Choucroute Garni
Instructions:
- For sauerkraut lovers! This homey dish, best made in the cold winter months, hails from the Alsace region in eastern France, where the cuisine reflects the influence of neighboring Germany. Serve it with boiled potatoes, crusty bread, and a pot of good mustard.
- 4 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1⁄4 cup water
- 1 large onion (12 ounces), thinly sliced
- 2 McIntosh apples, each peeled, cored, cut into quarters, and thinly sliced
- 2 bags (16 ounces each) sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
- 11⁄2 cups fruity white wine, such as Riesling
- 6 juniper berries, crushed
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 smoked pork chops, 1⁄2 inch thick (4 ounces each)
- 1 pound kielbasa (smoked Polish sausage), cut into 11⁄2-inch pieces
- In nonreactive 5-quart Dutch oven, combine bacon and water; cook over medium-low heat until bacon is lightly crisped, about 4 minutes.Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is tender and golden, about 7 minutes.
- Add apples and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in sauerkraut, wine, juniper berries, and bay leaf and heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes.
- Nestle pork chops and kielbasa into sauerkraut mixture; cover and cook until pork chops and sausage are heated through and sauerkraut is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove bay leaf and serve.
- P R E P 20 minutes
- C O O K 50 minutes
- MA K E S 6 main-dish servings