Baekeoffe
Baekeoffe, comes from traditional Alsatian ovens. Particularly the bakers oven, where the ready made casserole would be dropped off, so to be slow cooked in the slow oven used to make bread. Which would explain why in Alsatian, Baekeoffe means "baker's oven". The baker probably got to sell a loaf or two, and would seal the earthenware casserole lids with dough to keep it all tightly together.
Historically, it is unclear exactly what people did while they waited for their casserole to be ready, but all accounts agree this casserole was invented to save time.
Ingredients
- 600gr beef chuck, in chunks
- 600gr pork shoulder, in chunks
- 600gr lamb shoulder, in chunks
- 2 leeks, sliced in rings
- 2 onions, sliced in rings
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1kg potatoes sliced
- 2 carrots thickly sliced
- 750ml Alsatian white wine
- 5 dry juniper berries,
- 10 pepper corns
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 small bunch of thyme
- 1 tbs olive oil
- Salt
Optional, the dough seal
- 3 cups flour
- 3 cups water
Preparation
Start the day before by putting everything (except the potatoes) in the wine to marinate. You can choose to add all the herbs and spices into a cheesecloth bundle, or crush them with a mortar. Most importantly both the herbs and the meat must be completely submerged in the wine.
The next day, separate the marinade from the rest. In your oven safe cookware, coat the bottom with the oil and add one layer of sliced potatoes, put the drained meat and vegetables on top in a thick layer and sprinkle a little salt, then add another tiled layer of potatoes. Do this until you run out of meat and reserve one last layer of potatoes for the top.
When you are done layering gently add the marinade back to the baekeoffe, topping with water if necessary.
If you are going to seal with the traditional "rope", make the dough and apply it to the pot rim placing the lid carefully on top, you can pinch the edges to make sure the dough grips the lid securely.
Starting with a cold oven, set the temperature to 160 Celsius and place the pot inside. In four hours your baekeoffe will be ready to serve.
The stew will feed 4 hungry stew lovers.