Riesling-Braised Sauerkraut and Apples (Page 575)

RECIPE #916

• Date: Wednesday, January 7, 2009 -- 7pm
• Location: Bloomington, IN
• Kitchen: My Apartment
• Dining Companion: Matty
• Recipe Rating: B
  

Karen made sauerkraut on New Year's Day, which reminded me that there is a sauerkraut recipe in The Book. Since this recipe was on my mind, I made it when we came back after the holidays. This recipe started with packaged sauerkraut purchased from the store. I soaked the sauerkraut in water, then drained it, then repeated the soaking and draining. In a big pot I cooked onion and shallots in butter, then added sliced apples, bacon, Riesling, chicken stock, thyme, juniper berries (many thanks to David for sending me those!) and a bay leaf. I added the sauerkraut and braised it in the oven for an hour and a half. At that point there was an optional step of adding 2 cups of cream and some apple schanpps. I let my special gentleman decide if he wanted this dish with or without the cream. He chose without so that's what we did. The cream might have had a nice mellowing affect on the strong flavor of the sauerkraut, but 2 cups of cream for 6 serving is a heck of a lot of cream. It sounded too rich for us! As we prepared it, this sauerkraut was pretty good. The apples gave it a nice flavor and sweetness, and the Riesling also contributed a sweet note to the dish. This recipe was a bit fancier than typical sauerkraut preparations, but as with most sauerkraut dishes, it mostly tasted like the storong flavor of sauerkraut! This dish was fine. I probably won't make it again, but we enjoyed eating it well enough.

Here is the recipe.




While I was sick last week my special gentleman was away in Korea, speaking at a conference. He got back this weekend and it has been so good to have him back. I am used to him not being here, since we spent a year and a half living apart. But being home alone and really sick was not fun at all. It was even worse because with a 14 hour time difference and no cell phone, it wasn't like I could just call him up if I felt really bad. We talked on Sykpe a lot (I do love Skype!) but it was still hard. I missed him a lot and I am so glad he is back! He is a bit jet-lagged and I am wiped out after having been sick, so we have had a pretty mellow weekend. Yesterday I did some cooking (mmm... homemade croissants!) and then we went to Mike and Teresa's for a yummy dinner and a movie. Today was a university holiday, so I had another restful day. I had an appointment at the doctor this morning, whch somehow took three and a half hours. This afternoon I did some work, and some cooking. It was very relaxing. And I am happy to say that I am finally feeling well again, after my battle with pneumonia. So I think this week is going to be much better than the last one!