Germany: Pork Loin Roasted With Lager & Apples; Sour Cream Apple Sauce, Buttered Asparagus, Bavarian Braised Cabbage & Jacket Potatoes With Parsley
Germany is located in central western Europe and is officially known as the Federal Republic of Germany. With ocean borders on the North Sea & the Baltic Sea, Germany also has nine geographic neighbours in Europe with Denmark bordering to the north, The Check Republic & Poland to the east, Austria to the southeast, Switzerland to the south-southwest, France, Belgium & Luxembourg to the west, and the Netherlands to the northwest.
Our menu
for the night included:
for the night included:
Pork Loin Roasted With Lager & Apples
Which we served with
Sour Cream Apple Sauce & Pork Crackling
Buttered Asparagus
Bavarian Braised Cabbage
&
Jacket Potatoes With Parsley
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Reality Check: If you want to cook
the pork dish & you want to serve up by 8pm then you will need to start
your preparations sometime not much after lunch! There are 33 steps to
this dish – the most complex recipe I have posted yet. On the upside the
other dishes are relatively easy.
PORK LOIN ROASTED WITH LAGER & APPLES
INGREDIENTS
·
2 kg boned loin of pork
·
2 teaspoons sea salt
·
1 tsp caraway seeds
·
1 tsp freshly milled pepper
·
·
1 cup carrot slices
·
2 cloves garlic, peeled & cut in half
·
small bunch fresh marjoram tied with string
·
1 green apple diced
·
2 onions, peeled and diced
·
8 small apples, washed, dried (such as Granny Smith)
·
olive oil cooking spray
·
1 (12-oz) bottle German lager beer
·
2 cups water
·
1 beef stock cube (made into 1 cup of stock with water)
·
1 cup white wine
·
2 tbsp. sour cream
·
2 tbs fresh parsley - chopped
TIP 1:
ratio for cooking roast pork – initially place the roast in
a hot over (230 degrees celsius) for 25 minutes to seal the meat; then turn the
heat back to 180 & cook for 60 mins per kilo; rest the meat for 10 minutes
before carving.
Tip 2:
it is a good idea to cut a circle around the skin of the
apples you are going to bake as the fruit inside the apples will expand as they
cook & the skin is not elastic
enough to expand that much – if you don’t cut the skin it will split at some point & unevenly - cutting the skin first allows the skin
to open gently & evenly, giving a nice shape to the baked apples when they
are finished – unfortunately I forgot this bit of advice gleaned years ago from
a German Chef I worked with – I certainly remembered it once I saw my misshapen
baked apples!
METHOD
1.
Preheat oven to 230°C
2.
Mix salt, pepper & caraway seeds in a bowl
3.
Using a sharp knife, score pork skin at 1cm intervals to form
a diamond pattern This will produce a crispier crust.
4.
Roll up pork & tie with cooking string to secure.
5.
Dry pork well with paper towel (this will help to form the
cracking)
6.
Rub pork skin with caraway seed & salt mix
7.
Prepare a roasting pan by laying a bed of the onions, carrots,
garlic, apple chunks & marjoram.
8.
Place pork skin side up onto the vegetables in the roasting
pan.
9.
Place pan in the hot oven & Roast uncovered for 25
minutes.
10.
Reduce heat to 180°C (from this point you will cook the pork
for a further 2 hours in total)
11.
Turn Pork tray around to ensure even cooking put it back in
the oven & continue cooking
for 15 mins.
12.
After the 15 minutes add a cup of water to the vegetable pan
& baste the pork with 1/3 of the lager.
13.
After a further 15 minutes add another cup of water to the pan
14.
After another 15 minutes remove the pork briefly from the
oven, put the pork on a plate, add one cup of stock & cup of white wine to
the vegetables in the pan & use a wooden spoon to scrap up all the
vegetables & crisp bits that have formed in the pan, mixing well with the
wine & stock to begin forming the sauce.
15.
Place a wire rack over the pan, put the pork on the rack
return to the oven & cook for a further 15 mins when you will baste pork with another 1/3 of the lager & cook for another 15
minutes
16.
Whilst the pork is cooking in this 15 minutes lightly spray
apples with oil & season well with salt and pepper (the apples will take
about 30 mins to bake)
17.
After the pork has completed the 15 minutes remove it from the
oven, turn the tray around again, arrange the apples around the pork on the
wire rack & return to the oven.
18.
Roast apples with pork for a further 30 minutes. By now your
pork should be cooked through and skin should be golden and crispy. Also the
apples will have split & some of the baked apple pulp will have dripped
down into the bottom of the pan adding flavour to the sauce forming under the
pork
19.
Transfer pork and apples to individual dishes, cover with foil
& allow the pork to ‘rest’ for 10 minutes.
20.
It is now time to finish your sauce.
21.
You will need a fine wire sieve that is big enough to take all
the vegetables etc from the roasting pan & a small to medium saucepan
ready.
22.
Sit the sieve over the saucepan
23.
Using a wooden spoon scape down & mix all the ingredients
in the roasting pan making sure you have scrapped up all the thick bits from
the bottom of the pan – you will have baked apple pulp, carrots, onion, garlic,
herbs, wine, stock & pork juices in this mix
24.
Remove what ever is left of the fresh marjoram bunch – it will
probably just be string & stems by now
25.
Pour everything else that is left in the pan into the sieve
& useing the wooden spoon, press/force the vegetables etc through the sieve
into the saucepan – most should go through but if there are some hard/burnt
bits that wont go through the sieve throw them out
26.
Add the last 1/3 of the lager to the roasting pan place the
pan on a hot element of the stove & as the lager begins to simmer use the
wooden spoon to get all the last bits of sauce ingredients up into the lager
27.
Pour the lager mix into the saucepan with the sieved apple mix
28.
Add the 2 tablespoons of sour cream, stir gently then place
the saucepan onto the hot element & slowly bring to the boil stirring
frequently
29.
As the sauce is finishing begin to finish the pork
30.
Remove string from pork.
31.
Peel the crackling off the pork & break it into small
pieces
32.
Slice the meat thinly, mound onto a serving plate &
sprinkle with the fresh parsley
33.
The apples & crackling can either be served around the
meat or on their own dishes to make it easier to pass around the table.
This recipe is a Q-Zine original which drew from my
experience as a chef & also from multiple internet searches with three key
internet sources found at:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/7705/roast+loin+of+pork+with+crispy+crackling+and+roasted+apples
BAVARIAN BRAISED CABBAGE:
INGREDIENTS:
·
½ large
white (green) cabbage, sliced finely
·
½ red cabbage, sliced finely
·
1 onion, sliced
·
1 garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed through a
garlic press
·
3 tbsp. sugar
·
½ tsp salt
·
¼ tsp ground white pepper
·
1 tsp caraway seeds
·
2 tbs olive oil
·
1 cup water
·
1 tbs white apple cider vinegar
METHOD:
1.
In large pot, heat the olive oil.
2.
Add onions and brown slightly.
3.
Add sugar & gently cook until the sugan & onions
caramelize.
4.
Add the cabbage,
garlic, caraway seeds, water, vinegar, salt & pepper.
5.
Bring the
ingredients gently to a boil and
simmer, covered, about 1/2 hour or until cabbage is tender, stirring
occasionally and adding extra water if needed.
6.
When the cabbage is tender remove the lid & cook gently
until any excess liquid is evaporated
7.
When the cabbage is cooked you can place a lid on it &
keep it warm until you are ready to serve it in a dish for the table
Adapted from a recipe sourced from:
BUTTERED ASPARAGUS
INGERDIENTS:
·
3 bunches / 500 gm fresh asparagus
·
1 tsp. salt
·
1 tsp. sugar
·
1 T. butter
TIP:
This is a very fast dish to cook so you can prepare the
asparagus early & then cook it just before you are ready to serve
METHOD:
1. use
a vegetable peeler to take some strips from the bottom 6 cm of the asparagus –
don’t peel it all around as it will not cook unevenly – the idea is to just
remove enough so that when the asparagus is placed in the boiling water the
effect of the water can get into the vegetable but the asparagus will still
hold its shape & stay firm
2. once
you have peeled the ends you will need to cut off the bottom 1cm or so as this
is tough & inedible
3. To
make a nice presentation on the table it is ideal that all the asparagus are
the same length. If you just cut off the bottom they will all be different
lengths, so line the asparagus up on a chopping board so all the tips are
aligned & cut off the ends,
that way all the end bits you cut off will be slightly different lengths but
the asparagus you are going to cook will all be the same length
4. To
cook the asparagus choose a wide, preferably stainless steel frypan & fill
it ¾ to the top with water. Add the salt sugar & water & bring to the
boil. The pan should be wide & shallow enough to take all the asparagus in
a single layer
5. Lay
the asparagus in the pan so that the tips are out of the water & laying on
the edge of the pan – this way the tougher ends can cook first
6. Cook
the asparagus this way for about
3-5 mins until the ends turn a bright green & look tender
7. Now
gently slide the whole asparagus into the gently boiling water so that the tips
can be cooked
8. This
will not take long – maybe a minute – remove them from the heat as soon as the
tips turn bright green & use a slotted spoon to scoop the asparagus out of
the water onto a serving dish
9. Now
the asparagus are ready to be served. If there is any water on the plate dry it
off with paper towel & serve the dish right away
This is an original Q-Zine recipe formed from my own food
knowledge & informed by a recipe sourced from:
JACKET POTATOES WITH PARSLEY
INGREDIENTS:
·
2 new, clean waxy potatoes per person plus a few for
‘the pot’
·
2 tsp salt
·
2 tbs butter
·
2 tbs fresh parsley – chopped
TIP:
1. Don’t
stab your potatoes with a fork to see if they are cooked – this will only tear
their skin & open the potentially uncooked potato to the negative impact of
boiling water & the potato may ‘powder’ or fall apart. Instead, if you
think the potatoes are cooked, gently test them by seeing how far the tip of a
sharp vegetable knife will go into
a potato. You will know the potatoes are cooked when the knife easily reaches
into the middle of the potato.
2. This
is a simple dish so the secret to making it lovely is in the gentle cooking of
the potato so the skin doesn’t split
METHOD:
3. wash
the potatoes & make sure they are completely clean of dirt – new potatoes
are best as they are usually dirt free. If you have to use dirty potatoes scrub
them well with a fine vegetable
brush to ensure that they are clean
4. place
clean potatoes in a large pot, add enough water to cover the potatoes by at
least 5 cm & add salt
5. Place
the pot on a low heat element, cover the pot & slowly bring to the boil – a
slow boil will help to prevent the potato skins from splitting as the potato
cooks & expands under heat. Give yourself an hour to cook the potatoes –
half an hour to bring to the boil gently, then another half hour to cook &
finish them
6. Once
the water in the pot is boiling turn the element down as low as you can but
still keep the water at a gentle rolling
boil & cook the potatoes for about 20 minutes or until you can slip the tip
of a sharp vegetable knife into the middle of the potato.
7. When
they are done, drain most off the water off . Don’t just tip them into a
colander or the skins will split. One option is to lift the potatoes out of the
water at this stage, play then on a plate, tip out the last bits of water from
the pot then put the potatoes back in the dry pot.
8. Now
put the pot back on the stove element which is switched off but still warm,
& steam dry the potatoes for a minute or so, shaking the pot a few times
until any last bits of water are
evaporated.
9. Add
the butter & parsley to the pot & cover with a lid. The potatoes will
now keep hot & fresh until you are ready to serve them so don’t remove the
lid again until you are ready to put them on the table.
This recipe is a Q-Zine original drawn from my own
experience & informed from:
http://germanfood.about.com/od/potatoesandnoodles/a/dampfkart.htm
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