Freyburger wine cubes

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 kg boiled beef or false fillet
• 150 g smoked bacon, fat
• 2 tbsp wheat flour type 405
• 5 tbsp oil
• 1 m.-sized carrot(s)
• ¼ celery root
• 4 m.-sized onion(s)
• ¼ stalk(s) leek
• ¾ liter red wine, dry, Pinot Noir, preferably from the Unstrut
• 4 cl brandy or cognac
• 1 tbsp, heaped tomato paste
• 1 tbsp, heaped powdered sugar
• 8 juniper berries
• 2 large bay leaves
• salt and pepper
• Broth, granulated
• Beet syrup

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours; Total time approx. 3 hours

a hearty pot roast of beef

Cut the beef into 8 equal cubes, lard each with 2 bacon strips, season with pepper and salt, coat in flour, and sear in hot oil in a roasting pan or casserole dish. Remove the meat pieces and set aside, discarding the oil but not the cooking juices. Sift the powdered sugar into the pan and let it caramelize. Add the peeled and roughly chopped carrot, the trimmed and roughly chopped celery, and the peeled and quartered onions and sauté. Add the tomato paste and sear. Deglaze with brandy and wine, add the meat, juniper berries, and bay leaves, and season generously with pepper, salt, stock powder, and beetroot syrup, if desired. Simmer the meat over low heat for about 1.5 hours until buttery soft. Turn occasionally, or add more water if necessary. If you like, strain the sauce through a sieve and thicken it to taste. Almost any side dish goes well with this, but a thick slice of white bread will suffice. The wine cubes taste best warmed up, so they’re ideal for pre-cooking.