International Night – Germany
Tonight we enjoyed our second International Night with food, facts and activities from Germany. My son suggested Germany for our first week, but after doing a little research, I decided to prepare sauerbraten as our main dish. I discovered that the beef roast had to marinate for three days, so German night was pushed back.
Our German night was made even more authentic with the help of Candace, an old friend who is living in Germany with her family for a year. Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I’ve been able to ask Candace for her advice on German food and culture the last couple of weeks, and she has been kind enough to take time out of her schedule to help me. I can always do research online about the food and customs of the various countries we choose, but it’s been great to actually get confirmation about things from people rather than a website. I really appreciate your help, Candace and family!
Candace suggested the potatoes and red cabbage as side dishes to my sauerbraten, and I decided to try to make spaetzle, a traditional German dumpling. I gave it my best shot, but it was kind of a miss. I’m not sure if I overcooked them or undercooked them, but they were a little too soft. We had spaetzle this summer when we ate at Epcot’s Biergarten, and it was much firmer. I threw in some pretzel nuggets since we ate pretzel bread at Biergarten as well. These were just some frozen ones I bought at Kroger, and they weren’t that great.
Even though everything wasn’t perfect, we had plenty of good food. For our activity of the evening, we played the game Settlers of Catan, which my husband tells me is extremely popular in Germany (confirmed by Candace). Although I’m not a big board gamer, I thought it was pretty fun. Of course, my opinion of the game was greatly enhanced by the fact that I won!
Here are the recipes for sauerbraten and spaetzle as I prepared them tonight:
Spaetzle (adapted from allrecipes.com)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pinch freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
Mix together flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Beat eggs well, and add alternately with the milk to the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth. Press dough through a large holed sieve or metal grater. Drop a few at a time into simmering liquid. Cook 5 to 8 minutes. Drain well. Saute cooked spaetzle in butter or margarine.
Sauerbraten (Alton Brown’s recipe)
2 cups water
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, additional for seasoning meat
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
6 whole cloves
12 juniper berries
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound) bottom round
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/3 cup sugar
8 dark old-fashioned gingersnaps (about 5 ounces), crushed
In a large saucepan over high heat combine the water, cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, onion, carrot, salt, pepper, bay leaves, cloves, juniper, and mustard seeds. Cover and bring this to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Pat the bottom round dry and rub with vegetable oil and salt on all sides. Heat a large saute pan over high heat; add the meat and brown on all sides, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side.
When the marinade has cooled to a point where you can stick your finger in it and not be burned, place the meat in a non-reactive vessel and pour over the marinade. Place into the refrigerator for 3 days. If the meat is not completely submerged in the liquid, turn it over once a day.
After 3 days of marinating, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Add the sugar to the meat and marinade, cover and place on the middle rack of the oven and cook until tender, approximately 4 hours.
Remove the meat from the vessel and keep warm. Strain the liquid to remove the solids. Return the liquid to the pan and place over medium-high heat. Whisk in the gingersnaps and cook until thickened, stirring occasionally. Strain the sauce through a fine mesh sieve to remove any lumps. Slice the meat and serve with the sauce.
Tags: Beef, International, Meats, Pasta, Vegetables