Chops & Kraut (Choucroute)

The Wheel Turns



Saturday morning I awoke in a dark bedroom. Never bright even on the sunniest days, my bedroom was particularly dim on this morning. I could hear rumbling in the distance and outside my window an irregular, multi-tonal chatter of rain on leaves and air-conditioner cowlings. It was the first day of fall, and it sounded like it.

I checked the clock, snuggled deeper into the sheets, and dozed a bit longer — enjoying that especially comfortable feeling

I'm at the age where food has taken the place of sex in my life. In fact, I've just had a mirror put over my kitchen table. ~ Rodney Dangerfield

of sleeping in on a rainy morning. I got another 10 minutes in before SweetThing, my cat, demanded breakfast.

At this time of year in East Tennessee there are few real indications of the official change in season. The leaves are still 90 percent green (except in the mountains), the weather is still suitable for short sleeves, and the sunlight hasn't yet achieved that orange-gold cast that, in a strange confounding of our senses, almost smells like fall.

But this Saturday (and unseasonbly) it felt like fall and so it was time for my first fall meal.

Fall is my favorite cooking time. I begin to make again those dishes that adhere first to your ribs before migrating to your belly and thighs where they take up long-term residence. Hearty foods, boldly flavored that turn even a rainy Saturday into something to savor in anticipation of the evening's supper.

Traditionally, I mark this change of season (not the official day but the psychic day, the day it first feels like fall) by fixing chops and kraut. I don't recall when I began this tradition, but I've been doing it a long time. And although I call it simply "chops and kraut" it's really a somewhat simplified version of the tradition Alsatian dish of Choucroute. But whatever it's called, it's a great way to celebrate another turn of the season.

Chops & Kraut (Choucroute)
Serves 6.

4 bone-in pork chops
3 ea bratwurst -- cut into 1 1/2" lengths
4 oz salt pork -- trimmed of rind and cut into matchstick-sized pieces
2 lg yellow onions -- cut in half and then into half rings
2 15 oz cans of sauerkraut
1 btl dark beer
1 c beef stock
4 md red potatoes -- cut into eighths
1 tbsp juniper berries -- coarsely chopped
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 350F.

Place salt pork in a non-reactive dutch oven or stew pot over medium low heat and gently render fat until lardons are browned. Remove to a bowl and reserve.
Generously season chops with salt and pepper and brown in batches in rendered fat over medium high heat. Remove chops to a plate as browned.

Brown bratwurst and remove to plate with chops.

Reduce heat to medium-low, add sliced onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned -- 20 - 30 minutes. Sprinkle in 1/2 of crushed juniper berries. Add a 1/3 of the kraut (including juice) and mix with onions. Insert a few potato pieces into the mixture.

Add a couple of chops and kraut and fill in around them with half of the remaining potatoes and half of the bratwurst. Add another 1/3 of the kraut (including juice) and remaining juniper berries. Repeat chop, potato, and sausage layer. Top with remaining kraut and juice.

Add beef stock ad enough beer to not quite cover the top.

Return pot to stove and bring to a vigorous simmer over high heat. Cover tightly, place in preheated oven, and cook for one hour or until chops fall off the bone.

This is essentially a one-dish meal, but as mentioned above, some rye bread for sopping up the broth is highly recommended. Homemade stewed apples are also good as side dish.

Technorati: Food | recipe | main dish | pork | choucroute | alsace