Sauerbraten

Method

1. Cut the onion, carrot and celery into 1 cm pieces and put them in a 18 cm pot with the wine, vinegar, water, bay leaves, juniper, cloves, peppercorns, mustard seeds and sugar. Bring to the boil over high heat, boil for 3 min, then turn off the heat and let it cool completely. Never pour hot marinade over raw meat.

   Add in this stepDry red wine 150 mlRed wine vinegar 100 mlWater 250 mlOnions 1Carrots 1Celery sticks 1Bay leaves 2Juniper berries 5Whole cloves 3Black peppercorns 1 tspMustard seeds ½ tspSugar 1½ tsp

   high heat

2. Put the beef in a glass or ceramic dish or a zip bag (avoid metal) and pour over the cold marinade so the meat is completely covered. Cover and refrigerate for 72 h, turning the meat once a day. Anything from 2 to 5 days works.

   Add in this stepBeef topside or chuck, in one piece 500 g

3. Lift out the meat and pat it very dry with kitchen paper. Strain the marinade, keeping the liquid and the vegetables and spices separately. Salt the meat all over, heat the oil in a heavy 20 cm pot over medium-high heat and brown the beef deeply on every side for 10 min. Wet meat steams instead of browning.

   Add in this stepSalt 1 tspSunflower oil 1 tbsp

   medium-high heat

4. Add the strained vegetables and spices to the pot and fry over medium heat for 5 min, until lightly coloured.

   medium heat

5. Pour in enough of the strained marinade to come halfway up the meat (top up with water if needed). Bring to the boil over high heat, lower to low heat, set the lid slightly ajar and braise for 2 h 15 min, turning the meat halfway. It is done when a skewer slides in without resistance.

   high heat→low heat

6. Lift out the beef and wrap it in foil to rest. Strain the liquid back into the pot, pressing hard on the vegetables. Crumble in the gingerbread, add the raisins and brown sugar and simmer over medium heat for 10 min, stirring, until the gingerbread has melted and the gravy lightly coats a spoon. Taste: it should be a balance of sour and sweet.

   Add in this stepGerman gingerbread (Lebkuchen) or spiced biscuits 25 gRaisins 20 gBrown sugar 1 tsp

   medium heat

7. Slice the beef against the grain 1 cm thick, arrange on plates and spoon over plenty of hot gravy. Serve with braised red cabbage and potato dumplings or boiled potatoes.