Choucroute...French for Dressed Sauerkraut!

My gentleman grew up eating bitter melon and craves it often.  The first time he served it to me, all I could think was, "Hm, what an accurately named food."  I didn't dislike it, it was just a flavor I was entirely unfamiliar with and couldn't quite decide how I felt about.  We all have those foods we grew up with that someone else might be a little unsure about.   In our family, it's sauerkraut.  We love everything about it - it's crispiness, the vinegar/salt explosion, the fact that it literally stings your nostrils if you sniff too close into a fresh tub. It's amazing.  We like it so much, everytime my parents go up to Maine, they buy multiple gallons of fresh sauerkraut from the aptly named Morse's Sauerkraut in Waldoboro and then dutifully divide it up and drive it back to those of us stuck in Brooklyn. 

So what does one do after receiving a delivery of about 2 pounds of fresh sauerkraut?  Go on a mission to convince your friends that it's delicious, obviously.  I decided to pull out the big guns and make Choucroute, a sauerkraut pork stew that I think you'd have to be crazy to not find delicious on a crisp, cold January day like today.  Plus, I looked it up and the title of this post is a true story - Choucroute means "dressed sauerkraut" in French, and we all know that anything, even pickled, fermented cabbage can be made fancy by the French.  I had some weird odds and ends in my fridge, so this is sort of a mishmash of a Choucroute, but it gets the job done!

Choucroute for Four...maybe more.

Mmmm...look at that fancy dressed sauerkraut!  

4oz. bacon
1/2 lb. smoked garlic sausage like Kielbasa (I actually used chicken andouille sausage because my gentleman is allergic to smoked meats and it still turned out delicious!)
1 onion diced
1 Tbs. gin (the recipe called for juniper berries, which honestly, who has juniper berries?!  So I substituted gin, which is made from juniper berries...and because I like it)
1/2 tsp whole peppercorns
5 whole cloves
A sprinkle of allspice (recipe called for 4 whole allspice, again, who has that?)
1 large bay leave
1 pealed and diced apple
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 to 3 pealed, chopped carrots (optional - I had them and figured, why not?)
3 cups sauerkraut
1 C. white wine
2 C. chicken broth
Ham (I had leftovers, so I used a hunk of ham and chopped it into 4 approximately pork chop sized chunks.  You could also use pork chops, ham hocks, whatever you have on hand)
1 lb. red skin potatoes

1.  In an oven safe pan (I again used my Le Creuset, best xmas present ever, Mom!), brown bacon and sausage, about 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and put on a plate with a paper towel on it.  If the bacon was really fatty, you can pour off some of the fat, but keep about 1 tablespoon in the pan for the onions.
2.  Throw onions, spices, and bay leaf into pan and saute until onions are tender, about 5 minutes.
3.  Add the apples, carrots, and garlic, saute about 2 minutes more.  Preheat the oven to 350.
4.  Add the sauerkraut, broth, wine, and gin and give it a stir.   Boil uncovered for 10 minutes.
5.  Add all the meats and submerge them in the sauerkraut broth. 
6.  Put in oven for 1 hour. 
7.  With 20 minutes to go, boil potatoes on the stovetop. 

Serve and amaze all with the awesomeness of dressed sauerkraut! If you visit the Morse's website, you can even amaze them with sauerkrauts many health benefits.   I like to take some potatoes, fork mash them on my plate, then spoon the sauerkraut, meat, and juices on top.  If the choucroute looks too saucy when you take it out of the oven, you can always take the lid off and boil it down, or just pop it back in the oven with the lid off for a bit longer, but it should be pretty saucy so the potatoes have lots of yumminess to soak up.