. Normally you’d use 4 to 5 pounds in a crock pot. 2 ½ pounds roast ½ cup chopped celery
1 sliced onion
½ chopped leak
1 chopped carrot
Sliced ginger as shown in this article ½ teaspoon ground allspice or 3 to 4 berries
1 teaspoon ground cloves or 3 to 4 cloves
Whole black peppercorns, as many as you like
2 bay leaves 2 cups grape juice
¼ cup vinegar (I used a bit more)
Water to bring level up to cover meat | All ingredients except for the roast. |
| Started out with a couple of tablespoons of vinegar. Increased it to ¼ cup. Turned out great. |
| 2 cups grape juice … or use wine like you are supposed to. |
| Allspice, cloves peppercorns and bay leaf. |
| Slice an onion. Looks like I used some red onion too. It was in the fridge already sliced from a previous recipe. |
| Slice about this much ginger. Could have used a bit more. |
| Slice half a leek. I used the leaves too. Just adds flavor to the marinade. It better considering that it leeks. |
| I like to heat up the mixture. Figure that the flavorings will mix with the liquid better. Probably not necessary. |
| I precut the roast. Should have used some tenderizer because I used the oven for 3 hours at 200 degrees instead of the proven crock-pot for 6 hours. Still turned out great. |
| Mmmm. You know this is going to be good. I let it sit for a day … then cooked, again, 3 hours at 200 degrees … but not as tender as 6 hours in a crock-pot. |
| Serving suggestion … garlic smashed potatoes and asparagus. |
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