German Entree

Pork & Sauerkraut
Schweinebraten mit Sauerkraut
(Serves 6-8)

As German as you can get—tangy sauerkraut with hints of smoky bacon, served alongside roasted pork.

1/2 lb. bacon
1 large onion (sliced thin)
2 carrots (peeled, sliced thin)
2 lb. sauerkraut
1/2 C sauerkraut juice
1/2 C water
1 C beef broth
3-4 lb. pork roast (4 lb. boned or 3 lb. boneless)

Preheat oven to 325. In a heavy Dutch oven, brown bacon till crisp. Remove bacon and crumble. Drain off all but 2 T bacon fat. Cook onion and carrot in bacon fat till onion is translucent.

Drain sauerkraut (reserving juice) and squeeze dry. Mix sauerkraut with onions and carrots in pot, stirring and coating with bacon fat. Move sauerkraut mix to sides of pot and add pork and crumbled bacon.

Dilute 1/2 C reserved sauerkraut juice with 1/2 C water.* Add it and 1 C beef broth to pot. Cover and cook in oven for 3 hours. If the sauerkraut gets too dry, add a little more broth or water. Let the roast sit for 10 minutes before carving. Serve on a platter accompanied by sauerkraut and mashed potatoes (kartoffelpuree). 

* If you have less than 1/2 C of sauerkraut juice, just add more water to make 1 C of liquid. On the other hand, if you love the salt, omit the water completely and add undiluted kraut juice.

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Tips & Glossary

Beets: how to peel and cook beets is a matter of personal preference. You can cut off the tops, peel them with a vegetable peeler and boil them. Another method: leave on about 1" of the tops, wrap them in foil, and bake for 1 hour in a 350 oven. Cool and use rubber gloves, or handle with a paper towel, to prevent hands from turning...well, beet-red. The skins will slip right off. Most cooks say baking- then-peeling is the tastiest way to cook beets.

Ginger: dried ground ginger is far more potent than freshly-grated from the root. Sweet dessert recipes call for ground powder. If you wish to use freshly grated ginger, use 6 times the amount of ground called for in the recipe.

Nutmeg: use small whole nuts and store them, tightly covered, in a dry dark area. Grate what you need using the smallest grating edge or grind in a food processor. What a difference from store bought ground nutmeg!

Wurst: German sausages— more types than you can shake a stick at. Here are several:
• Bockwurst: smoked; with veal, chives & parsley.
• Bratwurst: pale; with veal, pork, ginger & nutmeg.
• Knockwurst: short & plump, smoked; with pork, beef & garlic.
• Weisswurst: "white"; with veal, pork, cream & eggs.
• Wienerwurst: with beef, pork, coriander & garlic.
• Frankfurter: smoked; with lean pork & bacon fat.