About 3 weeks ago I made my own sauerkraut for the first time. You can find the post about it here. For the last week, I have been checking and tasting it daily to see if it was ready. Today I decided it had fermented enough so I packed it up into smaller containers and refrigerated it. In hindsight, the next time I make sauerkraut I will let it go just a little further and get a touch more sour as I really like sour things, though my wife thought it had just the right amount of sourness. Either way I am very happy with the results. My homemade stuff is so much better than the store bought stuff, and it is so easy to make. I don’t know why it took me so long to attempt to make sauerkraut, but after this experiment I think it will become, at the very least, a yearly thing. Maybe next year I will make a larger batch and attempt to can some when it is done.

Of course, once the sauerkraut was ready I couldn’t wait to cook with it so I threw together one of my favorite dishes, Choucroute. Technically what I prepare is not truly choucroute as I use beer in my dish as opposed to white wine (usually Riesling) and I skip many of the traditional spices such as juniper berries, mace, nutmeg, etc. in favor of caraway seed, but choucroute sounds so much better than Sausages Braised with Sauerkraut. This dish can be made up pretty quickly, but I prefer to cook it slow and low for 1-2 hours as I find this long, slow cooking yields a depth of flavor that quick cooking just can’t achieve.

Choucroute

4 each Pork Chops (not thick cut
8-12 each Sausages (at least 2-3 varieties)*
2 slices Bacon (thick cut), diced or 1 each Ham Hock (smoked)
1 each Onion, peeled and julienned
1 each Apple, peeled, cored, large dice
1 qt. Sauerkraut
1 tsp. Caraway seeds
6 oz. Beer (your choice just stay away from highly hopped beers such as IPAs or ESBs, I stick with German style beers)

Pour 1 Tbsp. of oil into a large pot and heat over medium high heat. Season the chops with salt and pepper and brown them in the pan. Remove and brown the sausages, in 2-3 batches, and the ham hock, if using. Remove and render the bacon, if using, until half cooked. Add the onions to the bacon and cook until starting to wilt. If using homemade sauerkraut, drain really well and add to the onions. If using store bought sauerkraut, after draining briefly rinse under cold water before adding. Add the apple and caraway and stir to combine. Add the beer and return all the browned meats to the pot, adding in any accumulated juices also. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, leaving the lid just slightly ajar to allow steam to escape, and cook for 1-2 hours. Serve with buttered potatoes garnished with parsley. Serves 4-6.
*Use a variety of East European sausages including both fresh and cooked. I often use bratwurst, knackwurst, kielbasa, etc. Try to vary the styles you choose to add variety to the dish.

• See peer reviews of Canning & Preserving
• See peer reviews of Beer

Related posts:

1. Making Sauerkraut
2. The Humble Bratwurst
3. Coriander Crusted Pork Chops with Lime Glaze
4. Two Onion Soups
5. Hobo Packs