The mature slut with straps from the fire table

➊ For the basic seasoning, mix the ingredients well and grind them in a mortar. For steaks, grind the seasoning coarsely; for side dishes and sauces, grind it a little finer. If you use dried spices, you can mix larger quantities in advance and store them in a dark glass jar. When it comes to seasoning, anything goes and this base can be endlessly supplemented to suit meat, fish or vegetables.

➋ Preheat a cast iron pan well. Remove the rind from the leg steak, cut the fat edge back to approx. 1 cm and cut it crosswise. Finely dice the rind and put it to one side.

➌ Rub the shank steak with some basic spices and leave to soak for 10 minutes. Grill the cut fat edge of the steak in the hot cast iron pan until brown all around. To do this, simply "fold" the meat so that you can fry both fat edges at the same time.

➍ Now fry the steak in the rendered fat for 3 minutes on each side. The fat ensures perfect heat transfer, great roasted aromas and even browning.

➎ In the meantime, briefly place the wooden plank on the fire or over the flame. When it is smoking and slightly burnt, turn the wooden plank over and place it on the fire plate or in the indirect grill area of ​​the grill. Cover with fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme or oregano and place the steak on the herbs so that the fat edge extends over the edge of the plank towards the embers. This will keep it nice and crispy. Now cover the steak with a dome and leave to rest at a reduced heat until the core temperature reaches 57 °C. It is now in the resting phase and is still absorbing aromas from the smoking plank and the herbs.

➏ At the same time, fry the fat cubes in the pan until crispy, add the onions and fry until golden brown. Season the resulting lard with garlic and basic spices, remove from the heat and finish with spring onions.

➐ Carve the pork shank, glaze with the still warm lard and sprinkle with crispy “straps” – to do this, let the pork shank pop on the grill over high heat until it is nice and crispy and then roughly crush it in a mortar. Sprinkle salt flakes over the carved meat.

Leo's TIP: "The 'Reife Nutsch' is a selected Duroc or Swabian-Hall organic pork from our partner companies. Only if the marbling is good does the noble meat make it into our maturing room. For this recipe, I prefer a knuckle with a nice fat edge and at least three weeks of maturing."