I recently ran across a recipe on www.marksdailyapple.com that, as a spawn of Hagemans and Zimmermans, piqued my curiosity – Sauerbraten: A Classic German Pot Roast. I had never heard of this, but it sounded interesting, and it provided an excellent excuse to have people over, as I am wont to do. So I bought a huge beef roast, plunked it into a funky marinade, and sent out the invites to friends for a Mini Octoberfest/Beer Swap.
I learned a few things during the experience. People are busy. It’s hard to find an evening where the majority of my 20 or so acquaintances can all gather at the same time. We ended up with a showing of about 9 folks, who contributed beer, Black Forest cake, coconut bars, potato salad, and cucumber and onion salad to the festivities. It was a fun evening. The sauerbraten turned out okay, I think. Not ever having it before, I did not know how it was supposed to taste. It was very…tangy. The sauce when I first made it was absolutely TOO tangy, so I added a tablespoon of coconut sugar and 2 tablespoons of full-fat Greek yogurt. That thickened and sweetened it up. Tim was not a fan, but everyone less liked it, or at least SAID they liked it!
We ate supper, dessert, and then sat by the fire and enjoyed the late summer evening. We were in our PJs by 8:30, which is a perfect time to end a party, in my opinion. :).
Would I make the sauerbraten again? I don’t think so. It was an interesting experiment for a party, but it’s too much work and expense for what it is – a sour tasting pot roast! Plus I burned my hand on the dutch oven lid, so I’m a little pissed at the roast. Actually, overall it was a dangerous cooking weekend for me. Saturday morning I was attempting to shake hot sauce on my awesome breakfast when my sensation-less fingertips lost their grip, sending the class bottle into a collision with the Corelle plate. The plate ‘sploded. All over the table, floor, and my legs. I have Corelle shrapnel in my legs now. It was very traumatic.
I recently read an article by Mark Sisson about the importance of socializing with people you really care about. While hosting gatherings is a royal pain in the ass, with all the cleaning and prep and frustrations of dealing with peoples’ schedules, I’m glad we did it. It’s good to be with people. We all need our tribes!
I tried one other new recipe this week: Turnip and Bison Scramble. I didn’t have any bison, but I did have pig, so we ate this with ground pork. It smelled a little weird when it was cooking, but it tasted delicious garnished with some avocado, hot sauce, and green onions. Of course, anything cooked in 2 T of butter would probably be delicious!
So we started off the weekend right – with a party and tasty food, and we ended it well – by taking a 20 mile bike ride, drinking delicious pale ale from Bent River, and sitting outside for 2 hours reading and soaking in the vitamin D. We have a big event this week at work, so I’m going to be trapped inside for the next SIX days. I had to get a lot of outside time in this weekend.
Hope you had a great weekend!
