Goetta

By hcardall

Friends from Cincinnati got me to try their family Goetta recipe. When they said they made it in the crockpot and then freeze it until they want to eat it.... I was SOLD! So delicious as a breakfast meat alternative! Spice it up and tweak the recipe any way you want once you have the basics down. You will love this as a new tradition!!!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 quarts water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 2 1/2 cups steel cut oats
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 large white or vadalia onion, finely chopped (red onions discolor, but are also fine)
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 4-6 minced garlic cloves (or to taste)
• Optional: Crock Pot Liner Bag- so much easier to clean the oatmeal out of the pot!!
• Add additional spices to your liking. Don't be afraid to spice this up. To the water mixture we also added Nature Seasoning's, Slap Your Mama Creole Spice, and Lemon Pepper. It really is what you like for your family.

Details

Servings 3
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 285mins

Preparation

Step 1

Line the pot with the bag. Bring water, salt, bay leaves and pepper to boil in a slow cooker set to High. (If this isn't happening, cheat... start it up on the stove... and dump in to a warmed up crock pot that has a little water in it already). Stir in steel cut oats, cover, and cook 90 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix beef, pork, onions and garlic. Stir into the oat mixture, and reduce heat to Low. Cover, and continue cooking 1.5 - 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

SPECIAL NOTE: I had doubled the original recipe the first time and had 5 cups of oats and 4 cups of meat... NO WAY it would all fit in the crock pot. If the mixture seems to be too much to add to the crock pot at this time, simply take it out after the oats are finished cooking and transfer to a large roasting pan (such as a Turkey Roaster). Set the temp to 300 degrees. Mix the Oats and Meat together and continue cooking in oven for about 90 minutes, stirring every 30 minutes. Continue to the next step... everything will be fine. Remember, you are only partially cooking the Goetta. It will be fully cooked when you fry it for breakfast.

Transfer the mixture to a medium baking pan/ loaf pans lined with plastic wrap (easier to remove and clean), and cool until semi-solid by chilling 1 hour or more in the refrigerator, or until firm. I did this at night, so I covered with plastic wrap and left in refrigerator overnight. After completely cooled, turn out onto wax paper onto cutting board, and cut into thin slices.

Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium high heat. Cook slices one at a time in the heated oil until evenly brown on each side.

You can freeze the slices up to 3 months if you are not ready to eat the entire mixture at once. Just put freezer paper between slices. Pull out and defrost what you need and fry up one at time when ready. Be careful in oil, if any frozen ice hits the oil.