Five-Day Oven Sauerbraten with Red Wine Gingerbread Sauce

Method

1. Toast the juniper, cloves, allspice and peppercorns dry in a 18 cm pot over medium heat for 1 min, until fragrant. Add the wine, vinegar, water, the onion, carrot and celery cut into 1 cm pieces, and the bay leaves, simmer for 3 min, then cool completely.

   Add in this stepDry red wine 250 mlRed wine vinegar 80 mlWater 150 mlOnions 1Carrots 1Celery sticks 1Bay leaves 2Juniper berries 6Whole cloves 3Allspice berries 3Black peppercorns 1 tsp

   medium heat

2. Put the beef in a glass or ceramic dish or a zip bag, cover it completely with the cold marinade and refrigerate for 120 h, turning it once a day.

   Add in this stepBeef topside, in one piece 500 g

3. Lift out the beef and dry it thoroughly; strain the marinade, keeping the liquid and the vegetables separately. Salt the meat, melt the lard in a 20 cm cast-iron pot over medium-high heat and brown every side very deeply for 12 min. Set the beef aside.

   Add in this stepSalt 1 tspLard (or clarified butter) 1 tbsp

   medium-high heat

4. In the same pot, fry the strained vegetables and spices over medium heat for 6 min until browned, then add the tomato paste and fry 2 min more until brick red. This builds the sauce's deep colour and flavour.

   Add in this stepTomato paste 2 tsp

   medium heat

5. Heat the oven to 160 °C. Pour in the marinade liquid and scrape up everything stuck to the bottom with a wooden spoon, return the beef, bring to the boil, cover and braise in the oven (oven) for 2 h 45 min. Turn the meat and baste it every hour. It is ready when a skewer slides in like butter.

   oven

6. Lift out the beef, wrap it in foil and rest it for 15 minutes. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve, pressing the vegetables, and skim off the fat. Crumble in the Lebkuchen, add the plum butter and reduce over medium-high heat for 12 min, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon and holds a line drawn with your finger.

   Add in this stepLebkuchen (German gingerbread) 25 gPlum butter or prune purée 2 tsp

   medium-high heat

7. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the cold butter one piece at a time, for a glossy, silky sauce; don't boil it again. Slice the beef against the grain 1 cm thick, warm the slices briefly in the sauce, plate and spoon the sauce over.

   Add in this stepCold unsalted butter, diced 20 g