Sauerbraten

DAY ONE:

• 5 lb beef rump roast
• bacon
• 3 cups vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 cloves
• 8 peppercorns
• 1 tbsp "pickling spices"
• 1 large carrot, scraped, sliced

Lard beef with bacon.. Tie meat firmly with string. rub with salt on all sides and place in gallon sized ziplock bag.
Combine vinegar, water, onions, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, pickling spices, and carrot. Simmer 5 minutes. Cool and pour over beef. Meat should be completely covered by marinade. Close ziplock bag. Refrigerate 3-5 days. The longer it stands, the better the roast.

DAY 6

• 4 slices bacon
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 cloves
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 6-8 crumbled gingersnaps
• sour cream

Remove meat from marinade, strain marinade and reserve. Dry meat, which won't brown properly if wet. Dice bacon and fry. When fat is hot, add meat and brown slowly, using string as a handle to turn meat. Add sliced onions to hot fat and fry until golden brown.
Put meat in pot. Place in top of onions. Add marinade until it reaches halfway up sides of meat. Add bay leaf & cloves. Bring marinade to a boil, cover pot, reduce heat, simmer very slowly 3 1/1 - 4 hours, turning meat 2-3 times during cooking. Add more marinade to pot if needed.
Remove meat to a platter and strain gravy. Return gravy to pot.
Melt butter in a saucepan. When hot, stir in flour and sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until sugar roux turns caramel color. Be careful, as the sugar turns brown all at once and if it turns black, it's ruined.
Spoon sugar-flour into the hot gravy and stir briskly, simmer 10 minutes.
Add crumbled gingersnaps. When it cools a little, add sour cream.
Add crumbled gingersnaps.

Mader's Restauraunt Sauerbraten

• 3 cups red wine vinegar
• 2 cups cold water
• 1 medium onion, diced in large pieces
• 2 tbsp pickling spice
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1 carrot sliced
• 4lb beef sirloin roast
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 to 1/2 lb gingersnaps

Mix vinegar, water, onion, pickling spice, salt, and carrot in bowl. Pickle meat in this brine in refrigerator SEVEN DAYS, turning occasionally.
When ready to cook, remove meat from brine. Save brine to make gravy later.
Roast meat in roasting pan, uncovered, 325 degrees 1 1/2 hours until brown on both sides and almost done. Sprinkle brown sugar over meat and roast 5-10 minutes more, turning meat while roasting, until sugar is dissolved and meat is browned.
In medium size saucepan, combine half of brine meat was pickled in and any drippings from roasting meat. Add gingersnaps and cook until thick and dissolved. Serve over sliced meat and dumplings.