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German style pork, sauerkraut, apples and spaetzle


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#1 Gumbo Leviathan

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Posted 07 October 2015 - 12:23 PM

I made this last night, and it was awesome.  I figured I would share:

 

2-2.5 lbs-approx of pork shoulder or bone-in country ribs. 

1 package of sauerkraut (I forget what the actual size is, one of those "pouches" it tends to come in)

2 granny smith apples, cored, cut into chunks

Salt and pepper

 

1 box/package of spaetzle (unless you want to make your own from scratch.)

 

For sauce:

2TBSP bacon fat (or butter)

2TBSP flour

A small amount of sugar (to taste)

 

Really simple here - Turn crockpot on low.  Pour the sauerkraut into the crockpot.  Put the lump of pork, raw, right on top.  Salt and pepper it as you see fit.  Cover with the apple chunks.  Do not add any liquid to this.  Ignore it for 8-10 hours.

 

Once dinner time comes around get the bones out using tongs and discard them. 

Use a baster to extract the (now somewhat substantial) amount of liquid in the crockpot and put that into a Pyrex cup.

Cook the spaetzle as directed.

While that is cooking heat the bacon fat (or butter) in a stainless pan until melted.  Add flour and whisk to make a thick roux.  Let it darken a bit.  Once the roux is looking a bit cooked, pour in the extracted cooking liquid a bit at a time and whisk to keep it from lumping up.  Allow this to start reducing.  Once it is starting to look somewhat like a gravy, give it a taste.  It will be VERY sour (hey it is juice from sauerkraut and apples, of course it's sour right?).  Adjust the flavor with the sugar, just a little at a time.  I ended up with just over a TBSP of "raw" sugar to balance the flavors.  The sauce should just *barely* have a hint of apple flavor, but not be actually sweet. 

 

Divide up the pork onto dinner plates (it's going to entirely fall apart), and the spaetzle.  Put the sauerkraut and apples on the side.  Cover the pork and spaetzle with the sauce. 



#2 Poptop

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Posted 07 October 2015 - 06:11 PM

One of my favorite dishes since childhood is roast pork, dumplings and sour kraut. Dumplings are a family recipe and nothing compares. Light, soft but dense. Your post inspires me to make it this weekend

Edited by Steppedonapoptop, 07 October 2015 - 06:12 PM.


#3 Seagis

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Posted 08 October 2015 - 09:06 PM

Wow, Noof. That really sounds good. I may have to try this out next week. SWMBO doesn't really like sauerkraut, but she's also never had it prepared like this, either. :scratch:



#4 Gumbo Leviathan

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Posted 09 October 2015 - 06:54 AM

Straight sauerkraut from the package (like you might put on a hot dog) is definitely an acquired taste.  When it stews all day with the pork and apples it gets a little sweet and that funny pickled taste that some people find off-putting goes away. 



#5 realbeerguy

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Posted 13 October 2015 - 04:18 PM

Made this tonight.  2# pk sauerkraut, 3# ribs.  Added 2tsp Bavarian seasoning, 1 tsp caraway seeds, did not sweeten the gravy.   Came out great.  Next time will add some cut onion, 2-3 cloves garlic and some Hungarian Paprika.

 

Thanks for the recipe!



#6 matt6150

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Posted 13 October 2015 - 04:55 PM

Made this tonight. 2# pk sauerkraut, 3# ribs. Added 2tsp Bavarian seasoning, 1 tsp caraway seeds, did not sweeten the gravy. Came out great. Next time will add some cut onion, 2-3 cloves garlic and some Hungarian Paprika.

Thanks for the recipe!

Some good ideas. I'm prepping this now to get going in the morning.

#7 Gumbo Leviathan

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Posted 14 October 2015 - 10:47 AM

Made this tonight.  2# pk sauerkraut, 3# ribs.  Added 2tsp Bavarian seasoning, 1 tsp caraway seeds, did not sweeten the gravy.   Came out great.  Next time will add some cut onion, 2-3 cloves garlic and some Hungarian Paprika.

 

Thanks for the recipe!

Yea sounds good.  If you use sweeter apples you may not need to sweeten the gravy.  With Granny Smiths it was quite pucker inducing.  It doesn't take much at all to hit the ratio right since it's not like you actually want it at all sweet.



#8 HVB

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Posted 14 October 2015 - 10:53 AM

This looks excellent and I think it will be on the weekend menu.



#9 cavman

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Posted 07 February 2016 - 04:22 PM

I may have to do this but over Barley not Spaetzle.



#10 frankerector

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Posted 03 April 2016 - 04:10 PM

One of my favorite dishes since childhood is roast pork, dumplings and sour kraut. Dumplings are a family recipe and nothing compares. Light, soft but dense. Your post inspires me to make it this weekend


I also make this. Caraway seeds. Mmmmm.


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