members recipes

Or \"How I learned to stop worrying and love brined cabbage\".

Ingredients
2 kg organic sauerkraut
1-1.5 kg pork ribs
1 onion
salt
pepper

Method
OK, this is a no-brainer dish but it relies on ingredients, not the chef. First things first, you need good, shredded, organic brined cabbage (no vinegar involved!). The autumn batches are usually quite mild, so you ca just drain them and there ready for use. If the sauerkraut has a bit of a bite, drain and wash with cold water. As for the meat, your best choice is a meaty rib cut (the bone-in dark meat, a slim layer of fat, and a thick layer of pale meat on top of it), however thick neck chops are also great. The idea is to have a well marbled, dark pork meat, but since the fat will cook in to the cabbage, cuts like pork belly and loin chops with the backfat on are definately out! A little fat is OK, since sauerkrout is a definate vitamin bomb. Take a baking dish, put a few lugs of olive oil in and put on medium heat. Shred one onion, brown it in the dish, and turn your oven to 180 C. When the onion is browned, add the souerkraut, season with pepper, stir to combine, spread it out over the dish, add just enough water to half-cover the cabbage and turn of the stove. Rub the meat with some salt and olive oil and place it in the dish (it should cover some of the cabbage, but leave some exposed to brown). Bake uncovered for 2-3 hours, serve hot with a strong bread (ciabatta, wholewheat, rye etc.).