Baeckeoffe Alsacien

Ingredients

• 500 g lamb shoulder, in 5 cm pieces
• 500 g pork shoulder, in 5 cm pieces
• 500 g beef chuck, in 5 cm pieces
• 750 ml dry Alsace Riesling or Sylvaner
• 3 onions, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 leeks, sliced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 6 juniper berries
• 1 bouquet garni of thyme, bay and parsley
• 1.5 kg waxy potatoes
• 150 g plain flour, for the seal
• 90 ml water, for the seal
• Salt and black pepper

Before you cook

• Cut all three meats into large 5 centimetre pieces
• Slice the onions, garlic, leeks and carrots
• Combine the meat, the sliced vegetables, the juniper, the bouquet garni and the wine in a large bowl, cover, and marinate in the fridge for 24 hours
• Peel the potatoes and slice them 5 millimetres thick just before assembling

Steps

1. Lift the meat out of the marinade with tongs and keep the marinade and its vegetables.
2. Season the meat all over with salt and pepper.
3. Rub a large casserole or earthenware terrine with butter.
4. Lay a third of the potato slices across the bottom in overlapping rounds and season them.
5. Spread half the marinated vegetables over the potatoes.
6. Pack in all the meat in one even layer and season it again.
7. Cover with the rest of the marinated vegetables, then finish with the remaining potatoes arranged neatly on top.
8. Strain the marinade over the dish until the liquid comes just to the top layer of potatoes.
9. Mix the flour with the water into a stiff paste and roll it into a long rope with your hands.
10. Press the rope of paste around the rim of the dish and set the lid on top so the seal closes it completely.
11. Bake at 160C for three hours without opening it.
12. Bring the dish to the table and crack the seal with the point of a knife so everyone gets the burst of Riesling steam.
13. Serve with a green salad dressed sharply to cut the richness.