Recipe: A Cincinnati Short-Timer’s Goetta

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Back in 2009, we asked Jason Cohen to share his personal recipe for our other notorious local delicacy:

There’s no right way to cook goetta – just somebody’s favorite way. After several months of research, inspiration and a half a dozen batches, this is mine. For now.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups pork stock
2 cups beef stock
4 cups water
2 ½ cups of oats
1.25 lbs. ground pork butt/shoulder
.75 lbs. ground beef chuck
one large onion
four cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
1 tsp of white pepper
1 tsp of marjoram
5 tsp of salt (or less to taste)
2 tsp of black pepper
¼ tsp of cayenne pepper (or to taste)

INSTRUCTIONS
Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees. Combine stock and water in cast iron or enameled cast iron dutch oven. Heat on stovetop until just short of a boil. Stir in oats and spices. Allow mixture to heat back up to simmering. Add meats, stir. Cover and transfer to oven. Cook for four hours, stirring once an hour. At hour three, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Lay out goetta mixture in two oiled metal loaf pans. Cover, cool and refrigerate. Slice and fry the next day.

NOTES

  • Grind your own meat if possible. One suggestion, from a Woodville, Ohio recipe in William Woys Weaver’s book Country Scrapple: Grind up half the meat to ultra-fine consistency, and leave the other half more coarse.
  • Country style boneless “ribs” are a nice (and fatty) option for the pork shoulder.
  • You can make your own stock by cooking the meat prior to grinding, in which case time in the oven should be cut in half. Or you can just do the whole thing on the stovetop for 60 to 90 minutes—however long it takes the oats to cook and soak up liquid. Personally, I like the way the meat renders and mixes with the oats while covered in the oven.

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