Beer Braised Pork Knuckles With Caraway Garlic Apples And Potatoes Food

BRAISED PORK WITH CARAWAY, APPLES AND ONIONS AND MUSTARD-CHEDDAR MASHED POTATOES WITH PARSNIPS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Let the pork sit covered at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Pat the pork dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle the pork generously with salt and pepper.
• Heat a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat with the oil, 2 turns of the pan. Place the pork in the pot and evenly brown the meat all over, about 10 to 12 minutes time in total. Remove the pork and reserve.
• Turn heat down to medium, add 3 tablespoons of the butter to the pot. When it foams, add the caraway, fennel and mustard seeds and stir for 1 minute. Add in the onions, apples, thyme, nutmeg and some salt and pepper. Cook to begin to soften, 5 minutes. Then deglaze the pot with the vinegar. Stir in the honey and beer, scraping up the bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add in the chicken stock and then the reserved pork, and bring to a simmer. Cover and place the pot in the oven until the meat is very tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours, turning the meat halfway through cooking.
• Remove the pork from the pot, place on a plate and tent with foil to keep warm. When cool enough to handle, pull the meat apart with two forks. Return the meat to the braising liquid. The apples and onions will have almost completely melted into a chunky sauce. Cool and store in the refrigerator for a make-ahead meal.
• Place the potatoes and the parsnips in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, salt the water and cook until tender. Drain and return to the hot pot. Mash the potatoes with the milk and the remaining 3 tablespoons butter. Then season with salt and pepper, and add the cheese and mustard. Taste to adjust the seasonings, cool and store for a make-ahead meal.
• To serve, reheat the pork, covered over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reheat the mashed potatoes and parsnips over medium heat covered with a little stock or milk to loosen. Mashed potatoes can be kept warm for hours by placing them in a covered saucepot inside of a larger pot filled with an inch of water at a low simmer.
• Serve the pork alongside or on top of the potatoes, and sprinkle chopped parsley on everything.

BEER-BRAISED PORK KNUCKLES WITH CARAWAY, GARLIC, APPLES AND POTATOES (NIGELLA)

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7. Put the salt and caraway seeds into a bowl, add the minced or grated garlic, and mix everything together. Rub the pork knuckles with this mixture, getting right into the slits in the scored rind. 2. Make a bed or platform of the onion slices in the bottom of a deep-sided roasting tin. Sit the pork hocks on this onion layer and cook them in the hot oven for 30 minutes. 3. Take the tin out of the oven and quickly arrange the apples and potatoes around the pork knuckles. Carefully pour over 250ml/9fl oz of the beer, aiming for the pork knuckles so they're basted as the liquid is poured into the tin. Return the tin to the oven, turning this down to 170C/325F/Gas 3. Continue to cook at this lower temperature for two hours. 4. Turn the oven up again to 220C/425F/Gas 7, pour the rest of the beer over the pork knuckles, and continue to cook at the higher temperature for another 30 minutes. 5. Take the tin out of the oven and transfer the apples and potatoes to a warmed dish. Lift the hocks onto a carving board, leaving the onion and juices in the tin. 6. Put the tin on the hob over a medium heat and add the boiling water, scraping any burned onions up from the bottom of the tin using a wooden spoon to de-glaze the tin and make a gravy. 7. Meanwhile, take the crackling off the pork knuckles and break it into pieces. Pull apart or carve the meat and pile it onto plates with the apples and potatoes. Pour over the gravy and serve with some German mustard.