Rillettes of pork knuckle

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 2 pork knuckles, approx. 1.5 – 2.5 kg, raw, uncured
• 10 bay leaves
• 2 tsp, heaped pepper, coarsely ground
• 3 tsp salt
• n. B. Mustard seeds, optional
• n. B. Onion(s), optional
• n. B. Herbs of your choice, optional

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 8 hours; Total time approx. 9 hours

Place the grilled shanks in a tightly fitting pot. It’s not necessary for them to lie next to each other; standing up is fine too. Add 100 ml of water to the pot to allow some steam to build up. Place the pot, covered, on a stovetop over low heat. Cover with towels for insulation (not suitable for a gas stove, of course!). Let the pot stand like this for about 8 hours. The heat will build up in the pot and cook the shanks thoroughly, including the rind and tendons. Everything will be tender. Monitor the first attempt to find the right hob setting without the contents boiling vigorously and letting out a lot of steam. Otherwise, the whole thing would eventually burn. Alternatively, you can place the pot in the oven for 8 hours at 100°C (top/bottom heat). Now you can simply remove the bare bones. There are two large bones per shank, plus two smaller ones that have fallen off. Then mash the meat mixture with a potato masher. If that doesn’t work, it’s not cooked enough. Season with pepper and salt. Add bay leaves and other spices to taste, such as mustard seeds, onions, herbs, etc. Now, in an uncovered pot, cook at a high temperature, stirring occasionally, to remove some of the water that has boiled out of the meat. This takes about 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaves. Pour the hot mixture into prepared jars and screw on the lids. Tip: To be on the safe side, I put the jars in a hot oven at 100°C for an additional hour to disinfect the lids. If you’re making canned goods, everyone has their own method. At room temperature or lower, the mixture is firm enough to slice. The typical flavor of pork knuckle is clearly retained. So much delicious for little money.