For all who have been waiting with watering mouths to hear how the locally sourced but still well traveled sauerbraten turned out:
Flavor: Superior. With the switch to grassfed beef from conventionally raised beef, flavor was a concern. Most of all, the "livery" taste which brings back horrors of childhood when my parents made liver and onions twice a week. There was no livery taste for this meal because these steps were followed: defrost slowly in the refrigerator, rinse thoroughly under cold running water, pat dry with copious paper towels. Well, and also I augmented the braising liquid with a full bottle of local red wine. If some is good, more is better, right?
Texture: Meh. The meat was fall apart tender, but stringy. One guest suggested that was due to having been cut with the grain rather than across the grain. Actually, there was no cutting that meat. It was so tender it wouldn't stand up to a knife. But since sauerbraten is really just a German flavored pot roast, this wasn't such a bad thing.
In the end, substituting a local sourced product into jealously regarded family recipe was as success. And as it turned out, the best way to deal with the controversial issue of whether or not to add gingersnaps to flavor the sauce was to cleverly avoided by inviting a guest with celiac disease. Some simple substitutions in the recipe were made: arrowroot starch for flour to thicken the sauce, potatoes instead of spaetzle were served. On the subject of the controversy, there was not a peep at the dinner table ;).
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