Sauerbraten With Potato Dumplings and Applesauce
- Ready In:
- 6hrs
- Ingredients:
- 21
- Serves:
-
6
ingredients
- 3 1⁄3 lbs rolled beef brisket
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 onions, sliced
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 4 cloves
- 4 peppercorns
- 2 cups red wine vinegar
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons bacon drippings
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 5 tablespoons flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1⁄2 cup golden raisin (optional)
- 8 -10 gingersnaps, crushed (can be replaced by 1 tsp. corn starch or arrow root)
-
Potato Dumplings
- 6 medium potatoes (about 2-1/4 pounds)
- 3 eggs
- 6 tablespoons flour
- butter, melted and browned
- breadcrumbs
directions
- Wipe steak with damp cloth; season with salt and pepper.
- Place in earthenware, glass or enamel bowl.
- Combine onions, carrot, celery, cloves, peppercorns, vinegar and bay leaves and pour over meat.
- Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 4 days.
- Boil the potatoes for the dumplings on the night of the 4 day. Leave them in their jackets and let stand for a few hours to overnight.
- On fifth day remove meat from refrigerator and drain, reserving marinade.
- Sauté meat in bacon drippings plus 1 tablespoon butter until seared on all sides.
- Cover with reserved marinade and bring to boil, then lower heat and simmer for about 3 hours.
- Melt remaining 5 tablespoons of butter in a pan and stir in flour to form a roux.
- Blend in sugar and brown to a nice dark color.
- Stir roux into liquid in the pot and add raisins (optional).
- Cover and continue to simmer until meat is tender, about 1 hour longer.
-
DUMPLINGS:
- Peel the potatoes and mash them. Add the eggs and flour.
- Form the mixture into little balls and chill in the refrigerator for about an hour before cooking.
- Bring lightly salted water to just under boiling point.
- To make sure your mixture has the right consistency, cook a single dumpling first. If it does not hold together, add more flour to the mixture.
- Gently drop in a few dumplings, being careful not to overcrowd them.
- When the dumplings are cooked, they will rise to the top.
- Remove the meat to a warm serving platter.
- Stir crushed gingersnaps or starch into the pot juices and cook until thickened.
- Pour over the meat and serve with the dumplings and applesauce.
- Provide melted, browned butter and bread crumbs for the dumplings.
- Red cabbage makes another good accompaniment. A good one is Sweet and Sour and the brand that comes to mind is "Aunt Nellie's". It would probably be the easiest to find in the US. I always get mine at our local Walmart Supercenter.
Questions & Replies

Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
This recipe is excellent - very much like my mother's family recipe. Cider vinegar is fine, too with some water and good gingersnaps (snappy) are a must (e.g. Nabisco). My mother would use pickling spice in the vinegar marinate (it has peppercorns, bay leaves, etc.) and those spices would go into large tea ball or spice infuser to put with the simmering brisket (on occasion, another cut of beef was used). Also, more sugar can be added according to your taste. The addition of sugar darkens and thickens the gravy (we used close to a cup!). The dumplings are excellent, too. Our recipe included a small piece of toasted bread in center of the potato dumpling. J.Kroeger/Colorado
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
My name is Ami and I share my home with my husband, Carey, our two small sons, James and Charles and our daughters Meradydd (it's pronounced Meradith)and Kathrynn. Until recently, I was a Specialist in the National Guard. I'm pretty eclectic in my studies and I've learned a lot becuase of that since I don't limit myself. Right now I'm taking classes for animal care. I've also been studying a lot about herbalism and really enjoy learning about that. My mother and I also run a home based business for natural soap, balms, etc. We use only the most the natural ingredients available. I'm also a Mary Kay consultant. Busy, huh? :D I love to read and learn new things. My husband says our books will be the death of us. LOL. I love to cook and experiment. I also like to take walks, rain or not.