Germany - Senfbrauten

Senfbrauten

Printed From: Foods of the World Forum
Category: Europe
Forum Name: Germany
Forum Discription: From the Alsatian influence in the west to the hearty eastern border, Germany has tradition and variety.
URL: http://foodsoftheworld.ActiveBoards.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=4688
Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 20:33

Topic: Senfbrauten

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Subject: Senfbrauten
Date Posted: 24 September 2016 at 16:47

Serendipity strikes often, and often she saves the day. I had planned to make a grilled Serbian pork loin this weekend, but we were missing some key ingredients and it is the backside of our pay periods, so I was forced to find an alternative for my beautiful, locally-grown and butchered pork loin roast. I considered curing it and making Canadian bacon or a German counterpart with it, but The Beautiful Mrs. Tas made it clear that it was going to be prepared for our supper, and as usual, her wisdom was undeniable.

I wanted to cook something different with it, rather than just make something we've done before, or - worse yet - simply salt-and-pepper it and throw it in the oven. Sure, this makes some great food, but what's the point of having all of this beautiful, "real" pork, when you can't turn it into something special? So I did a little digging.

For whatever reason, probably the changing from summer to autumn, I've really been feeling my "German-ness" lately. I won't bore you with an accounting of my German ancestry - you've all read about it on other posts; however, this time of year, it tends to call with a little more intensity. It's a call that tends to last through Christmas, so brace yourselves for more tales of Ron's quest for all things German. Embarrassed

It didn't take me long to find this. It looked really good, so I decided to give it a try. I'm not sure of the origin of this recipe. It looks very similar to an Alsatian dish called Palette de Porc à la Diable, so my guess is that it could be Bavarian, but I make no definitive claim. If someone finds out, let me know!

Here's the recipe, with full acknowledgement to "The Daring Gourmet" -

Traditional German Senfbraten

(Mustard Pork Roast)

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2-pound pork roast

German mustard

Oil for frying

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme

2 cups beef broth

2 carrots, cut in half

For the flour slurry:

3 tablespoons flour whisked into 1/2 cup beef broth

Instructions:

Rub the roast down with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Generously rub it down with German mustard.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over high heat. Once hot, add the roast and generously brown on all sides. This will give the roast its wonderful flavor.

Add the onions and the butter and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the white wine and boil for 3 minutes until mostly evaporated.

Add the bay leaf, thyme, beef broth and carrots (they will add a touch of sweetness to the gravy). Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for at least 90 minutes until the roast is nice and tender. Alternatively, cook in an oven preheated to 325 degrees F for about 3 hours.

Discard the carrots and bay leaf. Transfer to the roast to a warmed platter and tent with foil to keep warm. Whisk in the flour slurry and simmer until thickened. Add a couple of teaspoons or so of mustard and salt and pepper to taste.

Slice the roast and serve with the gravy, potatoes and German sauerkraut.

http://www.daringgourmet.com/2014/04/29/traditional-german-senfbraten-mustard-gravy-pork-roast/

I'm making this right now; it's in the 90-minute "cooking" stage. One thing that I can say for sure is that this is very easy to prepare, and uses very common ingredients. I was even able to use thyme from my herb garden and a couple of (smaller) onions grown in my dad's garden. Using my Dutch oven gave the roast a beautiful sear, and the house is smelling wonderful, right now.

One departure from the recipe: Instead of using a slurry to thicken the sauce, I'll simply reduce it down to thicken it.

We'll see how it goes; I'll report back later! Star

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Replies:

Posted By: HistoricFoodie
Date Posted: 24 September 2016 at 20:10

Sounds incredible, Ron. Especially that mustard gravy.

I'm sure you'll let us know how it turns out.

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But we hae meat and we can eat
And sae the Lord be thanket

Posted By: Hoser
Date Posted: 25 September 2016 at 03:12

You got me drooling Ron....can't wait to see how this plates up Tongue

I'll be doing some pork myself today....tenderloins braised with shallots, black seedless grapes and balsamic vinegar. Will get it started and transfer it to the slow cooker while we go out to watch the ball games.

Will try to post something on it when it's done.

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Go ahead...play with your food!

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 25 September 2016 at 09:36

This turned out very well - the flavour profile is something that really should be experienced to be appreciated!

The crust on the pork and the sauce were great. The pork was tender and the mustard really made it an enjoyable dish. We served this with a "mash" of steamed cauliflower, bacon, caramelised onion, sour cream and a couple of minor ingredients that slip my mind. This seemed, to me, to go well with the pork, and I really liked it.

A few notes:

I did go ahead and add a slurry to the cooking juices, but only used half the flour. The resulting sauce was a little thin, but thick enough to serve as a gravy. It tasted great, and was a nice compliment for the pork.

I think that 1 cup of beef broth (rather than 2) might have been enough to add before braising, but would need to make this again to know for sure.

The recipe says to add a couple of teaspoons of mustard to the sauce at the end. I didn't "taste as I go," so I added a little too much. It was still good, but a bit out of balance.

Don't be shy with the black pepper. I used what seemed like enough, but my son said it was lacking a bit.

The roast came out a bit over-done, but due to the moist heat it was just fine, with no complaints. Very tender, very good.

As you can see, the "flaws" above are nearly all execution errors on my part; the recipe itself is pretty much spot on, the way it is. The only caution I would give involves the cooking time; you might want to cook by internal temperature instead, to your preference.

This was very good and very easy. It will definitely be made again! Star

Posted By: Percebes
Date Posted: 25 September 2016 at 19:27

Yum

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I am a wine enthusiast. The more wine I drink, the more enthusiastic I become.

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 27 September 2016 at 09:21

It is yummy indeed, Murray - give it a go sometime, and let me know what you think!

When I was making this, I knew that it was familiar in some ways; I did some checking around, and sure enough - it is quite similar to http://foodsoftheworld.activeboards.net/geschmorter-schweinsbraten-mit-kapern_topic1805.html - Geschmorter Schweinsbraten mit Kapern from Austria:

http://foodsoftheworld.activeboards.net/geschmorter-schweinsbraten-mit-kapern_topic1805.html

There are some slight differences, especially in the sauce and the use of the mustard in this recipe; however, the similarities, in my opinion tell me that these dishes (and the methods used to prepare them) are surely related.

Both are delicious, and both are worth a try!