Koelkast's Sauerbraten

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 800 g pork loin, alternatively roast beef
• 250 ml red wine vinegar
• 500 ml water
• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• 3 carnations
• 3 juniper berries
• 1 carrot(s)
• 1 onion(s)
• 3 tbsp clarified butter
• 125 g raisins
• 75 g gingerbread or breakfast cake
• 2 tbsp beetroot
• possibly cream
• 500 ml broth
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest period approx. 4 days; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Total time approx. 4 days 2 hours

tinkered for a long time until mother-in-law’s Sauerbraten could be topped….

Boil vinegar with water, salt, onions, bay leaves, and spices, let cool, and pour over the meat. You can, of course, also use roast beef. I made this dish with pork buttocks back in my student days to save money, and I find it even tastier and more tender than with beef. Cover the meat (I usually use a large Tupperware container with a lid, but an old rum pot or a casserole dish with a lid is also excellent) and let it marinate for 3-5 days. It’s sufficient if the meat stays cool during this time, but it doesn’t have to be refrigerated. A cellar will do. Remove the meat from the marinade, dry it, and brown it briskly in clarified butter, adding some diced onions and carrots from the marinade or, if you don’t like that, add fresh ones and fry them. Season with salt and pepper, and gradually add the marinade. Your taste will determine how acidic you want your sauce to be and how much of the marinade you use. Add enough stock so that the meat is about one-third submerged in liquid and braise for 80 minutes. After 50 minutes, add the raisins to the sauce. Remove the meat after the cooking time, keep warm, and finish the sauce. Crumble the gingerbread or breakfast cake (always available in Holland under the name “Ontbijtkoek”) into the liquid and simmer with the beetroot syrup and cream. Season to taste. The sauce doesn’t need to be thickened further; the addition of the gingerbread will thicken it. If you’d rather not use the marinade, you can also add a mixture of vinegar, water, and red wine to the meat.