« Gioia Pizza | Main | Potato Pancakes »
January 07, 2005
Sauerbraten Part 2
After 5 days marinating, we finally found the time to assemble the final dish. The week had been a tough one, with many obligations, adding up to several nights of leftovers and simple dishes.
I took the meat from the marinade, and carefully reassembled the roast by layering the beef, careful to remove the spices and bits of onions and celery leaf. I chopped some carrot and celery and surrounded the beef, covered it with foil and put it in the oven at 375.
I took the marinade and put in in a deep pot - spices and all, and brought it to a brief boil. I reduced the heat, and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Removed from the stove, strained the broth, discarded the spices and solid bits.
Meanwhile, I shredded the potatoes for the potato pancakes, and jenny started to make a sweet and sour cabbage (another entry at another time).
We cooked the beef until it was cooked through, drained the resulting drippings and broth into the marinade , brought it to a boil briefly again. We sprinkled the meat with brown sugar, and returned it to the over, now at 425.
Now - the gravy. Jenny began dissolving Ginger Snap cookies into the broth, waiting until they broke down on their own, and then wisked until emulsified. This was done in several phases,with taste tests between each. Once the gravy became thick enough, we removed the meat from the oven, plated it, and coated with a thick dollop of gravy.
The results was pretty good for a first attempt. We have some note son how we would improve upon it the next time.
1- Don't slice the beef for prior to the whole process. The resulting textures were inconsistent. Jenny said the meat had 8 discernable textures - she didn't elaborate, but I think she was right. We'd use whole roast next time. I think we'd still marinate it for 4 or 5 days to get maximum flavor. I think we'd brown the roast before sending it to the over, and deglaze the pan with the marinade. Gravy without brown bits is left wanting.
2 - Use a rich, homemade beef broth to blend with the marinade for the gravy The gravy was far too sour, and adding more cookies made it too thick. Jenny thinned out the gravy the next day with beef broth, and added some brown sugar and more ginger snaps and the gravy was just like we expected, save for the browned meat bits.
Posted by tdotjay at January 7, 2005 04:45 PM
