Wild Boar Goulash with Cranberry-pear and Spaetzle

Marinate meat:

1. Cut the meat into 3 – 4 cm cubes and place in a bowl. Put rosemary, thyme, juniper berries, cloves, caraway powder, pepper and salt in a mortar and grind finely. Add the seasoning mixture to the meat and knead it lightly. Then pour the red wine over it, cover the meat completely, cover the bowl and leave to marinate for at least 5 hours. At the same time, pour 300 ml of boiling water over the dried porcini mushrooms in a bowl and allow to swell.

Preparation:

1. Place the roast in the oven without the lid and preheat the oven to 180 °. Peel the onion and cut into small cubes. Skin the garlic, finely chop. Peel the carrot and cut into small cubes. Clean the celery and cut into small cubes. If necessary, cut larger pieces of the soaked porcini mushrooms into small pieces, leave the small ones as they are and put them back into the softening water (everything comes together later with the meat).
2. Lift the marinated pieces of meat out of the marinade with a perforated ladle, place on kitchen paper and pat dry. Pour the marinade through a sieve and save 200 ml. Let the clarified butter get very hot in a large pan and briefly sear the pieces of meat all around, pepper and salt already. Lift the meat out of the pan, temporarily store it on a plate and sauté the chopped vegetables in the searing fat. Shortly afterwards stir in the tomato paste and sauté briefly. Then only add the mushrooms including the soaking water and stir well. Deglaze everything with the 200 ml of the meat marinade, stock and red wine vinegar, season with pepper and salt and bring to the boil once briefly.
3. Take the roaster out of the oven (be careful, it’s hot!), Pour the contents of the pan into it, add the meat and stir everything well. Turn the oven down to 120 °, put a lid on the roaster and put back in the oven. The cooking time is approx. 1.5 – 2 hours. After approx. 1 hour, add the cranberries and stir in. Take this opportunity to try a piece of meat and then decide how long it will continue to cook.
4. When the meat is tender, remove the roaster from the oven and place it on the stove. Stir in the chocolate over a mild heat and set everything with a little cornstarch mixed with water. Finally season with pepper, salt and a pinch of sugar.

Spaetzle:

1. Put the flour, eggs and salt in a bowl and stir with a wooden ladle. Gradually pour in the water in small amounts and beat the dough vigorously with the ladle. Always check the consistency of the dough after each pouring in. It is possible that not all of the water is required. The dough must be very tough and drain slowly from the ladle in long cones. Then you can either press it through a spaetzle press, brush it through a Knöpfle slicer or scrape it from a board into boiling, well-salted water. The cooking time is short. When they swim up, they can be drained and – drained well – tossed in butter.

Pears:

1. I chose the Nashi pears because they not only have a beautiful shape, but also retain a pleasant “bite” after poaching. Peel and halve the pears and hollow out the core. Let the powdered sugar caramelize in a saucepan over a mild heat (do not stir, it makes itself). When it is the color of light honey, deglaze with the wine and bring to the boil until the caramel has completely dissolved. Let the butter dissolve in it and put the pears in with the cut. If necessary reduce the heat a little, it should simmer, but not boil bubbly. Close the pot with the lid and cook for 10 minutes, then turn the pear halves and finish cooking for another 10 minutes. Then pierce with a sharp knife (as when boiling potatoes) and do the cooking test. There should be no resistance, otherwise turn the pears again and cook a little more. Remove from the stock just before serving so that they are still warm and fill with a decent dollop of cranberries.