East Prussian turnip stew

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 1 turnip(s), approx. 800 g
• 4 m.-sized carrot(s)
• 5 m.-sized potatoes, waxy
• ¼ celery root
• some stalks of parsley, flat, for final seasoning
• 1 tbsp lard, from pork or duck, OR:
• 1 tbsp clarified butter
• 500 g soup meat, beef, if possible with bone, breast or similar
• 500 g pork belly
• 1 onion(s)
• 1 tsp juniper berries
• 1 tsp all-spice
• 1 tsp peppercorns, black
• 4 cloves
• 4 bay leaves
• 4 slice(s) ginger, cut from the fresh bulb
• Vegetable broth, instant
• salt and pepper
• 1 ½ liters of boiling water

Instructions

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

a great autumn/winter dish, that’s how my mom from East Prussia cooked it

Heat the lard in the pot and gradually brown the meat all over. Reduce the heat to about two-thirds. Make sure it’s seared all over. Simply place it in the hot fat and let it rest for two minutes, then flip it over to the next side, let it rest for another two minutes, and so on. Light browning is desirable, both on the meat and on the bottom of the pot. Once that’s done, deglaze the bottom of the pot with about 1.5 liters of boiling water. Add the peeled, whole onion (leave a little of the root attached so it doesn’t fall apart during cooking), a halved carrot, the celery cut into cubes (about 1-1.5 cm), bay leaves, the ginger, and the spices. I always put the spices in a tea infuser. You can also use a tea bag and tie a tie at the top. This way, you won’t have to go to the trouble of digging them out later. Bring the whole thing to a boil once, then reduce the heat until it’s somewhere between boiling and simmering gently. Cover and simmer for 1.5 hours. In the meantime, clean the vegetables and potatoes and cut everything into cubes of as equal size as possible (1-1.5 cm). When the broth is finished cooking, remove the meat from the broth and fish out the four slices of ginger and the softened onion. Then add all the vegetables to the broth. They should be just covered by the broth. If not, simply add water. Bring it back to a boil and reduce the heat again until it’s just simmering. Let the vegetables simmer slowly for about 20 minutes until they’re cooked through. We could have another discussion about whether the vegetables are al dente or not. Everyone should do it their own way, please. While the vegetables are simmering, cut the beef from the bones, trim any excess fat (or leave it on), and slice the piece ACROSS THE GRAIN (important!) into 1-1.5 cm thick slices. These slices (the attentive cook will have already noticed this) are then cut into 1-1.5 cm cubes. Leave the pork belly whole. It will later be sliced ​​and placed on top of the hot stew. When the cooking time is up, season the whole thing with the granulated stock, salt, and pepper. Finally, add the diced beef back in. Now chop the parsley and sprinkle it sparingly over the stew in the plate as a garnish and seasoning, then place a few slices of pork belly on top. We always serve this with a slice of good, hearty farmhouse bread and hot mustard for the pork belly. Note: I’m all for using instant stock. It makes life in the kitchen so much easier. If you don’t like it, leave it out. Of course, you can also use your own homemade brewing powder.