Best 8 Slow Cooker Choucroute Recipes

CHOUCROUTE GARNIE

Steps:

• If cooking the choucroute garnie in the oven, preheat the oven to 200°F (95°C). If cooking the choucroute garnie in a slow cooker, see the Slow-Cooker Variation beneath the recipe.
• In a large Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is almost completely crisp, about 10 minutes. Reserve the drippings and transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain.
• Put the sauerkraut in a bowl, crumble the cooled bacon over the top, and toss. Set aside.
• Return the pot with the bacon drippings to medium heat. Add the potatoes and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• Add half the sauerkraut and bacon jumble to the pot with the onions and potatoes and toss to coat. Spread it in an even layer. In a small bowl, combine the bay leaves, juniper berries, cloves, coriander, black pepper, and garlic. Sprinkle half the spice mixture over the sauerkraut mixture in the pot and arrange the pork slices and sausages on top. Cover with the remaining sauerkraut and spices. Pour the beer over all. Cover and bake for 4 to 4 1/2 hours. (The "cooking" is more a matter of warming everything and allowing the flavors to get cozy with one another, so the timing doesn't have to be exact. Although the longer the choucroute simmers, the more complex the flavors.) Serve warm with brown mustard, rye bread, and beer on the side. (If you want to make the choucroute ahead of time or if you have leftovers, you can cool the choucroute garnie, cover it, and stash it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat gently, covered, in a low oven prior to serving.

SHORTCUT CHOUCROUTE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Core the cabbage; cut it into wide ribbons and scatter in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Drain the sauerkraut and spread it on top of the cabbage. Halve the onions and nestle them among the vegetables. Tuck in the bay leaves and sprinkle with the caraway seeds or juniper berries and lots of black pepper.
• Put the meat and sausages on top of everything and pour in the wine or other liquid. Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper and cover tightly with foil. Transfer to the oven and cook, undisturbed, for 2 hours.
• Test the pork shoulder by inserting a fork into the thickest part: If it slides out easily, turn the oven up to 450 degrees, leave the pan uncovered and return it to the oven until the meat and the vegetables brown a bit, another 25 to 30 minutes. If the pork isn't fork-tender, re-cover the pan and return it to the oven for another 30 minutes before proceeding.
• To serve, just break the pork into chunks with two forks and set the pan on the table with a serving spoon and plates, plenty of roughly torn baguettes and crocks of mustard and butter. Don't bother removing the bay leaves unless they really bug you.

CHOUCROUTE ROYALE (BRAISED SAUERKRAUT)

Steps:

• Drain the sauerkraut and soak in cold water for 15 to 20 minutes. Taking it by small handfuls, squeeze out as much water as you can. Pick it apart to separate the strands.
• Remove the rind and slice the bacon into 1/2 inch cubes about 2 inches long. Simmer it in 1 quart of water for 10 minutes and drain.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Cook bacon, carrots, and onions in butter slowly in the covered casserole for 10 minutes without browning. Stir in the sauerkraut and when itis well covered with the fat and vegetables, cover and cook slowly for 10 minutes more.
• Bury the herbs and spices in the saurkraut. Pour in the wine, and enough stock to just cover the sauerkraut. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Lay a buttered round of wax paper on top of sauerkraut. Cover and set in the middle of preheated oven. Simmer slowly for 3 1/2 hours.
• Brown assorted meats in skillet. Bury them in the casserole while the sauerkraut is still braising.
• Continue to simmer in oven for another 1 1/2hours. (5 hours total).

ALSATIAN CHOUCROUTE

Steps:

• Wash sauerkraut thoroughly, put aside. In a rondeau melt the duck fat and saute the onion until tender, add garlic bay leaves, juniper berries and thyme. Saute until golden brown, deglaze with Reisling wine. Add 1/2 of the sauerkraut, place bacon slab and ham shanks in the middle and then top with remaining sauerkraut. Pour chicken stock over making sure it covers the sauerkraut (if not enough, add water). Cover the pan with foil and place in a preheated 350 degrees oven for 1 1/2 hours. Wash red bliss potatoes and steam whole for 30 to 40 minutes. Peel potatoes and set aside. Cut sausages in half and warm in boiling water. Place pork chops in oven to warm. Take sauerkraut out of the oven and remove bacon and ham shanks. Slice the bacon in half. Remove pork chops out of oven. Place sauerkraut in the center of a large oval tray, place all meats around sauerkraut, place bacon and ham shanks, on top of sauerkraut. Place warm potatoes around with the meat, Serve Dijon mustard on the side.

SIMPLIFIED CHOUCROUTE GARNI FOR CROCK POT (PORK CHOPS&SAUERK

Steps:

• In small bowl, mix seasoning, salt and pepper. (I didn't measure these, I just seasoned each layer with a little sprinkle of each).
• Coat slow cooker with nonstick spray. Layer potatoes, pork chops, kielbasa, apples and sauerkraut (in that order). Season each layer with spice mix. Pour wine over top of sauerkraut.
• Cook 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Stir in thawed peas and cook additional 30 minutes.
• remove pork chops and cut each into thick slices against the grain. Stir back into mixture and serve.

CHOUCROUTE GARNIE

Steps:

• Drain sauerkraut, reserving juice. Rinse in two changes of cold water, wring out well, and set aside. Heat oven to 325 degrees.
• In a large casserole,at least 5 quarts,cook salt pork or bacon over medium heat until golden. Remove,draining well.Leave fat in casserole. Add onions and carrots, and saute until soft. Add garlic and apple, and cook, stirring, several minutes. Add sauerkraut, and return pork or bacon to casserole, tucking it into sauerkraut. Add stock and wine. Bring to a simmer.
• Add bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves and juniper berries. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover,and bake 2 hours.
• Tuck sausages into sauerkraut. If sauerkraut looks dry, add stock. If sauerkraut needs more bite, add a little reserved juice. Cover,and bake 20 minutes.
• Place smoked pork on sauerkraut. Cut ham slices in half, and add them to top. Cover with parchment cut to fit inside casserole and placed directly on ingredients. Cover pot,and return to oven 15 minutes.
• While meats cook, simmer potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain.
• Serve choucroute directly from casserole, placing potatoes on top first. Or spread sauerkraut on a platter, and top with meats and potatoes. Serve with mustard.

CLASSIC CHOUCROUTE

Steps:

• Boil ham hocks in unsalted water until tender, at least 1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, wash sauerkraut in cold water; drain. Wash again, in hot water; drain and squeeze dry.
• In a heavy, ovenproof pot, melt 3 tablespoons of the fat over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook it until soft and tender; do not brown. Add wine and 1 cup water, then bacon. Cover,and cook 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Season sauerkraut with pepper and a tiny bit of salt; add to pot,covering bacon. Combine garlic, juniper berries, caraway and bay leaf in cheesecloth and tie into a sachet. Bury this in the sauerkraut. Lay a circle of parchment paper directly over sauerkraut, cover, bring to a boil, transfer to oven and bake 1 hour.
• Add pork loin, top with potatoes, and return to oven for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
• About 15 minutes before potatoes are done,add bratwursts and frankfurters to the pot with hocks. Reduce heat to simmer, and heat through. Heat remaining fat in a skillet, and carefully brown blood sausages (they burst if overcooked).
• Add kirsch to sauerkraut; taste and add salt if necessary. Discard herb sachet.
• To serve, slice bacon and pork loin.Cut sausages and hocks into pieces. Put sauerkraut on large platter with meats and potatoes on top and around it. Serve with hot mustard and beer or white Alsatian wine.

CROCK POT CHOUCROUTE

Steps:

• Stir together the cabbage, carrot, sauerkraut, cider, sugar, garlic, pepper, caraway, and allspice in slow cooker.
• Bury the Canadian bacon in the kraut, pressing down to compact.
• Top with kielbasa & potatoes.
• Cover & cook on low for 7 hours, until potatoes are tender.