pork-chop-and-sauerkraut

Smoked Pork Chops with Sauerkraut and Cabbage

• 4-6 smoked pork chops (or sausages would work well too)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, cut in half, peeled and sliced thin
• 1/2 head of a large cabbage, sliced thin (about 4 cups)
• 2 cups fresh sauerkraut
• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup medium bodied beer, preferable German (water can be used instead)
• salt and pepper

I vary this recipe depending on my mood. Sometimes, I want to grill the chops to heat them, which renders the edges crispy and bacon-like. Other times, I will nestle the chops in the sauerkraut and cabbage and heat over the stove. If you are using sausages that are pre-cooked, nestling them would be a nice way to reheat. If they need to be cooked, you might want to braise them in beer first, then add to the sauerkraut.

In a large sauté pan over medium heat, sauté the onions until soft. Add the cabbage and sauerkraut, along with the caraway seeds, brown sugar and beer or water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 30-45 minutes, until the sauerkraut tastes like you want it too (the longer you cook sauerkraut, the mellower the flavor). At this point, you can add the pork chops or sausage and simmer additional 15-20 minutes until heated. Serve.

This recipe was inspired by a recipe for Spare Ribs, Cabbage and Sauerkraut from Simply Recipes. Elise’s Dad is German Austrian, and if you are interested in more sauerkraut recipes, be sure to check out her page devoted to them.

P.S. The large black berry in my photo is a juniper berry, which I added while making the sauerkraut this summer. I don’t recommend eating them, but they certainly make the dish look nice!

Takes about 10 minutes to put together, and another 45 minutes to roast. I recommend using a large roasting pan, such as the Calphalon Classic Roaster or the Sur La Table Stainless Roasting Pan. Basically a pan with higher sides. I have made this dish before in a regular roasting pan, and the larger one just works better.

roast-chicken-with-cauliflower

Roast Chicken with Carrots and Cauliflower

• 1 pound carrots, peeled and chopped into 2 inch chunks
• 1 head cauliflower, cut into medium size florets
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander, divided
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin, divided
• coarse salt and ground pepper
• 6 whole chicken legs, skin on
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 475F.

In roasting pan, combine carrots, cauliflower, 1 teaspoon coriander, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Arrange vegetables around the side of the pan.

Place chicken legs along the center and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon coriander and 1/4 teaspoon cumin. Season with salt and pepper.

Roast, stirring vegetables once, until chicken is well browned and crispy (180F internal temperature). Remove chicken to platter.

Add lemon juice to pan and stir and scrape up drippings, mixing with vegetables. Serve.

Related Cauliflower Recipes:

Potato, Cauliflower and Garbanzo Bean Curry
(inspired by recipe from Mariquita Farms)

• 1 tablespoon olive or other cooking oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, sliced, about 1/4-inch-thick (1 cup total)
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 Serrano chile, seeded and minced (even if it scares you, use the whole pepper!)
• 3 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• 1 cups cubed peeled potato (about 4 medium red potatoes)
• 1 cup coarsely chopped sweet (bell or other) pepper
• 1 cup cauliflower or romanesco, cut or broken up into florets
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 6-8 fresh Roma tomatoes, chopped, with their juice
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 cup light coconut milk

In a large pan over medium heat, cook the onion and carrot in oil, covered, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add curry powder, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and chile. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Place onion mixture in 5-quart electric slow cooker. Stir in chickpeas, potato, sweet peppers, the cauliflower/romanesco, salt, pepper, ground red pepper, tomatoes and broth. Cover and cook on high 6 hours or until vegetables are tender. Just before serving, stir in coconut milk and simmer until heated.

Makes 6 servings.

For more crockpot and slow cooker ideas, check out Dining with Debbie: Crockpot Wednesday

Since our spring has been mixed with warm days, cool evenings and some rain, this dish felt like a nice way to bring in the new season. We served it with a 2005 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Ferrington Vineyard. 

Spring Lamb Stew
based on recipe for A New Navarin of Lamb from The New Basics Cookbook by Rosso & Lukins

• 3 pounds boneless leg of lamb, cut into 1 1/2″ cubes
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 cup dry red wine 
• 2 1/2 cups beef stock (I used chicken stock with the addition of a teaspoon of beef broth concentrate)
• 1 spring fresh rosemary
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 4 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 pound beets
• 1 pound young turnips (look for the smallest ones you can find)
• 1 bunch green onions, cleaned and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 4 Tablespoons butter

In small batches, in a dutch oven or other heavy enamel pot, brown the cubes of lamb. I browned my lamb in three batches, removing each batch to a bowl and allowing the pan to reheat slightly before adding the next bit. 

Once the meat is brown, add it all back into the dutch oven and sprinkle with flour and sugar. Mix to combine. Add in wine, stock, rosemary, garlic, and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer 1 1/2 hours, or until lamb is tender.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 400F. Scrub the beets and place in foiled lined baking pan. Add 1/2 cup of water and cover tightly. Bake in oven 1 hour 15 minutes, until tender. Allow to cool, then rub peel off and quarter or halve beets. Set aside.

Bring large pot of water to boil. Scrub turnips, and when water boils, add turnips to boiling water and cook until tender, 10-20 minutes (depends on the size). Remove from boiling water and allow to cool. Peel and quarter, set aside.

In the same pot of boiling water, add the spring onions and cook for 2-3 minutes, until tender. Remove and drain well. Set aside.

When ready to serve, heat butter in large sauté pan. Add in all vegetables and sauté until heated through. To serve, spoon one cup of the lamb into the bottom of bowl, top with the vegetables.

Mind you, it will take a while, good things always do, but if you go slowly, don’t rush the recipe and give yourself plenty of time (like a rainy Sunday in March!), you will surely find success.

First off, you must assemble a couple key kitchen gadgets:

• Le Crueset, or other heavy pot, preferably enamel, 5 quarts or larger
• Pressure cooker (this is actually key in my recipe, but if you don’t have one, you can get by)
• Large strainer, preferably like the one pictured above
• Mini Cuisinart or immersion blender with chopping bowl
• Cheesecloth and string, or silicon rubberband

Cassoulet with white beans, sausage and duck confit
adapted from Tante Marie’s Cooking School Cookbook

• 2 pounds white beans
• 1/2 pound bacon, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 coarsely chopped onions (divided) + 1 onion, chopped
• 4 smashed garlic cloves (divided) + 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• Bouquet garni with 4 sprigs of parsley, 3 sprigs thyme, 2 bay leaves
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 1 pound pork sausage, pricked all over with a fork
• 4 tablespoons bacon fat or olive oil
• 1 cup dry white wine or vermouth
• 28 ounce can of chopped tomatoes
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 whole confit of duck, cut into pieces (see notes below)
• 1 1/2 cups toasted bread crumbs

To start off, you need to cook the beans. I do this in two batches, because that is all my pressure cooker will hold.

First batch of beans – into the pressure cooker, add 1 pound of beans, 1 tablespoon of oil, bacon, 1 coarsely chopped onion, 2 smashed garlic cloves, bouquet garni, and 1 quart of chicken stock. Seal lid, and bring pot to pressure over high heat. When it has reached full pressure, turn down heat slightly, and set timer for 25 minutes. When the time is up, turn off heat and allow pressure to come down naturally, 15-20 minutes. If you can, leave beans in liquid a little longer. When ready, drain beans, reserving the cooking liquid. Put cooked beans into bowl, along with onions, garlic and bacon. Remove and discard bouquet garni.

Second batch of beans – into the pressure cooker, add remaining 1 pound of beans, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 coarsely chopped onion, 2 smashed garlic cloves, and 1 quart of chicken stock. Seal lid, and bring pot to pressure over high heat. When it has reached full pressure, turn down heat slightly, and set timer for 25 minutes. When the time is up, turn off heat and allow pressure to come down naturally, 15-20 minutes. If you can, leave beans in liquid a little longer. When ready, drain beans, reserving the cooking liquid. Put cooked beans into bowl, along with first batch of beans.

If you do not have a pressure cooker, then soak the beans overnight in water to cover. When ready to cook, drain the beans and put in Le Crueset or other heavy casserole, along with bacon, onions, garlic, bouquet garni and chicken stock. Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce and simmer, uncovered, for about 1 hour. Drain the beans, reserving the liquid. Discard onions and bouquet garni.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook sausages in 1/4 cup of water, until they are browned all over. This will take about 15 minutes. Remove sausages to plate to rest.

In same pan, heat 2 tablespoons bacon fat and sauté onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add in garlic, sauté another minute. Add in white wine and cook another minute. Stir in tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and cook additional 5 minutes.

To assemble the cassoulet – Slice sausage into 1-inch chunks. Layer 1/3 of the beans on the bottom of the Le Crueset. Nestle in half of the duck and half of the sausage. Cover with half of the tomato mixture. Repeat with another 1/3 of the beans, and the remaining sausage and duck confit. Cover with the rest of the tomatoes and the remaining beans. Season the bean liquid well, then pour enough bean liquid into the pot to come up just to the top of the beans. Cover entire cassoulet with bread crumbs and dot with remaining bacon fat.

Bake in 350F oven for 1 hour 30 minutes, until top is crusty and brown. You can break through the crust several times during cooking, which will allow the juices to help form the crust.

Notes:

This recipe serves 10, depending on appetites and what else you are serving. I like to serve with a green salad and fresh bread.

Duck confit – my local butcher sells duck confit in packages of two leg/thigh sections. I like to have one piece of duck for each person I am serving, so for 4 people, one package works well. I separate the leg and thighs. If I have more people, I will add another package.

Bouquet Garni – to make a bouquet garni, take the parsley, the thyme and the bay leaves, and either wrap them in a piece of cheesecloth, sealed with a knot, or wrap with a silicon rubberband.

I prefer to use my pressure cooker for this, as I like the speed in which beans are cooked. I also find that I can make a very intensely flavored bean broth, which works nicely for this dish. Leftovers can be stored for another soup, another time.

Yesterday, in honor of the Superbowl, I had planned to make Pulled Pork Sandwiches in the Crock Pot, allowing the meat to cook all day in super yummy sauce. Sadly, or fortuitously, my plans changed – the weather was grand and I needed a bike ride, and by the time I got home, I realized that I did not have enough time to execute my Pulled Port Sandwich plan (unless we wanted to eat at midnight).

Onto Plan B.

I pulled out my Pressure Cooker and my Lorna Sass Pressure Perfect cookbook and pulled together Pulled BBQ Beef on Buns (yes, I am purposely using “pulled” a lot).

It was tasty, especially with the Goode’s BBQ sauce I brought back from Texas about a zillion years ago….

BBQ Beef Sandwiches

• 2 pounds boneless chuck steak
• 1 1/2 cups chicken or beef stock
• 1/2 – 1 cup homemade or store-bought BBQ sauce
• Soft bread rolls

Pour stock into pressure cooker, add beef. Lock lid in place and bring to full pressure. Reduce heat to maintain high pressure and cook 20 minutes. Turn off heat and allow pressure cooker to release pressure naturally.

Remove lid, remove meat to dish, and allow to rest for about 5 minutes. Then shred or cut meat into little pieces. Pour broth into separate container, ideally a fat separator measuring cup. Conveniently, Oxo makes one.

Put the chopped meat back into the pressure cooker, along with enough BBQ sauce to coat the meat well. Don’t be shy here. Add in about 1/2 cup of the broth, and cook over medium heat until most of the broth has evaporated.

Serve on soft bread rolls, with pickles.

Substitutions – you could use 2 pounds of boneless chicken thighs or 3 pounds of pork blade shoulder chops, if you wanted something different in your BBQ sandwiches.

BTW, the pickle part I am not sure about. I ended up serving with both Dill pickles, which my boys liked, and Bread & Butter pickles, which I liked. Is there a standard?

Roasted Tomato Soup

Roasted Tomato Soup
based on recipe from Gourmet Magazine

• 4 pounds tomatoes, halved
• 6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3 cups vegetable or chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350F. Arrange tomatoes, cut sides up, on a shallow baking pan, large enough to hold all the tomatoes in a single layer. Add garlic to pan, and drizzle olive oil over tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Roast 1 hour, remove from oven and allow to cool. Peel garlic*.

Melt butter in heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion, oregano and sugar and cook slowly, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic,and broth. Bring to boil, then turn heat down low and simmer for 20 minutes. Using your immersion blender, puree the soup in the pot. Strain through a sieve, discard solids. Taste for seasonings and reheat until hot enough to serve.

* I did all of this the night before, while my oven was on for something else, which made putting together the soup right before dinner a snap

Other Roasted Tomato Recipes

How to Make Slow Roasted Tomatoes, from Kayln’s Kitchen
Slow Roasted Tomato Bruschetta, from The Perfect Pantry
Cream of Roasted Tomato Soup, from Andrea’s Recipes

Short ribs with turnips

It was a great dish, and when I make it again, I will cover the roasting pan after adding the vegetables and wine, or will consider transferring the meat after browning to a dutch oven. The spice mixture was earthy and deep, and while I served the short ribs with mashed potatoes tonight, I would consider farro or brown rice in the future. Nan bread would also be a wonderful accompaniment, given the warm, India-influenced spices.

Short Ribs with Baby Turnips
based on recipe in Simply Organic by Jesse Cool

• 3 pounds beef short ribs (I asked my butcher to cut each rib into 3 pieces)
• 2 tablespoons garam masala
• Salt & pepper
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 8 shallots, peeled and left whole
• 2 carrots, finely chopped (I only had baby carrots on hand, and used about 25)
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
• 1 cup hearty red wine (I used Zinfandel)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups diced tomatoes with juice (I used some I had canned this summer)
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 4 sprigs fresh parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 bunches baby turnips, or 8-10 medium

Preheat oven to 450F.

Toss short ribs with garam masala and season with salt & pepper. Roast in large roasting pan 45 minutes, turning once.

Reduce oven to 375F.

Transfer meat to Dutch oven. Deglaze roasting pan with 1/2 cup of red wine, scraping the bits of fond off the bottom of the pan. Add to Dutch oven, along with remaining ingredients, through ground cloves. Roast covered, 1.5 hours, until meat is almost falling off the bone.

Wash, and if necessary, peel turnips. If you are using medium or large size turnips, cut into halves or quarters. Add to Dutch oven, and toss with sauce. Add more broth if sauce is too thick. Braise for 1 hour or until turnips and meat are tender.

Remove short ribs and turnips to a serving platter. Discard bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Using your immersion blender, puree remaining vegetables and sauce until smooth.

Serve with mashed potatoes and pour sauce liberally.

Sausage with onions, peppers and polenta

Sausage with onions, peppers and tomatoes

• 1 onion, cut in half and sliced thin
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
• 2 red bell peppers, cut in half and sliced thin
• 4-5 medium tomatoes, chopped (medium is slightly larger than a golf ball)
• 2 teaspoons each basil, thyme and oregano
• 1 pound pre-cooked sausage, any flavor
• 1 recipe creamy polenta (recipe to follow)

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a cast iron (or other oven proof pan), sauté onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons olive oil, for 2 minutes. Add in bell peppers and sauté another 2 minutes. Add in tomatoes, herbs and season with salt & pepper to taste. Transfer to oven and bake for 20 minutes. Arrange sausages over the top of the onions and peppers, and bake another 10 minutes, turning sausages once, until they are heated through. Serve over polenta.

Creamy Polenta, microwave style (from the back of the Golden Pheasant brand of Polenta)

Mix 3 cups of water, 3/4 cup polenta and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 3 quart casserole dish, with lid. Cover and microwave on high 8 minutes. Remove and stir until well blended. Microwave another 2-3 minutes until desired thickness is achieved. Serve.