MNN - Mother Nature Network

 

 

Prep time: 15 min  

Cook time: 45 min  

Total time: 60 min  

 

Serves 4

 

1. For the garlic sausage, substitute other fine-textured, fully cooked sausages like bockwurst/weisswurst (two names for very similar “white” sausages), knockwurst or bratwurst. For a buffet dish, use an assortment of sausages, cut into 2-inch chunks.

 

2. A smoked ham shank gives a nice flavor and body to the dish but needs longer cooking. Have the butcher cut the shank crosswise in 2 or 3 places, and plan on at least an hour for the shank and sauerkraut to cook together. Don’t worry about overcooking — in France they cook this dish for 3 hours or more.

 

Wine-drinking France and beer-drinking France meet in Alsace, the northeastern region bordering the Rhine. In its classical form, choucroute garni is made to harmonize with the dry, flavorful white wines of the region, requiring extensive rinsing and draining of the sauerkraut to minimize its sour, briny flavors. Well, beer has no problem going with the full-strength taste of sauerkraut, so I give the sauerkraut only a quick draining before cooking it with the meats and seasonings. This is how I imagine brewers rather than winemakers would enjoy their choucroute.

 

This recipe is easy to scale up for a crowd, and it is still good when barely warm, making it a good choice for a weekend open house or a crowd gathered for a ball game on TV.

 

I like the crispness of a Pilsner-style lager with this, or maybe a Märzen, but nothing much heavier than that.