Food You Can Eat: Oktoberfest Smoked Pork Slices and Sauerkraut

It is once again Oktoberfest. One of my very first FYCE contributions dealt with Oktoberfest so it is very dear to my FYCE heart. Here is a simple pork and sauerkraut recipe you will want to make because you are on-trend. A German Hausfrau would leave the room upon hearing about this because she would make her own sauerkraut and would, in all likelihood, smoke her own pork. I am not she.

This recipe serves 4 because it is deceptively hearty.

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In a large skillet melt 3 tbsp of butter (the French have nothing on the Germans when it comes to butter usage) and add slices from 2 large onions. Traditionally in Germany this means yellow onions. Brown them over medium heat, then add in at least a pint (16 oz.) of drained, jarred sauerkraut. You can make your own sauerkraut, as Frau Schmidt would, but though it’s easy I don’t have the patience for it and it’s cheap enough in one of my supermarkets. Cook the sauerkraut (they’ll be in there with their onion cousins) for 5—10 minutes until it, too, browns a little. Stir this a little so the bottom pieces don’t scorch. 

Now add 1 lb. of cooked smoked pork, sliced. I get smoked pork from that great rarity in my neighborhood, a butcher. Your supermarket might have smoked pork but none of mine do. I wish they did because my butcher’s prices are like I’m buying this meat on the black market during wartime. Shake some paprika over this, Germans are big fans, and a little water, maybe 1/4 cup or a little more, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and let this cook for another 10 minutes. At this point your real intention is to warm up the pork. Dig into the skillet once or twice with a spatula and try to shift things around so they don’t get too comfortable.

There is not nearly enough starch for a German meal, so make some brown rice, fry some potato disks in butter, make a German potato salad, serve with Spätzle, Mein Gott in Himmel, do something. 

Happy Oktoberfest to you all!