Beer Braised Pork Knuckles Recipes

BEER-BRAISED PORK CHOPS

Steps:

• Combine flour, salt, and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Add pork chops and shake well to coat thoroughly.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and heat until sizzling. Add pork chops in a single layer. Saute until browned on one side, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Turn pork chops over and cook for an additional 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Transfer pork chops to a plate.
• Add beer, vinegar, mustard, brown sugar, and rosemary to the skillet and mix well. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Return pork chops to the skillet, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until pork chops are no longer pink in the center, 10 to 12 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).
• Transfer pork chops to a plate. Increase heat to medium and boil pan juices in the skillet until thickened, whisking often, about 3 minutes. Top pork chops with sauce.

GERMAN PORK KNUCKLE (SCHWEINSHAXE) - SLOW ROASTED WITH CRISPY CRACKLING!

Steps:

• Prick skin: Poke lots of small holes all over the pork knuckle's skin, using a small sharp knife or even a pin (eg. safety pin, sewing pin). Take care not to pierce through the fat into the flesh (Note 7).
• Vinegar: Brush (or rub) 1 tbsp of the vinegar on the pork flesh only, including inside cracks / crevices and meat under the skin where it meets the flesh (but do not peel skin back). Avoid getting vinegar on the skin.
• Stud with garlic: Make shallow incisions in the pork flesh (only) with a small knife then stuff with the garlic slivers.
• Seasoning rub: Pound the rub ingredients in a mortar and pestle until it's a coarse powder (or use a Nutribullet, spice grinder or similar).
• Rub seasoning on pork: Rub pork skin with olive oil. Then rub the seasoning mix all over the pork - on the flesh, skin, and getting into all the cracks and crevices.
• Skewer skin (secret for crispy skin! Note 8): Pull the skin down to stretch it tight so there's no creases. Then thread through 2 metal skewers in a "X" formation near the base of the knuckle. Pierce through skin 2cm / 0.8" from the base of the pork knuckle to hold the stretched skin in place.
• "Marinate" overnight: Place pork standing on a plate, then leave uncovered in the fridge overnight (Note 9).
• Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan).
• Beer gravy: Put all beer gravy ingredients in a roasting pan (deep enough to hold all liquids and vegetables).
• Rack on pan: Place a rack over the pan. Place pork knuckle on rack, sitting upright. (Note 10)
• Slow roast: Roast for 2 hours 10 minutes, rotating tray half way. (If the liquid in the pan is getting too low and in danger of drying out, top with 1/2 cup of water at a time.) Roast until the internal temperature in the thickest part of meat reaches 85°C / 185°F.
• Remove knuckle from oven, transfer knuckle to a tray.
• Increase oven: Increase oven to 260°C / 500°F (240°C fan) (Note 11)
• Brush skin with vinegar: Brush skin with 1/2 the remaining 1 tbsp of vinegar. Place in oven for 30 minutes, rotating tray halfway and brushing with remaining vinegar.
• Skin should be crispy, dip golden and mostly bubbly.
• Rest: Rest 15 minutes before serving with German Beer Gravy!
• Strain liquid: Strain roasting pan juices into a saucepan. Ideally you should have around 1.5 - 2 cups.
• Thicken: Bring liquid to a simmer. Mix cornflour and water, then pour into liquid while stirring. Add sugar and salt to taste.
• Simmer: Simmer for 2 minutes or until it becomes a thin syrup consistency (German beer gravy should not be as thick as normal gravy, but quite runny). If it's too thick, add a touch of water. Too thin, simmer to reduce - it will thicken. Serve with pork knuckle!

BEER-BRAISED PORK KNUCKLES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 220 C. Put salt, caraway seeds, grated garlic and mix everything well together. Rub the mixture into the pork hocks. Peel the onions, slice into rounds and cover the bottom of the roasting tin with them. Sit the hocks on top and cook in the oven for 30 minutes. Take the tin out and quickly arrange apples, potatoes around the hocks and pour half the beer over. Put back into the oven for 2 hours and lover the temperature to 170 C. Turn the oven up again to 220 C, baste the hocks with the rest of the beer and leave to cook at the higher temperature for another 30 minutes. 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. Put the tin on the hob over a medium heat and add 500 ml boiling water (I had enough juices and didn't have to add water), stirring to de-glaze the pan and make gravy. Nigella doesn't write about that but my Hubby took a sieve and put onions and apples with juices through it - it made nice, thick gravy. Take the crackling off the pork and break into pieces, pull apart or carve the meat and serve with potatoes, gravy and maybe some German mustard. Bon appétit!

BEER BRAISED PORK KNUCKLES WITH CARAWAY, GARLIC, APPLES AND POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Put the salt and caraway seeds into a bowl, mince or grate in the garlic, and stir to combine. Add the pork knuckles and rub them well with the caraway mixture, getting it into the slits in the rind where it was scored.
• Peel the onions and slice them into rounds and add them to the bottom of a roasting tin, making a bed or platform. Sit the knuckles on top of the onions and cook them for 30 minutes.
• Take the tin out of the oven and quickly arrange the apples and potatoes around the knuckles. Carefully pour 1 cup of the beer over the knuckles, so they are basted as the liquid pours into the tin. Put the pan back into the oven. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and roast for 2 hours.
• Turn the oven up again to 425 degrees F, and baste the hocks with the remaining beer. Roast for 30 minutes more.
• Remove the tin from the oven and transfer the apples and potatoes to a warmed serving dish. Lift the knuckles onto a carving board and leave the onion and juices in the tin. Put the tin on the stove over medium heat and add 2 cups boiling water, stirring to deglaze the pan to make a gravy. Transfer the gravy to a serving bowl.
• Take the crackling off the knuckles and break it into pieces, then add them to a serving bowl. Pull or carve the pork meat and add it to the bowl with the crackling. Serve with the apples, potatoes, gravy and some German mustard.
• Make Ahead Note:
• The pork and onions can be put in roasting tin up to 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Just before cooking, rub with the salt, caraway and garlic and cook as directed.
• Making leftovers right:
• Leftover pork can be stored in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped in aluminum foil, for up to 3 days. Eat it cold or reheat gently in a saucepan with leftover gravy, until piping hot. You should store any leftover gravy in a separate airtight container in the in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days.
• Leftover pork can be frozen for up to 2 months, tightly wrapped in foil, then defrosted overnight in the refrigerator. Even if you have an amount too small to be useful by itself (a likely outcome), simply bag and mark it up and freeze it for future use in the Pantry Paella recipe.