There are many things I learned while living for almost a decade in Germany.
One of those is how important Sunday is. To many Germans, it is a special day. A day to rest, to go to church, dress your best , spend time with family and be considerately quiet for your neighbour. Germans take their Ruhetag ( rest day ) pretty seriously, it even has a holy commandment on its own.
Thou shall not mow thy lawn on Sunday . Mind you, many are not as forgiving as Jesus...
Schweinebraten or Pork Roast is just one of the many traditional dishes serve and shared within the family on Sundays.
There's an abundance of ways and recipes out there but I want to share how I do mine. The Pork is succulent and tasty, the sauce well seasoned and the aromatic roasted onion just add an addictive crunch to the whole dish!
Ingredients:
1.5 kg pork neck
3 medium sized carrots, peeled and chopped
3 large red onion, peeled and quartered
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
4 celery stalks
2 leek, chopped
1/3 celery root, peeled and chopped
3 bay leaves
400 ml chicken stock
1 bottle ( 330 ml) of beer
salt and pepper
1 tbsp ( Kümmel ) caraway seed
olive oil
1 tsp. braten/roasting paste, optional
1 -1 and 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
a handful of parley for garnishing
Onion rings:
2 large onions, peeled and cut into rings
1/2 cup flour
salt and white pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
2-3 tbsp. water
oil for frying
1. Wash pork with cold water and pat dry. Season with salt , pepper and caraway seeds. Let it rest for about 10 minutes.
2. Heat olive oil in a roasting pan with lid. Brown pork on all sides. Take the meat out of the pan and set aside.
3. Add more olive oil in the roasting pan, saute onion . Add in garlic and saute until aromatic. Add the carrots..
4. Then, the celery stalks.
5. Put celery roots and leek. Deglaze pan with the chicken stock.
6. Put the meat back into the pan and place over the vegetable. Pour the beer and bring into a boil and cover. Cover with aluminium foil if your roasting pan don't have a lid.
7. Put the baking pan with the lid on in a preheated oven (180°c) and bake for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours until pork is tender. Keep it covered, it seals all the moisture keeping the meat succulent !
8. Take the roasting pan out from the oven. Transfer meat into the serving dish. Cover with aluminium foil and keep that baby moist!
9. Using a sieve, strain the contents of the roasting pan and pour it onto the small sauce pan. Press cooked vegetables to release liquid.
10. Bring the sauce into a gentle simmer. Add a tsp. of Braten/roast Paste if you can find one. Keep on simmering until the sauce thickens up a bit. If the sauce is too liquidy, dissolve a tsp. of cornstarch in 1/4 cup of water and stir into the sauce. Test taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed.
11. Cut onion into rings. Mix together flour, salt, white pepper and garlic powder. Stir in onion rings. Add tablespoons cold water until lumps are form. Lumps are good in this case. It gives the onion an extra crunch.
12. Heat oil in the pan. Fry onion ring until it turns golden brown and crispy.
13. Assemble. Slice pork into serving pieces. Pour sauce over it. Sprinkle with chopped parlsley. Add crispy onion on top. Serve with dumpling, spätzle or mashed potatoes .
Enjoy your Sunday roast German style!
No comments:
Post a Comment