Recipe: Wienkraut

Recipe

Wienkraut

Serving Size: 8
Preparation Time: 1:00

6 oz bacon slab, or thick cut—dice or julienne
1 lg. onion diced
1 lg. apple, peel on, cored and diced
1 small potato grated—optional
2 lb sauerkraut, drained, save juice
2 cups wine white
2 cups stock white beef or veal
juice from sauerkraut
1 tsp caraway seeds—optional
black pepper freshly ground to taste

Preparation

Cut the slab bacon into dice, julienne it if it is thick sliced. You can do this in a heavy pot or in an oven pan on top of the stove. . Let the bacon get brown all over, but take care not to burn.
Add the diced onion and apple and cook slowly to soften and lightly brown. Add the sauerkraut, and stir with a wooden spoon until the sauerkraut takes some color.
Add the grated potato* (for thickness), sauerkraut juice, wine, and stock and cook slowly on top of the stove or place in a medium oven to reduce the liquid. Stir from time to time. Add the optional caraway seed about halfway through this process if you intend to use it. The kraut is done when there is just enough juice to coat the kraut and keep it nice and moist. Add some freshly ground black pepper to taste. If you feel it needs it you can add salt.

Fresh sauerkraut is best of course, but if you can't get it, then a two pound plastic pack will do. For canned sauerkraut, Silverfloss is my preferred brand. I would never bother to make this recipe unless I doubled or tripled it. It keeps well in the refrigerator.

*If you want a little more body, you can grate a potato into the sauerkraut juice (so it won't brown) and in cooking, this will thicken the juices a little. Some people use a little flour added to the bacon fat. I like potato.