Braised ribs

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 ½ kg pork ribs, meaty
• 500 g soup vegetables
• 1 liter meat broth
• 200 ml beer (smoked beer), alternatively dark bock beer
• 4 slices of black bread, without crust
• 4 onions, cut into half rings
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp clarified butter or lard
• 1 tsp caraway seeds, whole
• 4 juniper berries
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours 15 minutes; Total time approx. 3 hours

Leiterla in Wurzelgwerch, an old recipe from the Steigerwald

Rub the ribs well with salt and pepper. Clean the soup vegetables, cut the carrots into large pieces, and chop the rest of the vegetables into small pieces. Heat the lard in a roasting pan and sear the ribs in batches on both sides. Remove the ribs from the pan and brown the soup vegetables with the onions in the pan, deglaze with the beer, and let the beer reduce briefly. Pour in the stock until the vegetables are well covered, adding a little more beer or water if necessary. Add the garlic. Tear the bread into small pieces and add it to the stock. Place the caraway seeds, juniper berries, and bay leaves in a spice ball and suspend the ball in the stock. Place the ribs on top of the vegetables and brush with half of the honey. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 1 hour 45 minutes. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Carefully remove the ribs from the pan (the meat will already be starting to flake off) and place them on the baking sheet. Brush with the remaining honey and bake in the oven at 200°C for about 15 minutes. Remove the spice ball from the sauce. Remove the carrots from the sauce and keep warm. Strain the sauce through a sieve or puree with an immersion blender and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange the ribs with the carrots and serve, passing the sauce separately. Serve with dumplings made from boiled potatoes (cotton dumplings) and sauerkraut.