Chobanac (Čobanac)
Timetable
07:00
This is an excellent time to start čobanac if you want it ready for 13:00 meal. Just dice three onions as fine as possible and start cooking them at low heat (3½) with a generous helping of oil. Do NOT burn them – mix often.
07:30
Your onions should be really soft now and it’s a good time to add shredded carrots and celery root in addition to a finely chopped garlic. Add water for mush-like consistency. Risk of burning stuff is greatly reduced now but do not forget to occasionally give it a mix.
07:45
Add pork knuckle and bring water up to 2 liter line. Also add smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper. Increase heat just a smidgen (4) and leave to a slow bubble mixing it here and there. As water boils away, add more to keep it at 2 liter line. If you have some extra bones, this is a good time to get them in. Even the most of non-spicy folks can handle a single jalapeno so throw that in too.
09:00
Add beef and bring water to 3 liter line so that all beef is covered. Leave it to slowly boil.
09:30
Add pork and bring water to the final 4 liter level. As it slowly boils, add back water every half an hour with an occasional stir. If you are adding more meat later (e.g. lamb), keep water level a bit lower than 4 liters so that extra meat will fit.
10:00
If you have any lamb or similar softer meat, this is a great time to toss it in. While pork and beef are sufficient, variety doesn’t hurt. Get the peppers (hot or sweet) in. Good time to chuck those bay leaves in too.
11:30
Add strained tomatoes. At this point one could add hot peppers or if trying to make a non-spicy base, here we can add just a few small sweet peppers. After stirring, take a taste to see if you need a bit more salt. Spice-lovers can look into getting a bit of juices from the big pot and chopped chili peppers into a separate pan on low heat until it reaches a thin paste consistency.
12:30
Turn off the heat and leave it to cool down.
13:00
Congratulations, your čobanac is done and ready to serve with a few slices of bread and a simple salad. It took a while but I promise it’s worth it!
Ingredients
| 3 | Yellow onion | |
| 50 ml | Oil | |
| 2 | Carrots | |
| ½ | Celery root | |
| 4 cloves | Garlic | |
| 28 g | Smoked paprika | 4 tbsp |
| a dash | Cayenne powder | |
| 17 g | Salt | 1 tbsp |
| 2.5 g | Black pepper | 1 tsp |
| 1 | Pork knuckle | |
| 1 | Jalapeno | |
| 750 g | Beef | 1½ lb |
| 750 g | Pork | 1½ lb |
| 750 g | Lamb | 1½ lb |
| 2 | Bay leaves | |
| 2 | Sweet peppers | or Serranos for hot variant |
| 1 dcl | Strained tomatoes | ½ cup |