Sweet, Sweet Vinegar

When someone uses the word 'vinegar', what words come to mind? Blech? Bitter? Gross? I too thought these same things at one point or another, but since being in Germany, I have had a huge change of thought (and palate). In German cooking, the food speaks for itself. They don't put brown sugar and marshmallows in their sweet potatoes because sweet potatoes are plenty sweet on their own and have an awesome, natural flavor. But if you add a little cider vinegar to the water you are boiling them in and the flavors ignite and suddenly you have a sweet potato that blows you away. If a sweet potato by itself is like a sidewalk acoustic singer, then a sweet potato with vinegar would be a Twisted Sister concert.
I have begun to use vinegar in tons of recipes. I have yet to find a recipe that is hindered by the use of vinegar. My journey to vinegar bliss was not always a sweet ballad of "We're Not Gonna Take It." But here's how it came about.


It all started when local Chef Sascha Saxler of the Hotel Maas in Lutzerath was allowed to come on base and teach us a thing or two about German cuisine. I knew of his cooking from going to the hotel restaurant many, many times, so I was super excited at a chance to learn from him.
He began by making a German potato dish that consisted of the following:

German Potatoes

This is a home version of what Chef Saxler taught me. Russet
reds were used instead of white baking potatoes and the results
were great! It works well either way.

• 4 Tbsp Salted Butter
• 6 Baking Potatoes, 1" cubes 
• 10-15 Baby Carrots, 1/4" slices
• 3 Celery Stocks, 1/4" slices
• 1/2 of a Large White Onion, chopped into 1/4" pieces
• 4 Leaves Fresh Basil, bruised (roll them in your hands)
• 2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Ground Pepper
• 2 tsp Paprika
• 1 Tbsp Granulated Garlic
• 1/4 Cup White Vinegar

1. He started by placing the butter in a stock pot and letting it melt and come to a simmer.
2. He then tossed in the potatoes for about 3 minutes on high heat to let them get a head start on the rest of the veggies.
3. Then he tossed in the rest of the vegetables on medium heat and let the vegetables sweat. He used the onions as an indicator that it was time to season. 
4. Once the onions were slightly translucent, he added pepper, garlic, paprika, fresh basil and salted to taste. He asked me to taste the dish at this point. I tasted it and thought, this is pretty bland, typical German food. But said, "This is pretty good, but you know Americans like salt!" He laughed and then asked for the vinegar. 
5. He added just a 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar and let it simmer in the bottom of the pot while he stirred the veggies. My thoughts were varied at the time, but I knew this was going to be some gross, bitter crap.
6. He panned up the potatoes and we both taste tested them. I was blown away. When I thought the dish needed salt, he added vinegar. 

The acid from the vinegar brought out the flavors of all of the vegetables. The carrots tasted more carroty, the celery popped and the potato had amazingly great flavor. The vinegar did the job of the salt but with none of the salty taste.The overall flavor of the dish was not a bitter flavor as I had expected, but an awesome starch with bright vegetables and an overall tanginess that I had never had before. It was all in the vinegar!

He explained to me that chemically, vinegar was a fermented acid that was made of many elements. At room temperature the elements gave a bitter flavor that was not pleasing to the tongue or nose by itself but had to be mixed in with salad or greens. He further explained that when heated to a boil, the compounds that made up vinegar broke apart and came back together as something completely different. The flavors went from sour to tangy and could be used to make any recipe explode with flavor. 

As a kid, my Great Grandma Faries would give us canned spinach as a side for lunch and would add a dash of raw, white vinegar. It was awful, but she made us eat it. It got me thinking...What would happen if I added cooked vinegar to spinach? I tried it and the results were just as suspected--still pretty bland. But if you use frozen or fresh spinach/collard greens/mustard greens instead of canned and add the nectar of the gods (bacon), it is a killer recipe!

Killer Greens (Spinach, Collard, Mustard or Turnip)

• 3 Cups Water, boiling
• 2 heaping Tbsp Chicken Base (not bouillon)
• 1/2 lb frozen, chopped greens
• 1/2 pack of Bacon, chopped and cooked to crispy
• 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/2 tsp Ground Pepper
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 Cup Cider Vinegar

1. Bring water to a boil and stir in the chicken stock.
2. Toss in everything else and bring back to a simmer for 5-7 minutes or until the vinegar turns to tangy.
3. Eat it.

These are some good greens. I prefer mustard greens, but this recipe works well with ALL greens and even brussel sprouts. I have converted several anti-greens people with this recipe and now they ask when I am going to make them again. If you don't like greens, just try it--greens are cheap!

For the last example of vinegar use, I'll refer back to one of the first recipes I posted in The ProAm Kitchen, Perfect Pot Roast. The use of balsamic vinegar with beef is one of my favorite flavors. It is definitely worth a try.

Perfect Pot Roast
Ingredients:
-One pot roast: The bigger the bone, the better. Look for decent marbling and a little fat. Not too much but enough for some great flavor.
-Granulated Garlic Powder: Enough to cover both sides of roast
-Fresh Ground Black Pepper: Enough to cover both sides of roast
-Salted Butter: Use butter. Margarine is gross. Fat is good.
-Kosher Salt: Palm full
-Balsamic Vinegar: 1/2 Cup
-Red Wine: 1 Cup: I used a dry, Italian merlot but you can use what you like.
-Handful of Red Grapes
-Handfull of Queen Olives: Pitted, with or without pimento.
-Yellow Onion: Half an onion will do. Sliced thin (hamburger style).
-Fresh Basil: 1 Sprig/3 leaves...whatever

Method:
-Preheat oven to 325-350 degrees
-Bring roast to room temperature (don't let it sit there all day, you'll get sick and blame me. But it won't be my fault, I warned you). Season with garlic powder and pepper on both sides. Set it off to the side.
-Bring a cast iron (CI) pan to a high temp on high heat. If you don't have a CI skillet, use the thickest metal pan you have. Even heating is the key.
-When the pan is hot, melt butter onto bottom of pan. When the butter starts to foam and is completely melted, carefully place roast in pan. Sear roast on both sides for about 2 minutes or until a nice brown crust appears. Black is bad but doesn't ruin the roast, just try to not let the meat get that far.
-When the roast has a brown crust on each side, pull it and set it to the side.

-There will be a significant amount of rendered fat, a little beef juice and some butter left in the hot pan. Turn the heat down to med-high and add 2Tbsp of butter. When melted, add sliced onions, grapes (crush them in your hand and toss them in). Add olives in the same manner. Let the onions brown in the butter before moving on to the next step.
-Add kosher salt, balsamic vinegar and red wine. Now you should add the fresh basil, bruised (roll it in your hands a few times) and toss them in.
-Let ingredients simmer until sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Roast and reduction in foil pack

-While sauce is simmering, tear off two 2ft strips of wide, heavy duty aluminum foil. Lay them in a cross in a glass/metal baking pan (square, rectangle--whatever the roast will fit in. The pan doesn't matter, it's just an apparatus for catching juice if it spills). Place roast in the middle of cross in pan.

-Sauce should be reduced nicely by now. Pour sauce over the top of roast until roast is covered about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way up the side of meat making sure to get all the onions, grapes, olives and everything in there. Wrap foil loosely around the roast. Try to make it air tight so juice doesn't spill out.
-Place in 325-350 degree oven and bake for about 45 minutes hour before checking. Bake until medium (don't worry if you don't like medium meat, it will continue to cook after you take it out of the oven).
-When roast is about medium (135 degrees F), you should remove it from oven and LET IT REST FOR 15-20 Minutes. It will continue to cook and redistribute the juices as well as soak up some more of the sauce you poured over it.

Cup full o' flavor...not gravy!

-When 15-20 minutes has passed, remove roast from pan and place on the cutting board. Take leftover sauce/drippings from the pan and place them in a gravy boat/liquid measuring cup or whatever pouring utensil you want, really. Do not add flour or corn starch to make this sauce a gravy. This sauce is perfect the way it is and has all the rendered fat, juices, red wine, and tangy vinegar flavors all in one sauce. If you add flour or corn starch to make a gravy, you will dull these flavors and be very disappointed.
-Slice roast ACROSS the grain of the meat into 1/4" slices and arrange, fanned, on plate. Pour some of your sauce on it and DEVOUR!

As I look back through all of my recipes, I have noticed that almost all of them have a vinegar in them. Thai Burgers have rice vinegar. The salsa recipes have white vinegar, etc. It has become such a cornerstone in my cooking, yet some home chefs don't use it for anything more than a disinfectant. Next time you make a recipe, try a little vinegar in it and see what happens. I doubt you'll be disappointed.