ALSACE “BAECKEOFFE” CASSEROLE FOR A HUNGRY GANG

Today we’ve got one more recipe from my mother in law, namely an “Elsässer Baeckeoffe”, which can be translated with “Alsace Bake Oven”. It’s a very aromatic casserole with marinated meat (pork, beef or mutton), potatoes and vegetables. (Directly to recipe)

Actually, in my husband’s family, this stew is the typical family dish on New Years Day. But my mother in law made an exception for the blog and prepared it already. 😉

It’s the perfect dish to feed a crowd of hungry people. But as it’s rather spicy and aromatic, and marinated with white wine, it may not so much to be to a kid’s tasting…

The “baker’s oven” is originally from the Alsace, France. In former times, the housewifes made it on mondays. As mondays where the day to do the laundry, they had no time to cook. So they prepared the casserole in advance and brought it to the baker to bake it in his oven for them. This is why the “backeoffe” was the typical “monday dish” for the Alsace families…

Tipps for the preparation of the Alsace Baeckeoffe:

Meat and vegetables have to be prepared in advance, best on the day before. This means you have to plan a bit and can not prepare this dish spontaneously. 🙂

Per person, you can calculate with around 150-250 g of meat. (5-9 oz / 0.3-0.5 lb) In this recipe, we used 1,5 kg of meat (53 oz / 3.3 lb) for 6 persons, but I think there where some leftovers.

The Baeckeoffe is very aromatic and spicy, so I would recommend some baguettes as a side dish. This way you don’t have to prepare a second dish, because vegetables and potatoes are already included in the casserole. If you still want to prepare something, I recommend this homemade onion baguettes with wholemeal spelt flour.

Here is the Baeckeoffe recipe:

STEP BY STEP - RECIPE FOR BAECKEOFFE FROM ALSACE

My mother in law's recipe for "Alsace Baeckeoffe" (Casserole with pork, potatoes and vegetables, marinated with white wine)

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Prep Time 1 min

Cook Time 2 mins

Total Time 11 mins

Servings 6 portions

Ingredients

  

• 1,5 kg tenderloin pork, beef or mutton (~53 oz / 3.3 lb)
• 8 carrots
• 2 leeks
• 4 garlic cloves
• 10 Potatoes medium size, waxy
• 1-2 bottles white wine
• 10 black peppercorns
• 2 laurel leafs
• 2-4 pimento seeds
• 2 onions
• butter or margarine
• salt
• pepper
• 1-2 tbsp thyme
• 1-2 tbsp basil dried
• 1-2 tbsp savory dried
• 1-2 cups Creme fraiche

Instructions

 

• Cut small the meat, leeks and carrots and put in a casserole or bowl.
  
• Pour with white wine until covered.
  
• Peel and mash the garlic cloves, with the pimento seeds, pepper corns and the laurel leafs, mix into the bowl. Let rest in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
  
• The next day (or after a few hours), grease a casserole (or clay pot) with butter or margarine. Preheat the oven to 220°C (~430 °F).
• Chop the onions into rings. Peel the potatoes and slice them. (About as thick as a thumb.) If you store the peeled potatoes in a bowl of cold water, they will not get brown.
  
• Now, layer by layer, put the marinated meat, the onions and the potatoes into the casserole. Then you add the marinated leeks and carrots.
  
• Salt and pepper every layer, especially the ones with the meat and the potatoes.
  
• Add basil, thyme and savory. Pour the marinade with the pepper corns and pimento seeds over the casserole. Add the laure leafs at the sides of the casserole, so that the aroma can spread more evenly. Pour another half bottle of white wine.
• Cover and put in the oven. After 40-60 minutes in the oven, reduce the heat (depending on your oven, to ~120°C/250°F). Bake for another 60-90 minutes. Before serving, mix with creme fraiche (or sour cream).