Sweet, savory and smoky sauerkraut with onions, apples and bacon.
All the talk about the sweet goodness you can make with apples this season, and as someone rightly pointed out to me, there are plenty of savory things you can make with apples too.
For more information on which apple varieties are best for baking, check out our guide to apples.
The trick is to use good quality sauerkraut; The best stuff, according to dad, is chilled and in a jar. He drains it but doesn’t rinse it out, lest the flavor wash away. A good applewood smoked bacon helps too.
If you love sauerkraut like we do (and sadly there are fewer and fewer of us out there these days) you’ll love this recipe.
Sauerkraut with bacon and apples
ingredients
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1/4 lb cut Applewood Smoked Bacon
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2 tart apples such as Granny Smithpeeled, cored and grated
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1 Middle yellow onionfinely chopped
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2 cloves garlicchopped
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1 teaspoon Caraway seedsfloor
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3 cups unfiltered Apple juice
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1/4 Cup white wine vinegar
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2 pounds refrigerated (in a jar, not canned), prepared sauerkrautdrained (approx 1 24 ounce glassdrained)
method
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Cook and chop the bacon:
Place the bacon slices in the bottom of a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-high heat. Cook until bacon is browned and most of the bacon grease has evaporated, 5 to 10 minutes.
Remove the bacon from the pan and place on paper towels to drain. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan. (Don’t pour it down the sink, bacon grease will clog drains!) Chop bacon and set aside.
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Boil onions, apples, then add garlic, cumin:
Add the chopped onions and apples to the saucepan and cook until the onions are translucent, about 6-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin and sauté for another minute.
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Add apple juice and vinegar, then bring to the boil:
Pour the apple juice and white vinegar into the saucepan. Increase the heat to high. Bring to a boil and cook vigorously until liquid is reduced to a syrup, about 5 minutes.
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Add sauerkraut and bacon:
add to the saucepan and stir to coat with the sauce. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the sauerkraut is warmed through and tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Adapted from The Niman Ranch Cookbook.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 211 | calories |
| 7g | Fat |
| 29g | carbohydrates |
| 8g | protein |
