Choucroute Garnie à la D-Bomb!
Feel The Pig Love!
The word choucroute translates simply as fermented cabbage, or sauerkraut, as most of us know it. The earliest reference to sauerkraut in Alsace dates from the 15th century. For hundreds of years, until the early 1900s, Sürkrüt-schniders, or sour-cabbage cutters, toured the countryside, shredding cabbage to order. Today, choucroute has also come to mean a show-stopping dish of sauerkraut topped with copious portions of pork in myriad forms. No one at the Market loves pork more than D-Bomb, and no other dish shows off the love put into Marczyk Fine Foods’ meats, sausages, grocery items and wines like his two-pot adaptation of this definitive Alsatian classic.
“A great thing about choucroute is that you can make it your own without worry. All you need is plenty of pork, and plenty of love. The rest is in your hands. Don’t like kielbasa? Prefer Strasbourg sausages to brats? Have red potatoes in your pantry? Only need half the recipe? No problem! Be creative.”
~D-Bomb
Pork Rib Chops & French Sausages
Serves 8-10 easily (At D-Bomb’s house it serves 6)
Shopping List
1 28oz jar Gundelshein Barrel Sauerkraut
2 13.58oz cans Zuccato Crauti al Naturale
6-8 Frenched Pork Rib Chops
6-8 Market-Made French Sausages
2 Niman Ranch Ham Steaks or Petit Hams, sliced into chunks
1# Continental Veal Bratwurst or Stadium Brats
1# Continental Kielbasa
1# Continental Wieners or Frankfurters
1# Continental Avalanche Beer Brats
½# Applewood Smoked Bacon
2# Fingerling Potatoes, halved lengthwise
4-6 Apples, such as Braeburns, cored and sliced
1 Medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
Fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
Bouquet Garni of 1 smashed head of garlic, 3 whole cloves, 6 juniper berries, and 6 coriander seeds, in cheesecloth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Bottle Riesling
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Clean and chop fruit and vegetables. Season pork chops with salt and pepper. Coarsely chop bacon.
2. Render bacon in a dutch oven, or a large roaster (mine is 12”x20”x9” - huge) with a lid, over medium heat. Just before it is crisp, pull bacon and reserve on paper towels. Sear pork chops and French sausages in bacon fat til lightly browned. Remove and reserve with bacon. Add onions and apples to pan, and cook until soft, 10-15 minutes, adding a bit more bacon fat or oil if needed. Add pork chops, sauerkraut, bouquet garni, ham, bacon, sausages and half the bottle of wine. Season with salt and pepper, cover, and cook in oven until meats are tender, about one hour. While you’re waiting, drink the other half bottle of Riesling.
3. About 35 minutes before serving, place potatoes in a pot of salted water over medium-high heat and cook until tender, 20-25 minutes. Drain and keep warm.
4. To serve, spoon sauerkraut onto a large platter, discarding bouquet garni. Slice kielbasa and large sausages, if desired, and arrange on platter with pork chops, potatoes, and small sausages. Garnish with fresh parsley. Smile as your guests’ minds are blown by pork love.
A Family Meal