Eisbein recipe

Eisbein recipe will take a couple of hours from start to finish but only a minimal amount of that time will you actually be busy.

A pressure-cooker saves you time and money. It really is very easy.

The hock of a pig is one of the cheaper cuts; for some reason people want ham or braised ribs. Take advantage of it. I have just paid roughly $1 per pound for an eisbein; of course there's a big bone, but that goes first for a soup, and then to the dogs. Nothing is wasted.

Whether to have your hock smoked or not is controversial. Like all processed meat the indications are that it is one of the many causes of neoplasms. As for bacon, keep it for special occasions. 

We enjoyed two unsmoked eisbeins every month or two, and perhaps once a year we indulge in the more risky kind.

Ingredients

1. Two eisbein pork hocks
2. 1 onion; often I will use a bunch of wild leeks from the garden.
   
3. Herbs and spices
   

Go for it

In the pressure cooker

• Place two or more eisbein hocks into a pressure cooker on the trivet to stop burning.
• Add the onion.
• No salt yet.
  
• Add a few bay leaves and half a dozen cloves and peppercorns.
• Add 1 cup of water and bring to pressure for 60 - 70 minutes.
• Cool and test to see if the hocks are tender.
• Remove them and place in a roasting pan.
• With the lid off the pressure cooker continue heating to reduce the liquid by a half.

In the oven

• Meanwhile bring the oven up to 180 degrees.
• Once the eisbein hocks have cooled at little put them into the hot oven for 60 minutes.
• For the last 15 minutes turn the temperature up to 200 degrees to allow the skin to crackle.
  
• For this eisbein recipe baste the hocks periodically with a mixture of honey, salt and black pepper and perhaps a tablespoon of apricot jam, together with the concentrated juices from the pressure-cooker.

That basting liquid must be quite thick, otherwise it just runs off the meat and burns on the roasting tray.

This is a succulent and absolutely divine dish, fit for a king.

Personally, whilst I love smoked pork, we choose otherwise; the research is strong that processed meat causes tumours.

While I will eat ham and bacon only occasionally, this unprocessed eisbein recipe is an inexpensive and so delicious source of protein that I could make this dish at least a couple times a month.

Whilst talking to a chef recently, who gave me this recipe, he said the source of your meat makes a huge difference. Free range pork does exist but it is hard to get, and you should happily expect to pay more.

A pig that gallivants around the forest is likely to be leaner and a lot more tasty that one that is stuck in a sty eating only corn and beans.

Eisbein recipe

Eisbein recipe is not difficult or time-consuming if you have pressure cooker.

Eisbein and sauerkraut

I am a great believer in long established traditions. Corn and beans, eisbein and sauerkraut, and bread and butter have all stood the test of time.

Having said that, the food of today is not the same as that of yesteryear. Is the corn genetically modified, and does the sauerkraut have flavour-enhancers and preservatives added to it? Is the bread made from 100% wholemeal, or is it highly refined?

This homemade sauerkraut recipe is a probiotic, an enhancer of digestion and the happy gut and it is the perfect food to go with your eisbein.

Add broccoli and half an avocado and one need feel no guilt of lump or two of butter.

This meal contains three coloured foods, so we are well on our way to the ten that we aim for every day.

Notice too that I do not have a whole hock on my plate. These two eisbeins have already given us five helpings, and we are only half-way.

The dogs will eventually enjoy the bones.

Also there was a lot of bouillon left over that we will put into the next soup. This simple eisbein recipe contributes to the well-being of the whole family.

What strikes me is just how easy it is to make an eisbein recipe and this homemade sauerkraut; we have got so lazy and pay a huge price. Not so much in dollars and cents but in all the chemicals that companies must add to preserve our food unto everlasting life, but shorten ours.

Pressure cooking

Pressure cookers save time and electricity; divide the minutes of a normal recipe by three.

We use a solar pressure cooker, the electricity coming from the sun, so there is no expense; otherwise you use the appliance in exactly the same way.

Using the shorter cooking period means less greenhouse gases; it helps save the planet.

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