Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t win – today was not our favorite. Thank goodness my husband will try anything I make – I always know true winners when he goes back for seconds, sometimes even thirds!! Tonight, was not one of those nights. I tried the Slow Cooker Sauerbraten Beef – odd combination of ingredients, but I thought, “Hey, you never know, gingersnaps and brown sugar with beef, why not?”. Here’s what I think could have made this so much better:
- Brown the beef!!! You get so much more depth of flavor when you take that extra step.
- Salt!!! Nowhere in this recipe did it call for salt!!! What the what?? Salt balances out the acidity and gives a more rounded flavor and enhances the flavor.
- I didn’t have red wine vinegar that I trusted (is it supposed to be that dark of a color red over time??), so I went with Apple Cider Vinegar – a standout – not sure if red wine vinegar would have made the difference? My assumption was the vinegar was used to tenderize the meat. Would red wine have worked just as well? I have an abundance of that! Ha!
- Gingersnaps – what size gingersnaps did the recipe use? The Kroger brand cookies were a bit large and when I crushed approximately 15 cookies, I got way more than ¾ cup of gingersnaps.
- These things matter!!!
Not sure I’ll try this again – it doesn’t scream “man, I’m really craving that sauerbraten”.
Leftovers are going to be turned into Beef Stroganoff – I figure the addition of cream or sour cream to the sauce will help to calm the vinegar down. Plus, the crap-ton of egg noodles we now have need something to top them with. Challenge accepted!!
Update – I attempted to fix this dish for dinner (3.20.21) – I sauteed mushrooms with thyme, rosemary, garlic, olive oil, and red wine. Once the red wine reduced, I added the mixture to the pot of beef and liquid. To the beef and liquid, I added a tablespoon of corn starch dissolved in water – this dish needed some help thickening up. Once the mushrooms were in, I added sour cream – after the initial taste, I added salt and ground pepper. Still not right! So, I added heavy cream and more salt. As much as I tried, the vinegar way overpowered everything. My husband powered through – we’ll be crossing that one off the list.