Grandma's Goetta Recipe

I am sure you all are wondering what in the world is Goetta. From my understanding it is a German dish. In our family we eat it for breakfast. Although, this would be good at dinner too. This meatloaf kind of thing is something our grandma would make regularly. As a kid I was not in love with it however, as an adult I love it! Not that this does not appeal to kids cause my 3 year-old loves it too. 

Goetta is a bit of a labor of love. It is precooked, packed into loaf pans then chilled/frozen until you are ready to fry it up to eat. My cousin figured out how to adapt the recipe for the slow cooker which limits your need to hovering over the stove during the precooking phase. This is a big help since I don't have time to babysit food when I have real babies that need my attention. 

Since most of the work is done up front, makes a ton and freezes wonderfully this makes it a great on hand meal. In fact when I put this post together for you I made a double batch (two slow cookers needed) so I won't need to make it again for a few months. This is actually a pretty healthy recipe too. The bulk of the loaf is steel cut/pinhead oats and I choose to make mine with a ground turkey & turkey sausage rather than the pork that grandma used. When I "fry" it up I don't use but a couple teaspoons of olive oil & my best nonstick skillet. I am sure grandma used lard or bacon fat in a cast iron pan. We serve it with eggs & toast however it really is a complete meal itself.

Gather your ingredients and get your slow cooker warming the water on high. (you won't need the 4 pound of meat you see here. I was making a double batch.) You can add your seasonings before or after the water is hot. This is the nice thing about using the slow cooker, you don't need to stress too much about stopping and starting or fuss too much over it. (with my two kids stopping and starting is necessary any ways)

After your water is hot and your seasonings are in stir in the oats. Cook on high for 1 1/2 hours. Its good to stir 2 - 3 times however I have set a timer and walked away and forgot to stir and it was just fine.

After the 1 1/2 hours reduce the slow cooker to low and stir in the onion. As you can see mine is very fine from the food processor. My family likes the onion and find we like it better when it is like this. 

Break up the ground turkey and sausage with your hands as you are adding it to the slow cooker. Trust me you will want to do this. The bigger the chucks you start with the more challenging it is to stir together.

Now stir and stir and stir and stir some more. This is the most painful but necessary part of the process.  Once it looks something like this your done stirring. Cover and cook for 3 hours on the low setting.

When it looks something like this the slow cooker part is done and you can fish out your bay leaves. I let mine cool in the crock on the counter for an hour before the next step.

Divide the mixture between two standard size loaf pans. Make sure it is even and packed down. I lined my pans with plastic wrap (I have also used wax paper) to help me remove it from the pans later.  Cover and put the pans in the freezer for 6 - 12 hours. 

Remove the loafs from the pan, wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap then foil, label and put it back in the freezer for up to 3 months. Or you can place a loaf in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 3 days. 

Place 1/2 inch slices in a hot non stick skillet with oil or butter. It is key to use a good nonstick skillet. We have tried many different pans and found that the Green Pan is the best. Everything else has turned out in complete disaster. Your only other alternative is to use a ton of very hot oil to keep it from sticking and to stay together. The Green Pan is the best for eggs too. (I am not a Green Pan spokesperson, its just a good product)

Serve it with eggs, toast and good cup a coffee. Yum!

It may seem like an odd ball recipe but I really hope you try it. It really is yummy and a nice change from the old standards for breakfast.


Grandma's Goetta

Ingredients:

6 cups water

3 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 large dried bay leaves

1/2 tsp dried rubbed sage

1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves

2 1/2 cups steel cut/pinhead oats

1 large onion finely chopped (I use my food processor for this)

1 lb ground turkey (beef can be used if you prefer)

1 lb bulk turkey sausage (pork sausage can be used if you prefer)

1. Heat the water in the slow cooker with the salt, pepper, bay leaves, sage & thyme on high for about a half hour. 
2. Stir in the oats and cook on high for 1 1/2 hour stirring a couple times.
3. Stir in onions then the meat until everything is broken up and distributed well in the oats. Cover and cook for 3 more hours on LOW Stirring occasionally.
4. Divide mixture between 2 standard size bread pans. Let cool then refrigerate until ready to use.
5. Slice and "fry"/brown in a non-stick skillet with a light coating of oil or butter. Don't over crowd your pan only cook a couple at a time. When making several slices preheat your oven for warming. Move the cooked ones to a cookie sheet in the oven until you are ready to serve.

To Freeze: At step 4 put the cooled pans in the freezer for 12 hours/overnight. Remove the frozen loafs from the pans wrap in plastic wrap or wax paper then wrap in foil and put back in the freezer. Lasts in freezer for up to three months. When you are ready to use thaw in the refrigerator for at least over night then continue with step 5.

Thanks for stopping by the nest!

Darla