How to Cook German Food

First time cooks looking to create classic German food will be surprised to learn that many German dishes are easy to prepare with everyday ingredients found in your supermarket. Many German dishes feature a sweet, sour and salty flavor profile as well as the use of a "slow-and-low" cooking method, which can easily be replaced with the crock pot. The classic German dish, sauerbraten, is a perfect dish to be cooked in a crock pot.

Things You'll Need

• 2 carrots
• 1 sweet onion
• 4 red potatoes
• 2 lbs. top round or chuck beef
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1/2 cup dark ale
• 1/4 cup wine vinegar
• 2 coriander seeds
• 2 cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup crushed ginger snaps
• 3 tbsp. brown sugar
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 3 cups cooked egg noodles

Instructions

Crock Pot Sauerbraten

1. Chop the carrots, onion and potatoes into 1-inch pieces, and place them into the crock pot.

2. Place the meat, beef stock, vinegar and ale into the crock pot. Add the herbs and stir all the ingredients to evenly distribute the ingredients.

3. Cook the mixture for at least eight hours on low. At this point, add the flour, sugar, cookies and sour cream to create the sweet and sour flavor profile. Gently mix these ingredients and cover the crock pot.

4. Turn the crock pot on high and cook for another 30 minutes.

5. Serve the sauerbraten on top of cooked egg noodles.

Tips & Warnings

• You can serve this sauerbraten on top of spatzle, a classic German potato starch, which you can purchase premade in the supermarket or a specialty gourmet store.

References

• Sauerbraten Recipe

Resources

• More German Recipes