Choucroute Garnie
By Bryan RoofPublished on October 28, 2020
Time
3 1⁄4 hours
Yield
Serves 8
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Note that we call for fully cooked bratwurst here. We developed this recipe with 12 ounces of bratwurst and 14 ounces of kielbasa, but if you can find only slightly larger packages of these sausages, it’s OK to use the whole package. You can substitute two 8- to 10-ounce bone-in blade-cut pork chops; 1 pound of boneless pork butt, cut in half; or 1 pound of slab bacon for the pork belly. Serve with Boiled Potatoes with Butter and Parsley, if desired.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Heat lard in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook until just softened, about 6 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
- Add ham hock, wine, garlic, and thyme sprigs to pot. Sprinkle pork belly with pepper and remaining ¾ teaspoon salt, then add to pot. Cover contents of pot with sauerkraut, then sprinkle with caraway seeds. Cover pot, transfer to oven, and cook for 1½ hours.
- Remove pot from oven and nestle kielbasa and bratwurst into sauerkraut. Cover; return to oven; and continue to cook until sausages are hot throughout and pork belly is tender when pierced with paring knife, about 45 minutes longer. Remove pot from oven and let rest, covered, for 20 minutes.
- Transfer sauerkraut to shallow platter; place sausages on top. Discard thyme sprigs. Slice pork belly thin crosswise and add to platter. Remove meat from ham hock, slice thin, and add to platter; discard bone. Serve with mustard.
Time
3 1⁄4 hoursYield
Serves 8Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
At its simplest, choucroute garnie is a rustic, rib-sticking, country-style dish that puts the focus on the meat. The dish has roots in the Alsace region of France: “Choucroute” means “sauerkraut” in French. And while there’s plenty of sauerkraut in this dish, the trick with choucroute garnie is to create a dish that’s rich and meaty but also tempered with just enough acidity (from wine and sauerkraut) and contrasting texture (also from sauerkraut) to keep things in balance. Everything is tied together with accents such as thyme, garlic, and caraway. The specific meats and sausages used in choucroute garnie can change from kitchen to kitchen and are often very local. We found that a combination of garlicky kielbasa, sweet and herbal bratwurst, smoky ham hock, and rich pork belly provided the range of flavors we sought. After experimenting with sauerkraut right from the jar, drained sauerkraut, and rinsed sauerkraut, we chose rinsed sauerkraut, which we squeezed dry. This provided just the right texture and moisture level for the dish and kept its brininess in check.
Before You Begin
Note that we call for fully cooked bratwurst here. We developed this recipe with 12 ounces of bratwurst and 14 ounces of kielbasa, but if you can find only slightly larger packages of these sausages, it’s OK to use the whole package. You can substitute two 8- to 10-ounce bone-in blade-cut pork chops; 1 pound of boneless pork butt, cut in half; or 1 pound of slab bacon for the pork belly. Serve with Boiled Potatoes with Butter and Parsley, if desired.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Heat lard in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook until just softened, about 6 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
- Add ham hock, wine, garlic, and thyme sprigs to pot. Sprinkle pork belly with pepper and remaining ¾ teaspoon salt, then add to pot. Cover contents of pot with sauerkraut, then sprinkle with caraway seeds. Cover pot, transfer to oven, and cook for 1½ hours.
- Remove pot from oven and nestle kielbasa and bratwurst into sauerkraut. Cover; return to oven; and continue to cook until sausages are hot throughout and pork belly is tender when pierced with paring knife, about 45 minutes longer. Remove pot from oven and let rest, covered, for 20 minutes.
- Transfer sauerkraut to shallow platter; place sausages on top. Discard thyme sprigs. Slice pork belly thin crosswise and add to platter. Remove meat from ham hock, slice thin, and add to platter; discard bone. Serve with mustard.
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