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Summary

Prep Time 45 mins
Cook Time 4 hrs
Total Time 16 hrs 45 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine European
Servings (Default: 4)

Ingredients

Franconian Schäufele
Franconian Schäufele
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Instructions

  1. First of all: The Schäufele is called that because the pig`s shoulder blade has the shape of a shovel blade. Or maybe because you really shovel into a good shovel. The dish has a very old tradition in Franconia (especially Middle and Upper Franconia) as a Sunday or holiday meal. The regional tradition is not only reflected in the preparation, but also in the shape of the piece of meat. You won`t find a butcher everywhere who knows what is meant (you just have to drive from N / Franconia to M / Bavaria) and how to hit the bone with meat properly.
  2. Preparation the day before: Wash the shovel and pat dry well. Cut the rind into small squares with a very sharp knife (also known as a carpet knife). The smaller the better (approx. 1 x 1 cm or smaller) - this gives a particularly crispy crust with lots of small crackers. Of course, you can have it done by the butcher - but they should be small. Cut deep into the rind, but not into the meat.
  3. Grind the caraway seeds in a mortar, add all the other spices and a clove of garlic except for the cloves, salt, bay leaves and rosemary. Grate everything in a mortar to a seasoning paste. Except on the rind (essential oils from spices, garlic, etc. make them tough) rub the meat with it and let it rest overnight in the refrigerator, covered.
  4. Preparation on the cooking day: Preheat the oven to 250 ° C top / bottom heat. Prepare the liter of meat broth (not too strong, rather thin). Keep the meat broth hot throughout the roasting time - it will be needed gradually for infusion. One liter is ample, the rest may be needed to season the sauce.
  5. While the oven is preheating and the broth is boiling, wash the soup greens, clean them and cut them into large cubes (e.g. only quarter the carrots lengthways). We only need the heads of the parsley. Take only the inside of the stick of the leek, a 10 cm piece is enough. Lard the onions with 2 cloves each.
  6. Now first season with salt and place in a flat roasting pan or in the roasting bowl of the oven. If necessary, a large, ovenproof pan will do the job. Add the soup greens, bay leaves, rosemary and a whole clove of garlic, peeled except for the inner shell. Pour the hot broth over everything so that the soup greens are not completely covered. Then immediately place in the preheated oven on the lowest rail. The Schäufele must not be too close to the top heat, otherwise the rind will burn.
  7. After 10 minutes reduce the temperature to 150 ° C (is not NT, but has proven itself). Every 30 - 45 minutes, pour the gravy from the roasting pan over the pan. Make sure that too much liquid does not evaporate and that soup vegetables and sauce burn. If necessary, add some hot meat stock, but only enough so that the soup greens are not completely covered. About 45 minutes before the end of the roasting time, pour a little beer over the Schäufele, 15 minutes later again. If you don`t want a beer, you can also have some boiling water with a pinch of salt in it - it also promotes crust formation, if necessary at all.
  8. Depending on the quality of the meat, the Schäufele should be ready after approx. 4 hours, if in doubt it should be longer, then it will not dry out as quickly.
  9. Test: Take a thin, elastic knife and run a small piece between the meat and the bone. That should be easy. When carving, the juicy meat has to fall towards you.
  10. When the roasting time is over, wrap the Schäufele in aluminum foil and keep it warm.
  11. Pour the sauce through a sieve into a saucepan. Strain soup greens and onions (possibly without the garlic clove) through the sieve. Schäufelesauce stays natural and is usually not bound or refined with cream or sour cream. If necessary, add the rest of the meat stock and / or a little beer (but be careful!), Add salt and pepper to taste and briefly bring the sauce to a boil.
  12. Cut the shovel lengthways into slices (the most tender piece is on the underside of the bone). Keep the crust free of sauce when serving.
  13. Side dishes: raw dumplings (potato dumplings), sauerkraut and / or a mixed salad.
  14. Note: According to tradition, the Franconian actually eats a Schäufele himself, not slices of it. A shovel with bones divided into 1/2 - 1/4 is then served. Of course, this assumes that you can buy the meat from the butcher like this. If you make 4 small ones instead of one large family pancake, the roasting time is reduced to around 2.5 to 3 hours.