La Choucroute servie avec poulet et porc

Last week I wrote about having bought a nice cauliflower and also two kilograms of raw sauerkraut over at Intermarché, the supermarket that's closest to us as the corbeau flies. Here's what became of the sauerkraut. We've had two choucroute meals so far, and that's after having cooked just one kilo of raw kraut. The 'kraut itself cooks for three or four hours on low heat. Sauerkraut is cabbage that is cut into strips, salted, and left to ferment for days or even weeks. If you rinse it thoroughly, the salt washes away and the fermented cabbage is tasty — almost sweet — especially if you add a good amount of white wine to the cooking liquid along with carrots, onions, bay leaves, and spices (cloves, juniper berries, allspice berries, black pepper). Served with the cooked sauerkraut are boiled or steamed potatoes with butter and smoked meats.

Usually, the meats are pork, but nothing says they have to be. I like to have a smoked chicken with mine, along with smoked sausages, saucisses de Strasbourg (frankfurters) and thick slices of bacon (pork belly, poitrine fumée). All the meats are to be eaten in moderation of course, and hefty portions of cabbage go with them. Above you can see the smoked chicken, which we can buy already cooked at the supermarket. It just gets partially buried in the sauerkraut toward the end of the cooking, along with the bacon and smoked sausages, for 30 minutes at most.The potatoes are cooked separately and served hot with the choucroute and meats. Don't forget the Dijon mustard.