Sauerbraten Stew

Thanksgiving 2022 was at the new land. I had the barn cleared enough to set up folding tables and had built a fire circle big enough for the cooking. We ate outside and in the barn depending on how cold people got. About twenty people came.

I had three fires going: one for the turkey, one for a pot of venison stew, one just for warmth near the barn door. Caleb ran the stew pot. Hannah organized the sides table. Kai was in charge of keeping the warmth fire stoked, which he executed with the gravity of someone holding an important post.

River, who is now almost two, discovered that he could put his hands near the warmth fire if he moved carefully and spent a portion of the evening testing the boundary of what Caleb would allow. Caleb allowed less than River found satisfactory. The negotiation continued throughout dinner.

It was cold enough to see your breath but the fires and the food and the crowd of people warmed the barn more than I'd expected. By dinnertime it was genuinely comfortable inside. Someone brought a fiddle and played for a while after dinner. The land absorbed all of it and gave nothing back except the particular silence of timber after people have been singing in it, which is a good kind of silence.

I thought about Danny at the end of the evening, after most people had gone. I thought: he would have stood right here and been exactly as pleased as I am. He built me for this. Everything he put in me was pointing toward something like this evening. I felt the whole chain of it as I banked the last fire.

The venison stew that Caleb ran that night was his recipe, but the spirit of it — that slow, fire-tended pot that smelled like it had been simmering since morning — is what I keep reaching for when I try to cook something with the same weight. Sauerbraten Stew carries that same quality: it’s a stew that asks for patience and rewards a crowd, the kind of thing you set going before the guests arrive and let the fire do its work. If you’re feeding twenty people in a barn while someone plays fiddle, this is what belongs on the second fire.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 2 hr 30 min | Total Time: 2 hr 50 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

3 lbs beef chuck roast, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 stalks celery, sliced
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp ground ginger
2 bay leaves
4 cups beef broth
1/2 cup crushed gingersnap cookies (about 8 cookies)
2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp cold water (optional, for thickening)

Instructions

Season and sear the beef. Pat the beef cubes dry and season all over with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, sear the beef until browned on all sides, about 3–4 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Build the base. In the same pot, add the onion and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Stir in the red wine vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, ginger, and bay leaves, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Simmer low and slow. Return the seared beef to the pot. Add the beef broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour 30 minutes.
Add the vegetables. Stir in the carrots, celery, and potatoes. Cover and continue simmering for another 45 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the beef pulls apart easily.
Finish with gingersnaps. Stir in the crushed gingersnap cookies; they will dissolve and thicken the broth while deepening the flavor. If you prefer a thicker stew, stir in the cornstarch slurry and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes more. Remove bay leaves before serving.
Serve. Ladle into deep bowls. This stew holds well over low heat for a crowd and improves as it sits.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sauerbraten Stew — The Pot Caleb Kept