Black Forest pasture

Ingredients for 5 servings:

• 10 veal cheeks, the tough upper layer removed
• Clarified butter
• salt and pepper
• 1 leek
• 1 m.-large celery
• 3 carrots
• 1 ½ tube(s) tomato paste
• 2 liters of red wine
• 1 liter port wine
• 800 ml veal stock
• 1 tube(s) Tomato paste
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 juniper berries
• 5 sprigs of thyme
• 5 rosemary sprigs
• n. B. cornstarch, optional
• some spelt flour, optional
• 6 pretzels from the previous day
• 3 onions
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 bunch of parsley
• 3 eggs, size M
• 150 ml milk, lukewarm, up to 180 ml
• 1 pinch of nutmeg
• salt and pepper
• ½ head of savoy cabbage
• 2 onions
• Clarified butter
• Water
• vegetable broth
• Crème fraîche
• Caraway seeds
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 4 hours; Total time approx. 4 hours 45 minutes

from the show “The Perfect Dinner” on VOX from 05.03.2025

Remove any fat and tendons from the veal cheeks and season with salt and pepper. Heat clarified butter in a roasting pan and sear the cheeks on both sides. Then remove and set aside. Finely chop the leek, celery, and carrots, add them to the roasting pan, and roast them lightly. Stir in the tomato paste and roast briefly. Deglaze with red wine, port wine, and veal stock. Add the bay leaves, juniper berries, thyme, and rosemary. Return the cheeks to the sauce and place the roasting pan, lid closed, in an oven preheated to 180°C (convection oven). Braise the veal cheeks for at least four hours, checking occasionally to ensure the cheeks are covered with liquid and adding a little more stock if necessary. When the meat is tender and soft, remove the cheeks from the sauce. Strain the sauce into a saucepan, pressing down the vegetables well with a wooden spoon. If the sauce is too thin, mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of spelt flour and 4 tablespoons of sauce in a small bowl until smooth and add to the sauce, stirring constantly. Use only a little. Return the veal cheeks to the sauce and keep warm in an oven at 90°C fan-assisted oven until ready to serve. For the pretzel dumplings, roughly dice the pretzels the day before and place them in a large bowl. Leave uncovered to prevent moisture from building up. The next day, finely dice the onions and sauté them in a pan with butter until translucent. Heat the milk in the same pan. Add the onion-milk mixture to the pretzel cubes. Add the eggs, chopped parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Knead everything thoroughly – ideally wearing disposable gloves. If the dough seems too dry, add a little more milk. Place a sufficiently large piece of cling film on the work surface. Place the dough in the center and shape into a compact roll. Wrap tightly in the film and then wrap in aluminum foil. There are two cooking methods: – In the Thermomix: Place the napkin dumpling parcels in the Varoma insert and steam for about 30 minutes. Add enough water to the mixing bowl. – In a saucepan: Boil water, add the napkin dumpling parcels and let it simmer at low heat for about 30 minutes. The water should not boil anymore. After the cooking time, unwrap the dumplings and cut into not too thick slices. Cut the savoy cabbage into bite-sized strips. Roughly chop the onions and sauté in a pan with clarified butter. As soon as the savoy cabbage develops a light roasted aroma, add a little water, salt, pepper, caraway seeds and vegetable stock powder. Simmer with the lid closed at low heat for about 10 minutes so that the savoy cabbage still has some bite. Finally, stir in the crème fraîche. Katja prepared this recipe as a main course in the show “The Perfect Dinner” – Day 3 in Freiburg, on Wednesday, March 5, 2025.