How to Make French Choucroute Garnie
Ingredients:
for cured pork ribs
1.5 lbs pork rib tips
2 tbs kosher salt
1 tbs brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cloves
meat
1 lbs smoked bacon slab (unsliced)
1 1/2 lbs smoked pork chop cut into 2 slices
8 links homemade knackwurst sausage
for choucroute
2 medium onions sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 C dry Riesling (or other off-dry white wine)
1 Tbs honey
3 bay leaves
1 Tbs juniper berries
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1/4 tsp caraway seeds
3 cloves
5 sprigs thyme
1 batch homemade choucroute rinsed and drained
2 C low sodium chicken stock (if you make the stock, don’t add any salt)
8 potatoes peeled
Five weeks before
Make the choucroute (sauerkraut)
Up to 1 week before
Make the Knackwurst and smoke.
Two days before
Cure the pork ribtips by mixing the salt, sugar and cloves and rubbing the mixture into the meat. Put in a ziploc bag and refrigerate until ready to use.
Day of Choucroute Garnie
Procedures:
(1)Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
(2)Rinse the cured rib tips. Cut the fatty ends off the slab bacon and chop into 1/4″ thick batons. Cut the rest of the bacon in half lengthwise then slice into 1/2″ thick rectangles. You should end up with 8 pieces about 4″ x 1 1/2″ x 1/2″.
(3)Add the small pieces of bacon fat into a large dutch oven over medium heat and render out some fat. Add the onions and garlic and saute until they are tender, brown and smell sweet. Add the wine, honey, bay leaves, juniper, pepper, caraway, cloves and thyme then bring to a boil.
(4)Add half the sauerkraut and stir to combine. Nestle the ribs into the sauerkraut along with a few pieces of large bacon. Put down some more sauerkraut then lay down the rest of the bacon. Cover with the remaining sauerkraut then pour over the chicken stock.
(5)Cover with a lid and transfer to the oven. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours then add the smoked pork chop on top of the choucroute garnie. Cover and return to the oven until the pork chops are warmed through and the rest of the meat is fork tender (about another 30 minutes).
(5)Add the potatoes to a pot of generously salted water and boil until tender. When the potatoes are almost done, bring a small pot of water to a bare simmer and add the sausages. Allow them to simmer until they plump up, then remove them from the water. Add the sausages on top of the choucroute garnie and return to the oven uncovered for a few minutes to allow the skins on the sausages to crisp.
(6)To serve, lay down a healthy heap of choucroute onto a serving platter and cover with the various cuts of meat. Then surround with the boiled potatoes and garnish with something green.
