This week we will depart from the theme of ratio cooking to present a spectacular winter dish that could make for a very different kind of Super Bowl Party – especially handy if your local market has sold out of chicken wings!  Even though it looks like a really impressive dish – it is easy to prepare so don’t be put off. Most of the work comes in procuring the ingredients then it’s a breeze to put it together.

 

When I was 23 I worked for 6 months in Alsace, France, which was a fantastic experience. I loved the combination of hearty German style cooking prepared with the finesse and sophistication of French techniques. And the wines from that region are really among my favorites. Pinot Blanc, Reisling (not sweet as many people assume), Gewurztraminer – these are all wonderful with many kinds of food besides Choucroute. They have a perfect sweet-sour balance, which makes them very refreshing in warm weather, yet they have enough body to be satisfying on a cold night with a huge steaming platter of Choucroute!  

 

If you want to make it an even more authentic French evening you could be really contrarian and serve this hearty dish without turning on the TV at all!

 

 

 

 

The video shows a short clip of our presentation for the Choucroute at Cafe du Soleil. The Sous Chef  is Abel Pena.

 

 

Do try to get the best sausages you can for this dish. I serve this dish every Thursday night during the winter months at Café du Soleil and I get my sausages from Salumeria Biellese. They are delicious! www.salumeriabiellese.com. I’m not sure if they ship outside of the city but you can contact them and find out. If you are in the New York area stop by their store – it’s a trip back in time.

 

You should also buy good sauerkraut for this dish. In New York fresh sauerkraut is available at Schaller & Weber, 1654 Second Avenue (86th Street).  If you want to be self-sufficient and get a great product as a result you can make your own:

 

Homemade Sauerkraut Recipe.

 

 

Just remember that will take 2-3 weeks to cure. You can also use a packaged Sauerkraut from the supermarket  - it will work just fine.

 

And last but not least – you should use Alsatian wine to cook this dish and to drink with it. Unlike some foodies I don’t usually recommend cooking with the same wine I am drinking, mostly because the delicacies of a good wine are usually lost in a cooked dish. But in this case you do want the slight sweeteness of the Alsatian wine to provide a counterpoint to the acidity of the sauerkraut.

   

Alsatian Choucroute/Choucroute Alsacienne

 

Serves 8- 10 or more depending on your appetites

 

Sauerkraut:

 

4 # Fresh Sauerkraut

3 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

2 Onions, medium, cut in half and sliced thinly across the grain

4 cloves Garlic, chopped

½ bottle Alsatian wine (see above for different types)

1 Tbsp Juniper Berries

1 Tbsp Whole Cloves

1 tsp. Whole Black Peppercorns

3 Bay Leaves

Salt to taste

 

Meats:

 

8-10 Smoked Pork Chops, about ½” thick, on the bone

1 # Smoked Slab Bacon, cut into ½” by 3” pieces

8-10 Fresh Veal Sausages (Boudin Blanc)

1# Strasbourg Sausages (Saucisse de Strasbourg)

4 –5 Blood Sausages (Boudin Noir) – optional

 

Fresh Thyme for garnishing platter

Chopped Parsley for garnishing

 

2-3 # Boiling Potatoes, peeled, cut into ¼’s and steamed or boiled

  

Method:

 

Preheat oven to 350F.

 

Heat the oil in a 5 qt. heavy stockpot or saucepan and cook the onions over medium heat until soft. Add the garlic and sauerkraut and combine with the onions. Cook about 5 minutes more, then add the wine, spices, bay, and salt. Bring to a boil then simmer about 30 minutes.

 

Transfer half the sauerkraut into a large roasting dish or aluminum pan. Place the meats on top of the sauerkraut and then cover the meats with the remaining sauerkraut. Cover with aluminum foil. Place in the oven to bake for about 30 – 45 minutes until the meats are heated through. Note that all of the meats are already cooked when you buy them (with the exception of blood sausage – but that cooks quickly and will fall apart if overcooked). You are really just heating everything up and melding the flavors together.

 

You can keep the dish warm in the oven at this point until you are ready to serve it.

 

To serve:

 

Transfer the sauerkraut to a large serving platter in a heaping mound. Arrange the meats decoratively on top of the sauerkraut. Arrange the potatoes around the platter and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Decorate with fresh thyme sprigs and serve to great applause!!

  

Have a great time making and eating this dish – and, as always, please leave a comment or question. Remember, the Chef’s Got Your Back!