New Recipe

We are going to a holiday party tonight. Kinda a potluck, the catch being that everyone brings a dish that demonstrates their cultural heritage. It should be cool-- Paul said we will have some Jewish dishes, some from France and Italy, and even some Cherokee dishes. Then there's the Jameson-Varnes clan... sigh... what to bring?? Well, there's German (sauerkraut??)... Scottish (haggis????)....I thought of Ireland, but Paul has that one covered and will be bringing about 3 or 4 dishes. SOOO we decided to focus on Appalachia. Jeff made his Grandmother's no-bake fruitcake, and I decide to go bake to Germany after all and make Sauerbraten. This is the recipe i used. I made it just as instructed last week for my test run (except for adding a little cream to the gravy at the end-- it was way too thick). Today I am taking a few liberties:
I only marinated it for about half the time (forgot to put it in on Thursday!)
I strained the marinade before cooking the roast and took out the cloves, bay leaves, and peppercorns.
I put it in my big crockpot on high for 3 hours, then I will kick it down to low for the rest of the day
Suz

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Old Fashioned Sauerbraten(Germany)4 pounds of chuck roast2 teaspoons of salt1/4 teaspoon of black pepper2 cups of water2 cups of cider or wine vinegar1/2 cup of onions, chopped3 bay leaves12 peppercorns6 whole cloves1/2 cup of celery, thinly sliced1/2 teaspoon of thyme1 teaspoon of mustard seed1 large carrot, sliced1/4 cup of sugarFlour2 tablespoons of oil1/4 cup of raisins (optional)18 gingersnaps, crushedRub beef with salt and pepper; place in a large bowl or crock withwater, vinegar, spices, vegetables and sugar (1/2 cup of dry, redwine may be added, if desired). Cover and marinade in refrigeratorfor 3 days. Turn several times. When ready to cook, remove meat frommarinade, dry and dust with flour; brown on all sides in hot oil. Addmarinade, cover and simmer slowly for 3 hours or until tender. Keepmeat hot in warm oven on hot platter. Strain cooking liquid. Addraisins and gingersnaps; cook, stirring until thick. Pour part of thegravy over the meat after slicing and serve the rest in a side dish.