Recipe: Reisfleisch

Confession:  I'm not a multiple-pan person.  When I cook, I don't want to have a pan for the protein, a pan for the vegetables and a pan for the starch, all bubbling away to make the one dish I want to eat - I don't enjoy the experience.  I'd rather have a huge pot, where I can cook all the ingredients, the one after the other, and have a warm, comforting, delightful dish as a result.  This is my recipe for a typical wintery German dish that shelters me from all evil (cold, work, traffic) like nothing else...

Reisfleisch (literally:  rice with meat)

500g pork, in little cubes

500g tomatoes, chopped

2 bell peppers, chopped

1/2 aubergine, in pieces (I buy them ready sliced, grilled and frozen)

1 shallot, thinly chopped

100g bacon, chopped

1 l chicken stock

200g white rice

salt/pepper/parika/laurel leaf

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Start with the bacon.  Using a large, heavy pot, fry bacon for a bit over medium  heat, until it's nice and lightly crispy.  Set aside and fry the onion in the fat left.  Add bell peppers and aubergine, heat through - set aside as well.  Oil spray the pot and fry the pork pieces until nicely coloured from all sides (it doesn't have to cook through, this will be done during the next step).

Return all previous ingredients to the pot.  Add the tomatoes, rice and condiments.  Pour chicken stock.  Continue over medium heat, and let everything bubble away for about 1 hour.  The consistency should be of  a thick liquid.  Remove from heat and leave to cool (if you can resist...).  

I love this dish because it has all the goodness there is in the kitchen - comfort food but at the same time nutricious food.  Best combination I can think of!

This post is my entry into Weekend Cooking, a weekly event hosted by Beth Fish Reads.