Sweet and sour cabbage braised in apple cider vinegar, brown Swerve, and caraway seeds topped with seared beef sirloin garnished with chive butter.
Growing up with a half-German mom, I ate a lot of saurkraut. German pot roast made an appearance at least once a month, and was a family favorite. My LFG Braised Cabbage & Beef wax nostalgic of my mom's German pot roast with sweet and sour saurkraut, caraway seeds and melt-in-your mouth savory beef.
Typically seared rump roast, slow cooked four hours in saurkruat and juices and seasoned with brown sugar, garlic, onions, salt and caraway seeds, German pot roast gets a passport stamp from all areas of the taste bud map -- sweet, salty, bitter and sour. It's the complete 'round-round-the tongue taste experience.
My LFG Braised Sour Cabbage & Beef echo all the flavors of the slow-cooked German pot roast, only it takes only 30 minutes from start to finish to achieve the 'round the taste world experience. For vibrant color, I used red cabbage, but use whatever color cabbage you can find. The caraway seeds just give it that extra German exclamation point.
I found a great deal on top sirloin by Thousand Hills, a company that guarantees their cattle are lifetime grazed and never fed grains. Anytime I find 100% grassfed beef like this I buy it. This was a 6 oz. top sirloin, but almost passed for filet mignon. It was that good! So, I highly recommend beef from this company. And I found it at Natural Grocers.
Now let's get to making this amazing dish.
The Recipe
LFG Braised Sour Cabbage & Beef
(2) 6 oz Grassfed Top Sirloin Steaks
Salt and Pepper meat to taste
1/2 Head Red Cabbage thinly sliced
6 Green Onions cut into 4 inch pieces
6 Whole Garlic Cloves peeled and smashed
1/2 C Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 C Organic Bone Broth
1 T Brown Swerve
1 T Caraway Seeds
1 t Salt
1 t Black Pepper
Garnish
2 T French Butter
2 T Chives chopped
Instructions:
Step 1: Prep Ingredients
Cut half of a washed red cabbage into very thin 1/8 inch slices. Peel and lightly smash 6 garlic cloves. Cut 1/4 off the top and bottom washed green onions. Cut the green onions into four inch lengths. Make the chive butter garnish by whipping soft French butter and chopped chives together and chill.
Step 2: Braise the Red Cabbage
In a enameled Dutch oven like Le Creuset, add ingredients in this order: sliced cabbage, green onions, garlic, vinegar, bone broth, Swerve, caraway seeds, salt and pepper. Evenly sprinkle the swerve, seeds and seasonings over the cabbage and onions but DO NOT MIX! Turn heat on high until the liquid comes to a boil. Turn down heat to a simmer and cover. Braise 30 minutes. (to braise means simply to cook in liquid in a closed container)
Step 3: Sear the Beef
Salt and pepper meat. In a separate mini Dutch oven, and halfway through the cabbage braising process, sear the beef on high heat to a good char on all sides. Turn heat off and let beef stand in the pan until ready to serve. Meat will be a perfect medium rare. When ready to serve, perform the touch test. Make a fist with your left hand, tucking your thumb under your fingers. Touch the meaty part of your hand just to the left of your thumb knuckle. Meat should feel just like that for medium rare.
Step 4: Serve It Up
With a slotted spoon, divide the braised cabbage between two plates. Pile into the center of each plate and hollow out a space in the middle for the meat. Place the seared beef on the hollowed out well. Put a dollop of chive butter on top of the meat and serve.
Pair with a pinot noir! Enjoy!