Westphalian sauerbraten
Perseverance is rewarded sooner or later
– but usually later.Wilhelm Busch
This roast is all about patience. Give him time.
Its “secret” lies in the marinade in which the Westphalian Sauerbraten is allowed to loll about for days …
Preparation time
7 days
Cooking time
3 hours
Servings
for 2 persons
Kitchen know-it-all
" Westphalian sauerbraten? Or Rhenish after all?
Regional subtleties – there are a few other variations as well, but these two are the most popular. The differences lie in the ingredients.
In the Rhenish version, horse meat is used in the authentic preparation. This is considered a delicacy and very healthy among nutrition experts:
It contains a lot of iron (100 g of horse meat contain about 3.5 mg of iron, 100 g of beef contain about 1.9 mg). And it contains three times more calcium, yet only half as much sodium and fat as beef.
Horse fat is healthy because of its high content of unsaturated fatty acids. It contains less fat, the proportion is indicated in lean horse meat is about 3% compared to 6% for beef. For fatty meat, it is 16% for horse and 31% for beef.
Westphalian Sauerbraten is prepared with beef.
That’s why I choose this option, eating horse meat is alien to me. Too close – who eats a friend …
But the main differences lie in the marinade. In the Rhenish variant, one reaches for Printen, Leb- or Pfefferkuchen. The acid comes from the vinegar, it is sweetened with sugar beet syrup. Sometimes raisins are also used.
The Westphalian version also uses vinegar as an acidifier and relies fully on baked fruit for sweetness …
Baaa! That’s the screw I’m turning full tilt. Add plenty of red wine for the marinade – I love my recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef(piece of bug)
- 3 bottles (700 ml) dry red wine
- 1 bottle (700 ml) red wine vinegar
- 1 bunch greens
- 3 shallots
- 500 g prunes
- 500 g dried cranberries
- 500 g dried apricots
- 300 g raisins
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 10-15 grains allspice
- 10-15 peppercorns
- 10-15 juniper berries
- 2 tsp lard
- Salt
To match …
Tip
Use a good cooking wine, but don’t overdo it.
It should be dry and full of flavor – I like to use a Corbières for my Westphalian Sauerbraten.
I like to drink that with it too, though I don’t pour any of the good stuff I drink into the pot, I use a cheaper quality for cooking.
Preparation
Westphalian Sauerbraten – One week before
A Westphalian Sauerbraten takes time – lots of time, in case I haven’t mentioned it yet 🙂 . In some recipes I read of up to 3 weeks. Either I lack the courage to do this or yet the patience, in my recipe I give it 7 days.
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Clean and chop soup vegetables & shallots.
Rub roast beef with a little salt.
Add 1 tsp pork fat to a large enough pot, sauté greens & shallots in it.
Deglaze with 2 bottles of wine, add a bottle of red wine vinegar.
Add juniper berries, peppercorns, allspice and bay leaves.
Add half of all the baked fruit and bring to a boil, about 10 min. simmer, stirring well.
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Allow to cool – taste if you like – it probably still tastes a bit sour, because the baked fruit adds its punch only gradually.
Stir well again. Once the marinade has cooled, the roast can be put in. Important: The roast must be completely covered with the marinade. For this we have the third bottle of wine in petto, liquid refill until the roast is really covered. Lid on, then off into the fridge for the next 7 days. And: Also close and store the bottle with the wine well.
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Too little liquid? More red wine! |
Daily turn the roast in the marinade, stirring everything well.
Westphalian Sauerbraten – When the big day has come
Roast out of the refrigerator. Set aside for at least 1 to 2 hours to allow it to come to room temperature.
Remove the roast from the pot, drain the marinade through a sieve, collect the liquid, drain the baked fruit well, after which the first part of this has done its duty.
Dry the sauerbraten well, return it to the pot with 1 tsp of pork fat and brown it on all sides. After the short but sharp browning, pour some marinade over the meat and let it boil down. Repeat this process 3 to 4 times. This creates a good sauce base.
Return all of the marinade to the pot. Now is also the time for the second half of the baked fruit. (Almost) everything purely with it, only from the raisins necessarily one to two handfuls for later keep. The roast should also now be completely covered by the liquid, if necessary. fill with the red wine kept and bring to a boil.
And again there is time for patience.
Gently braise the roast until it reaches the proper core temperature. For beef applies:
- medium rare: 50 degrees
- medium: 60 degrees
- well done: 85 degrees
I like sauerbraten best in the range between medium and well done and choose a core temperature around 70°C to 75°C.
At 85 °C, the sauerbraten is wonderfully soft and tender.
Cooking time
Unfortunately, this is not easy to determine, because it depends on the time the roast has been allowed to mature in its marinade, as well as on the size of the roast.
The longer the roast was marinated, the shorter the cooking time. I am guided by the fact that it takes about two hours to cook 1 kilogram of beef, and I regularly measure the core temperature.
So be flexible and don’t plan too precisely when the roast will be on the table.
The rule is: stir every now and then and taste the resulting sauce.
Things take a turn for the delicious 🙂
Low temperature
Of course, you can also prepare the sauerbraten at a low temperature of 80°C.
It then reaches 85°C core temperature after 7-8 hours.
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Use the meantime to warm plates.
Remove the roast from the pot. Wrap in aluminum foil and set aside.
Also remove the baked fruit from the pot, also set aside. The sauce should have taken on a good creamy consistency from the baked fruit. If it is still too liquid, boil it down a bit with high heat. If it is too thick, thin with red wine to desired consistency. Then add the remaining raisins, 5 min. allow to warm up in the sauce. Finally, assemble the sauce with cold butter flakes.
Cut roast into thin slices and place on the preheated plates. Pour over with a little sauce. Add baked fruit.
As a side dish, I highly recommend our homemade napkin dumplings. But then more of the sauce on top!!! Accompanied by a nice glass of Corbières.
Bon appétit.
