Baked pork steaks in Metaxa sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 minute steak(s) of pork
• 1 bunch thyme, fresh
• 1 tsp oregano, dried
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 pinch(s) of pepper
• 100 ml olive oil
• 2 onions
• 4 tbsp tomato paste
• 400 ml vegetable stock
• 200 g cream
• 200 g crème fraîche
• 4 cl Metaxa
• 1 clove(s) garlic
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp paprika powder, sweet or hot, as desired
• possibly salt
• n. B. Cheese for topping (butter cheese goes very well)

Instructions

Working time approx. 25 minutes; Rest time approx. 8 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours 15 minutes; Total time approx. 10 hours 40 minutes

like the Greek

Place the steaks in a bag, add the coarsely chopped thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Refrigerate overnight. For the Metaxa sauce, heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add a splash of olive oil and fry the tomato paste for 3 minutes, stirring continuously. Dice the onions as finely as possible and add them to the pan. Sauté for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions should not brown, just soften; reduce the heat accordingly if necessary. Deglaze with the stock and reduce by half. This takes about 30-45 minutes over medium heat. Add the cream and crème fraîche and reduce for another 30 minutes. Add the spices and the finely chopped garlic clove. Then add the Metaxa to the sauce and simmer for another 30 minutes, or until the alcohol has evaporated. Season with salt if necessary and remove from the heat. You should end up with about 500 ml of sauce. Temperature and time may need to be adjusted depending on the size of the pan. Take the steaks out of the fridge half an hour before cooking and remove as much green as possible, as otherwise it will burn. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a grill pan on high until smoking point and grill the steaks in the grill pan for 90 seconds on each side. If you want a crisscross pattern, rotate 90 degrees after 45 seconds. Remove and let rest for 5 minutes. Transfer to a baking dish, pour the Metaxa sauce over the steaks and sprinkle with cheese. (If you make the sauce the day before, be sure to reheat it. Do not pour it on cold.) Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven at 250 degrees on the top rack for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese has completely melted.