This one is fun... handed down through the generations, and never REALLY written down. a pinch of this, a dash of that, salt to taste.... so I'm working on documenting it here. I have included additional family recipes at the bottom of the recipe as i find them. The one documented here is my Mom's mother's recipe.
Put the pickling spices in a piece of cheese cloth, and tie it up, since this will be discarded after cooking
put the vinegar, water, sugar, sugar, salt, (tied up pickling spices), onions, carrots, and celery in a pot and boil together
let the gravy cool
pour the gravy over the roast, and let marinate for several days - up to a week (especially for venison)
preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
place the meat in a roasting pan, and place several pieces of bacon over the meat, and pur brine over meat and into roasting pan
roast the meat for about 2 hours and 15 minutes - or until it reaches a safe internal temperature
when the meat is completely cooked, remove from the oven, and discard the spices.
Remove the meat from the gravy / sauce, and set aside to rest
mash the vegetables down into the gravy (a blender or food processor might work well here), then place in a sauce pan over low heat.
Note: This is the Chicago bohemian variant. Some versions do not mash the vegetables into the gravy, but opt to serve them on the side.
Note 2: I usually throw most of the celery out, as it just turns to mush, and I don't like celery. It's up to your taste.
mix in 1 pint of sour cream to gravy until it is mixed in well
add flour to the gravy to thicken it - 1/4 - 1/3 cup of flour should do it, but add and stir, thickening to your taste. (for reference, I used ~3/4 cup on a double batch to get the consistency I liked)
slice the meat, and pour gravy over to serve with dumplings.
Ingredients
Directions
Put the pickling spices in a piece of cheese cloth, and tie it up, since this will be discarded after cooking
put the vinegar, water, sugar, sugar, salt, (tied up pickling spices), onions, carrots, and celery in a pot and boil together
let the gravy cool
pour the gravy over the roast, and let marinate for several days - up to a week (especially for venison)
preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
place the meat in a roasting pan, and place several pieces of bacon over the meat, and pur brine over meat and into roasting pan
roast the meat for about 2 hours and 15 minutes - or until it reaches a safe internal temperature
when the meat is completely cooked, remove from the oven, and discard the spices.
Remove the meat from the gravy / sauce, and set aside to rest
mash the vegetables down into the gravy (a blender or food processor might work well here), then place in a sauce pan over low heat.
Note: This is the Chicago bohemian variant. Some versions do not mash the vegetables into the gravy, but opt to serve them on the side.
Note 2: I usually throw most of the celery out, as it just turns to mush, and I don't like celery. It's up to your taste.
mix in 1 pint of sour cream to gravy until it is mixed in well
add flour to the gravy to thicken it - 1/4 - 1/3 cup of flour should do it, but add and stir, thickening to your taste. (for reference, I used ~3/4 cup on a double batch to get the consistency I liked)
slice the meat, and pour gravy over to serve with dumplings.