Sauerbraten - UPDATED!

All my married life, my husband kept talking about his German Grandmother's sauerbraten.  I have searched and searched the Internet trying to find THAT recipe in hopes it would come close to his Grandmother's recipe.  The recipes that I thought were great, he didn't like - not like Grandma's!  I have several German cookbooks, none of them had THE recipe.  None of his sisters or cousins knew the recipe either.  I began to think this would be one of those recipes that was lost forever.

BUT . . . one day he was talking to one of his friends at work who has a German Mother (and who makes sauerbraten!).  She graciously gave us a copy of her recipe.  The Recipe Angels were singing because it was exactly like the sauerbraten my husband remembered that his Grandmother made!  My mission in life was accomplished!!

This is not one of those recipes that you can whip in one day.  It is easy but takes several days to let the meat marinate.  So please check back for updates and pictures. 

Sauerbraten by Mom Byner

Ingredients

3-4 lbs rump roast
2 tsp salt
2 onions, sliced
2 bay leaves
2 1/2 T Pickling Spices (tied in cheesecloth)
2 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
2 cups water
1/4 cup white sugar
2 T shortening or oil
16  to 20 gingersnaps crushed to fine crumbs

Directions

Rub the meat with salt
Put the meat in a large crock or bowl.
Place the onions and bay leaves on top of meat.

Heat the vinegar, water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
Pour over meat (the liquid should be fairly warm, but not boiling)
Add the cheesecloth with the pickling spices.

Cover the bowl with the meat and refrigerate for 3 to 4 days.
Turn the meat and baste each day.

To roast the meat:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Remove the meat from liquid (SAVE THE LIQUID!!!)
Pat dry the meat with a paper towel.

Melt shortening (if using) or heat oil in a skillet.
Brown meat on all sides.

Put meat in a roaster or a Dutch Oven.
Pour in liquid and add the spices in the cheesecloth.

Cover.
Cook for 3 hours or until tender.
Remove the meat.
Strain the liquid
Pour the liquid back into the roaster or Dutch oven. 
Stir in the crushed gingersnaps.

Gravy will take a few minutes to thicken - start out with 16 crushed gingersnaps, you might have to add 3 or 4 more crushed gingersnaps.
It best served with the gravy over homemade noodles - it just doesn't get any better than this!!

Entire Recipe:

Sauerbraten by Mom Byner

Ingredients

3-4 lbs rump roast
2 tsp salt
2 onions, sliced
2 bay leaves
2 1/2 T Pickling Spices (tied in cheesecloth)
2 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
2 cups water
1/4 cup white sugar
2 T shortening or oil
16 gingersnaps crushed to fine crumbs

Directions

Rub the meat with salt
Put the meat in a large crock or bowl.
Place the onions and bay leaves on top of meat.
Heat the vinegar, water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
Pour over meat (the liquid should be fairly warm, but not boiling)
Add the cheesecloth with the pickling spices.
Cover the bowl with the meat and refrigerate for 3 to 4 days.
Turn the meat and baste each day.

To roast the meat:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Remove the meat from liquid (SAVE THE LIQUID!!!)
Pat dry the meat with a paper towel.
Melt shortening (if using) or heat oil in a skillet.
Brown meat on all sides.
Put meat in a roaster or a Dutch Oven.
Pour in liquid and add the spices in the cheesecloth.
Cover.
Cook for 3 hours or until tender.
Remove the meat.
Strain the liquid
Pour the liquid back into the roaster or Dutch oven. 
Stir in the crushed gingersnaps.
Gravy will thicken pretty quickly.
Serve the meat over noodles.

VERDICT:

This is a winner in our house.  According to my husband, this is exactly like his Grandmother's.  The meat is so very tender.  It is easy to make, it just takes 3 to 4 days to let it marinate, but it is worth it.


Enjoy!!

Gingerbread Men

Nothing says Christmas more than baking gingerbread men!!  Besides, it does make your kitchen smell WONDERFUL!!

I was going through all my cookie cutters the other day and found my gingerbread man cookie cutter that I bought many years ago at a craft show.  Never used. Guess I got too busy.  Well, it was time to put that man to work!!

It was amazing with all the cookbooks that I have, I could not find one gingerbread man recipe.  There was a recipe for iced ginger cookies (not the rolled type), gingerbread, gingerbread pancakes, gingerbread bundt cake - but no gingerbread men recipe - very interesting!!  So off to my computer I went.  I knew there had to be at least one good recipe on the 'Net!

SUCCESS!!!  The first entry on my search was McCormick's (they make the spices in case you didn't know and, of course, they are going to recommend you use their spices in their recipe).  So I thought I would give it a try!  So here is their recipe, I made a few slight changes (nothing major):

Gingerbread Men

Ingredients

　
3 cups  all purpose flour
2 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt (I omitted this - I do not use salt)
3/4 cup (1 ½ sticks) butter softened - I use unsalted butter
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup molasses
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Directions
Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl.

Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until completely mixed.

Add molasses, egg and vanilla; mix well.

Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed.

Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.  I left my in the refrigerator overnight.

 Preheat oven to 350 F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.

 Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

Decorate cooled cookies as desired. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days

Entire Recipe:

Ingredients

　
3 cups  all purpose flour
2 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt (I omitted this - I do not use salt)
3/4 cup (1 ½ sticks) butter softened - I use unsalted butter
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup molasses
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla 
Directions
Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl.

Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until completely mixed.

Add molasses, egg and vanilla; mix well

Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed.

Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.  I left my in the refrigerator overnight Preheat oven to 350 F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets

 Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

Decorate cooled cookies as desired. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days

Enjoy!!
VERDICT:

My husband hasn't tried them yet.  I ate one.  OH MY, it was good!  As far as I am concerned, this is a keeper recipe!  They are so easy to make.  Yep, we have a winner on this one!

French Cranberry Apple Pie

I have no idea why this is a "French" Cranberry Apple Pie - whenever I think of anything that has Apple Pie in the name - "Mom and Apple Pie" always comes to mind - nowhere does French come into the picture!  But who am I to question???

Anyway, I found this recipe on the I Am Baker blog (www.Iambaker.net).  Fortunately, I had several apples and a bag of cranberries in my refrigerator that I had no idea what to do with.  I guess the Pie Gods were speaking to me!!  And I had all the rest of the ingredients, so no mad dash to the grocery store and no fighting the last minute shoppers - a new baking experience was born.  AND I got to use my new apple peeler that my husband bought me for Christmas (NOTE:  we already celebrated Christmas last week - my sailor son was home for only a few days and couldn't be here on the 25th - so Santa came to our house a couple of weeks early).

This recipe is so EASY!!  And you are going to love how your house smells while baking it!!

French Cranberry Apple Pie by I am Baker

Ingredients

 

1 box refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box  (or your favorite pie crust recipe)

 

Filling

 

4 c sliced and peeled cooking apples (4 medium apples - I used Red Delicious) 

2 c fresh cranberries (or frozen if you can't find fresh)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c white sugar

1/4 c all-purpose flour

1/4 c packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

 

Topping

 

1/2 c all-purpose flour

1/3 c packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4  butter (softened at room temperature)

 

Directions:

 

Place pie crust in 9-inch glass pie pan and bake as directed on the box or according to the directions of your recipe.  Remove from oven. 

 

Preheat oven to 375°F.

 

In large bowl, mix apples, cranberries and vanilla.

(Doesn't that look pretty!)

 

In a separate bowl, combine remaining dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to the apple/cranberry mix; toss to coat. Spoon into pie pan.

 

 

For the topping, mix together the topping ingredients except butter. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until crumbly.

 

Sprinkle evenly over filling.

 

 

Bake 45 to 55 minutes until the crust and topping are golden brown.

 

 

NOTE:  After 15 to 20 minutes of baking, cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent the crust from burning.

 

Let cool on rack (if you can!!)

Recipe slightly adapted from Pillsbury.com.

Entire Recipe:

French Cranberry Apple Pie by I am Baker

Ingredients

 

1 box refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box  (or your favorite pie crust recipe)

 

Filling

 

4 c sliced peeled cooking apples (4 medium apples - I used Red Delicious) 

2 c fresh cranberries (or frozen if you can't find fresh)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c white sugar

1/4 c all-purpose flour

1/4 c packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

 

Topping

 

1/2 c all-purpose flour

1/3 c packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4  butter (softened at room temperature)

 

Directions:

 

Place pie crust in 9-inch glass pie pan and bake as directed on the box or according to the directions of your recipe.  Remove from oven. 

 

Preheat oven to 375°F.

 

In large bowl, mix apples, cranberries and vanilla.

 

In a separate bowl, combine remaining dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to apple/cranberry mix; toss to coat. Spoon into pie pan.

 

For the topping, mix together the topping ingredients except butter. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over filling.

 

Bake 45 to 55 minutes until the crust and topping are golden brown.

 

NOTE:  After 15 to 20 minutes of baking, cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent the crust from burning.

 

Let cool on rack (if you can!!)

Recipe slightly adapted from Pillsbury.com

Verdict:

Oh yes, this was a winner!!  My expert pie eater absolutely loved it.  In fact, he came back for seconds and thirds.  This would be a great pie for your Christmas dinner.  The cranberries make it look very festive.  We will definitely be seeing this pie again at our dinner table.