Pork Steaks and Kraut

 

Ingredients were: 2 pounds (3 large bone in) pork steaks

                             1 Large Jar or 2 cans of Frank's Sauerkraut

                             1 Small vidalia onion diced

                             1 1/2 cups applesauce

                             1 1/2 cups of apple juice

                             1 tsp. Caraway seed

                              Black Pepper to taste

 

I trimmed the major fat from the outside of the pork steak and place them in a hot frying pan, adding a light coating of pepper, for a quick searing to a rich brown color. While they were searing I got out my crockpot and poured about 1/4 cup of the apple juice in the bottom to get a little intial liquid under the meat and reserved the rest of the juice. I then laid one pork steak in the bottom of the pot and layerd on about 1/3 each of the kraut, onions, and applesauce. I repeated this with the subsequent steaks and ingredients in layers. As you build the layers you can sprinkle on the caraway if it's a flavor that appeals to you. I deglazed the pan with the remaining apple juice and then poured it over the ingredients in the crockpot. I turned the pot on high for about an hour. As I walked out the door to work I turned the pot to low. 

 

Upon arrival home I was greeted by the odor of Oktoberfest emanating from my kitchen. The pork was done to the point of crumbling apart and falling off the bone as I attempted to remove it. The kraut had absorbed the sweetness of the apple sauce and the rich brown color from the deglazed pan. My wife had made some rice to serve this over. Sometimes we use noodles or simply serve it with large slabs of homemade bread.

 

I learned this basic recipe from my mother. She often made it with pork neck bones, pork hocks, or even ribs. It's pretty simple, relatively inexpensive, and to me, a comfort food I grew up with. She usually added a bit of brown sugar but I'm trying to cut back a bit on the sugars so leave it out. I would welcome any suggestions as to spices to give it just a bit more zing though. It's plenty salty from the kraut. Rockydog 

 

 Mike, if you'd like to get rid of some of the salt try rinsing the kraut. I do mine by running the can opener all the way around the lid to cut it completely free. Then I use my thumb to press the lid down. That brings the liquid to the top and I can pour it off. Top it off with water, then press and pour again. About three times ought to do it and your kraut will be far milder yet still have enough acid to tenderize the meat during the long cooking process. Any liquid needed for the cooking process can be replaced with water or more apple juice.