the lake of brown.

Saurbraten. Pickled – Roasted – Beef

Prep time 3 days inactive and 5 hours active.

2 cups water

1 cup cider vinegar

1 cup red wine vinegar

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, additional for seasoning meat

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 bay leaves

6 whole cloves

12 juniper berries

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound) bottom round

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/3 cup sugar

18 dark old-fashioned gingersnaps (about 5 ounces), crushed

   1/2 cup seedless raisins, or dried fruit.

We hit Milwaukee on a Friday night. Andrea has talked about Milwaukee

Fish fries for the 15 years and here it was Friday night and Milwaukee.

Andrea called her best buddy Jody and asked her to find the most

traditional fish fry in the city. Jody did some research and the Potato

   pancakes from Kegel had been listed in Saveur magazine. A couple

   hours latter we are at KEGEL a German restaurant that has been open

   since 1927 or so. The place is classic German, dark wood, painted

   eating and drinking scenes above the wood and a general Teutonic

   tourist feel. A fun place with nostalgia for places that you have never

   been. One of my favorite German dishes is Saurbraten. The recipe above

  is a very good rendition of this flavorful and tender dish. Usually served

  with red cabbage and spaetzle or dumpling. Jody and Andrea go for the

  fish fry, Steve goes for the duck, Lily gets the cheese burger and I am so

  happy to order the Suarbraten. A wonderfully funky place with good

  friends and good beer we had some Gemütlichkeit  going.

  Please try to imagine a freshly made bed that has a magazine between the sheets.

  If you look you can see a slight embossed profile of the magazine.

  Now imagine the blanket is brown gravy and the magazine is the Saurbraten. I knew I

  was in trouble because the lake of brown could only mean that it was a cover up. No

  exaggeration here there was 3/8” of brown gravy filling the plate and only the outline of

  one piece of meat was expressing itself as a brown ridge. Steve and

  Jody were hosting us to this meal and I wasn’t gonna ask for the scuba gear so I could

  find my dinner. I lifted a corner of the meat to peek under and found some dry off color and vintage meat. My dinner was scary. But I was gonna take one for the team and I ate most of it. When I got home I prayed for the magic of Fernet Branca to do its stuff.

And it did.  Please consider this a cautionary tale when considering dinner at Kegel’s in Milawaukee.