Since it’s a healthy, fulfilling dish, choucroute garnie is the perfect dish to be had during winters!
Jacques Pépin, an internationally recognized French chef, has also adjusted the formula to make it faster and less demanding.
Check out here how you can make the easy but scrumptious choucroute garnie!
Health Benefits
The dish is low in calories and high in calcium and magnesium. It is also an excellent source of dietary fiber, folate, iron, potassium, copper, and manganese.
Ingredients
kosher salt, plus more for seasoning: 1/3 cup
light brown sugar: 2 tbsp
pork back ribs or baby back ribs, cut into 3 sections: 3 pounds
sauerkraut (in plastic bags), drained: 6 pounds
duck or goose fat or peanut oil: 1/4 cup
large onion, coarsely chopped: 1
large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped: 4
juniper berries: 20
large bay leaves: 3
caraway seeds: 1/2 tsp
Freshly ground black pepper: 1 tsp
Chicken stock: 3 cups
riesling or pinot Gris: 1 1/2 cup
polish kielbasa, skinned and cut into 2-inch pieces: 2 pounds
skinless hot dogs: 10
piece of boneless boiled ham (3 to 4 inches wide), sliced 1/4 inch thick: 2 pound
medium potatoes (about 10), peeled: 2pounds
assorted mustards, for serving
How To Make Choucroute Garnie
- Take a big plastic bag which could be re-sealed. Merge together 1/3 cup of kosher salt and sugar. Include the pork ribs; shake thoroughly to have the ribs fully coated with the seasonings. Next, seal the bag and set the ribs in the fridge overnight or for up to 24hrs.
- The next morning, preheat your oven to 300°. Bathe the sauerkraut in cold water and drain. Take a large roasting pan and set over 2 burners on high heat and work to melt the duck fat.
- Put in the onion and garlic and fry over moderate to low heat. Keep stirring. Cook until softened or for 7 minutes. Mix in the sauerkraut, juniper berries, bay leaves, caraway seeds, black pepper, stock and wine on high heat and bring to a continuing boil.
- Simultaneously, wash the pork ribs under cold water and dry. Snuggle the pork ribs in the sauerkraut and again bring to a boil over reasonably high heat. Cover up firmly with foil and bake for 1 ½ hours.
- Take away the pork ribs from the sauerkraut. Slit the ribs from the center and return to the sauerkraut. Include the kielbasa, hot dogs and ham. Cover up and let bake until the meats are hot, around 25 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and discard.
- In a large saucepan, add potatoes and cover with cold water. Over high heat, sprinkle salt and bring to a boil. Next, cook the potatoes until they are soft when pierced. Drain and cover to keep warm.
- Pile up the hot sauerkraut in the center of hot dinner plates and push in the pork ribs and the kielbasa to serve. Position the hot dogs and ham around the sauerkraut.
- Serve with boiled potatoes and varied mustards.
Trivia
Despite the fact that choucroute garnie is a German and Eastern-European dish, the French extension of Alsace and Lorraine, conveyed this dish to the French culinary specialists and it has since then been popular in France.