gone into Alpine Village in Torrance, CA, (I've lived near enough to it my entire life but never dropped in, even though everyone else in the country seems to have made it by, including Cathy Z in Hawaii!) and was delighted to find their selection of German meats and really fresh sauerkraut. I'm trying to recreate the wonderful Alsatian-styled sauerkraut I've enjoyed in Paris, and this is the closest I've come. It differs from German-style sauerkraut in that it is neither sweet nor sour. The sauerkraut is soaked to rid it of its harsh taste and then braised with onions, wine and stock. This is a combination of Julia Child and Andre Soltner's recipes. Next time I will double the sauerkraut for the same amount of meats.
CHOUCROUTE GARNI
2 lbs. German-style sauerkraut (not canned or sweetened)
3 cups thinly sliced onions
a few tablespoons duck fat, lard or butter
1 cup dry white wine or dry French Vermouth
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. caraway seeds
1/2 Tbs. dried juniper berries
Salt and pepper
Assorted sausages and meats--see below
Boiled potatoes (I used baby Yukon Golds with the skins on but in Paris the potatoes are whittled into long ovals.)
Soak the sauerkraut in a large bowl of cold water for 20 minutes. Drain and taste. If it is still sour to your taste soak again. Drain, rinse, squeeze dry, and fluff up the strands with your fingers.
In a large saute pan, saute the onions slowly in the fat until tender and reduced. Add the wine and turn up the heat to boil off the alcohol. Add the sauerkraut, stock and seasonings. Bring to the simmer, reduce heat, and cover. Simmer until sauerkraut is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, 30 minutes or more. Taste for seasoning.
Preheat the oven to 325*F.
Saute your meats and sausages in a skillet until lightly browned and bury them in the sauerkraut. (This can be done a day or two ahead--cover and refrigerate. I've done this in a foil pan for convenience.) Braise in the oven for about 45 minutes (longer if cold) or until meat is warmed through and flavors have had a chance to mingle. (Can be kept warm for a while, or reheated--it's better for it.)
Serve on a platter with the sauerkraut heaped in the center and the sliced meats and potatoes all around. Serve Dijon mustard and good bread on the side.
Meats to use: whatever you like and can find. In France the sausages are all smaller and more delicate than what I can find here, but that's OK. This latest time I used a smoked pork rib and a large smoked pork chop, a few wieners, a few smoked Bratwursts, a large smoked Hungarian sausage and a large smoked Polish sausage. They were all from Alpine Village. I also saw ham hocks the size of my head but I was intimidated. Perhaps next time I will buy one and simmer it beforehand, using the broth in place of the chicken stock.
Julia recommends homemade breakfast sausages and plain pork chops, which are browned and finish cooking in the sauerkraut, along with Bratwursts and Weisswursts. She garnishes the platter with thin slices of boiled ham.
Soltner, who is from Alsace, uses a 1-lb. piece of slab bacon, cooked with the onions, and adds a 1-lb. piece of smoked pork loin with the sauerkraut. He simmers a pig's knuckle in a separate pot for an hour or two and adds his sausages to it after it is soft. He calls for blood sausage and special quenelles made from veal liver. I'm not quite there yet.
CHOUCROUTE GARNI
2 lbs. German-style sauerkraut (not canned or sweetened)
3 cups thinly sliced onions
a few tablespoons duck fat, lard or butter
1 cup dry white wine or dry French Vermouth
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. caraway seeds
1/2 Tbs. dried juniper berries
Salt and pepper
Assorted sausages and meats--see below
Boiled potatoes (I used baby Yukon Golds with the skins on but in Paris the potatoes are whittled into long ovals.)
Soak the sauerkraut in a large bowl of cold water for 20 minutes. Drain and taste. If it is still sour to your taste soak again. Drain, rinse, squeeze dry, and fluff up the strands with your fingers.
In a large saute pan, saute the onions slowly in the fat until tender and reduced. Add the wine and turn up the heat to boil off the alcohol. Add the sauerkraut, stock and seasonings. Bring to the simmer, reduce heat, and cover. Simmer until sauerkraut is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, 30 minutes or more. Taste for seasoning.
Preheat the oven to 325*F.
Saute your meats and sausages in a skillet until lightly browned and bury them in the sauerkraut. (This can be done a day or two ahead--cover and refrigerate. I've done this in a foil pan for convenience.) Braise in the oven for about 45 minutes (longer if cold) or until meat is warmed through and flavors have had a chance to mingle. (Can be kept warm for a while, or reheated--it's better for it.)
Serve on a platter with the sauerkraut heaped in the center and the sliced meats and potatoes all around. Serve Dijon mustard and good bread on the side.
Meats to use: whatever you like and can find. In France the sausages are all smaller and more delicate than what I can find here, but that's OK. This latest time I used a smoked pork rib and a large smoked pork chop, a few wieners, a few smoked Bratwursts, a large smoked Hungarian sausage and a large smoked Polish sausage. They were all from Alpine Village. I also saw ham hocks the size of my head but I was intimidated. Perhaps next time I will buy one and simmer it beforehand, using the broth in place of the chicken stock.
Julia recommends homemade breakfast sausages and plain pork chops, which are browned and finish cooking in the sauerkraut, along with Bratwursts and Weisswursts. She garnishes the platter with thin slices of boiled ham.
Soltner, who is from Alsace, uses a 1-lb. piece of slab bacon, cooked with the onions, and adds a 1-lb. piece of smoked pork loin with the sauerkraut. He simmers a pig's knuckle in a separate pot for an hour or two and adds his sausages to it after it is soft. He calls for blood sausage and special quenelles made from veal liver. I'm not quite there yet.