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Choucroute Garnie (Sauerkraut)

post #1 of 8
9/23/08 at 3:32pm
Thread Starter 
I like sauerkraut - a lot! One of the reasons I eat hot dogs is for the ‘kraut. I also like Choucroute Garnie in all it's variations - sauerkraut and sausage and smoked meat or duck - French, Italian, Hungarian, German versions. They're all good - even Emeril's Favorite Choucroute Casserole.

Tonight I'm going to make a version for dinner - a simple one just because I don't have all the neat ingredients for something a little more interesting.

So, do you have a Choucroute recipe you'd care to share? Or any favorite sauerkraut dish? I'd be happy to share some of mine if you'd like.
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post #2 of 8
9/23/08 at 7:31pm
I like to "dress up" good jar or bag sauerkraut by rinsing it and draining it thoroughly; sauteing pepper and onion in some evoo, adding the sauerkraut with some good vinegar chosen by whim of the moment, and adding some poppy seeds and possibly a few herbs. It's basically an Alsatian take good with sausages, duck and spareribs.

Whatever happened to spareribs and sauerkraut? Remember how Dagwood would go nuts when Blondie cooked it? You do what you need to do to make the kraut, mound it in a baking pan, cover it with the ribs, cover the whole thing, and cook it low and slow. The fat and juices from the ribs go into the cabbage and ... man oh man!

Loves me some spares and kraut,
BDL
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post #3 of 8
9/23/08 at 7:35pm
I make pork neck bones in kraut all the time, great stuff! I have ran across some good sauerkraut bread recipes on other sites that are good and fairly easy.
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post #4 of 8
9/23/08 at 7:45pm
Thread Starter 
Yes, ribs & kraut. Been messing with that concept for a while - it's darned good. Edit: Have you tried using 'cued ribs, brisket, or other meats in with the kraut and other ingredients? A barbecued choucroute would be very nice, don'tcha think?

Like you, a good dish of kraut with some fixin's is a real pleasure. Caraway seeds is nice with 'kraut.

There's a Russian Orthodx monk up in Santa Rosa, Brother Eugene iirc, who grows the big cabbages of the type the French use for their choucroute - the eight to twenty pounders. That would be nice to see. He's supposed to be quite an expert in transforming the cabbage cannonballs into delicious choucroute.
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post #5 of 8
9/23/08 at 9:53pm
Mmmmmm long n slow cooked sauerkraut with crispy lardons and debrecini sausages and onions and a bit of fresh shredded cabbage thrown in, cooked so long the 'kraut gets lovely and brown and sticks to the bottom of the casserole. Even better the next day...and the next ...and the next. Dark rye bread and butter on the side. Ahhh heaven
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post #6 of 8
9/24/08 at 10:55pm
Huh? evoo? RealMen use diced bacon or salt pork to grease their kraut. Well, okay, if it is going to be paired with a fatty pork of some sort I guess a lighter oil would be acceptable.

One thing I've heard of but have yet to try is taking a rack of spares and tying them into a ring, standing the ring in a roasting pan, filling the center with kraut, diced apple, chopped onion, caraway and mustard seed, then baking for a couple of hours. Basically just a different presentation to ribs and kraut than layering them in a pot.

Earlier this spring I did cube up some country style 'ribs' and threw the chunks into a pot of kraut and simmered on the cooktop for a while until the pork was done. Not quite spareribs and saurkraut, but it was tasty. A good mustard with some horseradish kick to it is a nice condiment.

My favorite sauerkraut is the stuff in the jars than needs to be kept refrigerated. The canned variety is just too limp and lifeless for my taste. A while back my wife went to some German Days festival or something, and bought a jar of something like Hegenberg, Germany's number 1 sauerkraut as it says on the label. Pretty good stuff. Actually I think there might be some left, I'll have to go check. Not that I would ever just open a jar and stuff a few cold forkfuls into my mouth as a late night snack, nope, not me.

mjb.
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post #7 of 8
9/25/08 at 12:19pm
I grew up in New Ulm MN, the local festivals always featured sausage and sauerkraut. The old ladies who did the cooking would never tell what they added but the kraut liquid was always thick instead of watery. I have experimented with the instant potato stuff and that is part of what they used but they had something else in there that I have never been able to identify.
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post #8 of 8
9/25/08 at 2:35pm
Hey Shel,
My Kraut recipe calls for browned bacon and onions, and some finely chopped green apple (Granny Smith or Gravenstein) and a good long simmer to let the flavors all meld. Deeelish!!!! Also, I have to agree with others who have said that the jarred and refrigerated brands taste better than canned, and that it must be well rinsed before cooking.

Cheers,

Micki
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