Sauerbraten with Bread Dumplings and Red Cabbage

Ingredients:

•  2 – 3 lbs    Sirloin Tip Roast or Bottom Round Roast
•                  Salt & Pepper
•    1 large    Cooking Onion
•    1 stalk    Celery
•            1    Carrot
•   6 slices    Bacon
•       50 g    Sossenkuchen

Marinade:

•    5 cups    Water
•    1 large    Cooking Onion
•            1    Bay Leaf
•          16    Juniper Berries
•            6    Whole Black Peppercorns
•     ½ cup    Vinegar*
•                  Salt and ground White Pepper to taste

* Add more vinegar if you want the meat more sour tasting!

Directions:

Marinating Method 1:
In a pot combine all marinade ingredients and season to taste.
Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Cool down completely!
Place meat in a Zip-Loc bag and pour the marinate over the meat.
Close bag, place in a bowl to prevent leakage and refrigerate for at least 3 days.

Marinating Method 2 (the faster way):
You will need a 2 or 4 oz brine injector/meat pump.
In a bowl combine all marinade ingredients and season to taste.
Place meat in bowl and with Brine Injector thoroughly inject meat with the marinade.
Place meat and marinade in a Zip-Loc bag.
Close bag, place back in the rinsed out bowl to prevent leakage and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Clean and slice onion and cut celery and carrots into pieces.
In a Dutch Oven fry the bacon until enough grease is released to be able to brown the roast in.
Add the meat to the Dutch oven with the vegetables and 4 juniper berries from the marinade, leaving the bacon in with the roast.
Brown the roast on all sides, stirring the vegetables frequently so they brown, but do not burn.

Once the roast is browned on all sides add some of the marinade and water (to the desired sourness of the gravy) and bring to a boil on top of the stove.
Cover and place in the oven for 2-3 hours.
Uncover after 1½ hours and finish cooking.
Sauce should be reduced by about 1/3 in this time.

Remove roast and set aside keeping it warm while making the gravy.
Strain the gravy through a sieve, pressing down with a wooden spoon to force as much of the solids through as possible. (Use of an Immersion blender before straining makes this step easier)
Return the gravy to the Dutch oven and bring to a boil.
Place the Sossenkuchen in a bowl and add some of the hot gravy, mix until it is dissolved and return to the pot, simmer briefly.
If needed add salt, pepper and Sossenkuchen to taste.
To thicken the gravy add a roux (butter & flour) if desired.

Slice the roast and arrange slices on a warm platter with some gravy drizzled over them.
Serve the rest of the gravy in a separate bowl.

Generally served with Dumplings or Spätzle, Red Cabbage and Lingonberries.