Happy New Year!

The holiday season is coming to a close.  It’s been an exhausting, complicated, emotional and rewarding year.  But as it’s the first of January, it’s time to put 2010 behind us, and in my family that means upholding a very special tradition: Roast Pork and Sauerkraut.  As far back as I can remember, my mother has cooked this dish on New Year’s Day.  The dish is very German, so it’s no surprise that it ended up a part of Pennsylvania Deutch tradition.  Families all over Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia carry on the tradition today, the same way that cooks across the South make black-eyed peas to ring in the New Year.

The dish itself is said to be symbolic.  The pork of course honors the pig, who forages forward and never looks back, reminding us to look forward into the new year and not dwell in our past.  The sauerkraut represents prosperity (cabbage being an old slang word for cash) and longevity (the long, thin strips of kraut remind us of a long life line).  Historically, the first kraut of the season made from the late fall harvest of cabbages would have been ready to eat around early January, making it fitting with this time of year.  But most importantly its completely delicious.  Like most peasant dishes, this recipe is open to wide adaptation.  Most families cook this dish in a crockpot, but I think they’re missing out on the beautiful caramelization and varieties of textures that oven roasting provides.  I’m fairly certain my family’s original recipe had just 4 ingredients: pork, kraut, jelly, and caraway seeds.  Over the past few years mine has evolved a little bit to soften the acridness of the kraut and elevate the flavors of the dish.  Ok, enough chatter, let’s get to it already!

Roast Pork Shoulder with Sauerkraut
Serves 6

3-4lb pork shoulder roast **
2 lbs sauerkraut, well drained
1 onion, sliced
1 golden delicious apple, peeled cored and sliced
1 asian pear, peeled cored and sliced (or swap in 2 more apples)
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsps caraway seeds
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2/3 cup apricot or currant jelly (or a mix of leftover jams, ideally no sweet berries)
1/3 cup apple butter (or 1/2 cup apple sauce)
1/2 cup white wine or sparkling apple cider
1 cup chicken broth (or water, or kraut juice if you just can’t get enough of it)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Generously season your pork roast with kosher salt and pepper.  Set aside on the counter for about 30 minutes to take some of the chill off it.

In a large skillet, saute the onions over medium-high heat.  When the onions start to soften, add in the asian pear and apple slices and sprinkle over brown sugar and a big pinch of salt.  Reduce heat to medium and cook until lightly caramelized all over.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dijon, jam, and apple butter.  Today I used a mix of mostly apricot jam, with some cranberry jam and pepper jelly that I had left to kill on the fridge door.

In a large dutch oven (or a tall sided roasting pan), combine the sauteed onion mixture with the sauerkraut.  Make sure the bottom of the pan is completely covered and heap the rest of the mixture along the outside to create a nest.  Sprinkle the outside rim with caraway seeds, then nestle the pork roast into the center.  Spread on the jam mixture, dotting some around the kraut.  Pour in the wine or sparkling cider and place it uncovered into the hot oven for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes the pork should have a nice caramelized crust.

Reduce heat to 325 degrees, add in the broth just to keep the bottom of the pan from getting too dry.  Place the cover on the pan, or seal off the top with a double layer of aluminum foil and return to the oven for 2-3 hours, until the pork is tender and pulls apart easily.

Allow the pork to rest for 15 minutes before slicing into 1/2 inch thick pieces.  This is a very fatty cut of pork and despite the long cooking time it will not all render out.  You’ll have to eat around some of this excess fat, but this is what makes the meat so succulent and tender.  Serve overtop the kraut with mashed potatoes and peas on the side.

Here’s to a wonderful, healthful, prosperous and delicious New Year!

** As a leaner alternative, you can use a pork loin roast.  Brown in a hot oven per the recipe, but then once covered only cook until the pork reaches 145 degrees internally, which will take about 1 hour.  I’ve also made a scaled down variation of the dish using pork chops to serve 2-3 people.  You’ll want to halve the entire recipe for this version.  Quickly sear the porkchops in the pan before proceeding with the onions.  Glaze the chops and roast them over the kraut, uncovered, in a 375 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes until the pork hits an internal temp of 145 degrees.

You know, I always have great intentions for a fabulous, involved Sunday supper.   But let’s face it:  I typically don’t wander into the kitchen on the weekend until  I’m actually starting to get hungry.  So when we bought this rack of ribs for the weekend, I’m sure we pictured firing up the charcoal grill and recreating some 3-hour Bobby Flay masterpiece.  This did not come to pass.  Instead, I went for the easy option in half the time.  And gosh darnit, they was gooood.

Lazy Oven Baby Back Ribs
Serves 2

1 rack of pork baby back ribs
2 tbsp bbq rub (I recommend the California BBQ Seasoning from Surfa’s, but most anything will work here.  You can also put together your own my mixing some chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, granulated garlic and onion etc)
2 tbsp brown sugar
Salt and Pepper
1 1/2 cups of your favorite bbq sauce

Set your oven to a toasty 400°F.  While its coming to temp, wash and trim  your rack of ribs.  It’s good to have a thin layer of fat on the meaty side, but not too much as it won’t have time to fully render in the oven.  Pat it dry and then thoroughly rub in the bbq rub, brown sugar, and salt and pepper into both sides.  You want a nice even coat of seasoning, just like in the pic below.

Now wrap the whole rack up burrito style in two layers of heavy duty aluminum foil.  You’re looking for a very tight seal to trap in all the meat’s juices during cooking.  Toss that onto a baking sheet, bones down and meaty side up, set the timer for an hour and they’re ready for the oven.

Alright, so the hour has passed and these ribs are ready for some tasty bbq sauce.  Tonight I just doctored up a generic bottled sauce with some honey, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and a tasty chipotle hotsauce.  You wanna whip up something homemade?  Knock yourself out.  Open up the foil (and keep it open from this point on), give the ribs a flip, and baste about 1/3 of the sauce onto the bone side of the rib rack.  You’ll notice that the meat has started to pull away from the bone at this point. Return that to the 400° oven for about 15 minutes.

Flip the ribs again and baste the meaty side, and return to the oven for another 15 minutes.  Finally, give them one last baste then slide them under your oven’s broiler for 2-5 minutes, and keep a close eye on them.  This will help caramelize and set the bbq sauce which sorta replicates how the grill would treat them.

And there you have it!  I probably should have let them go a few more minutes in the broiler, but my tummy won the battle.  Slice them up and EAT.  What I really liked about this recipe is that they produced the perfect rib tenderness.  Not so tender that they fall off the bone before they reach your mouth, but just tender enough to very easily pull away when you’re eating.  And yeah, ok, I know it sounds like a lot of work to call them lazy.  But all in all, although it took about 1hr 40 minutes from start to finish, less than 20 minutes was actual hands-on cooking time.  And that suits me just fine.  ENJOY!

Fall is right around the corner, which means, lucky us, eggplants are in season. I always opt for Japanese eggplants, as the seeds are smaller and the meat is less bitter. This is one of my favorite ways to prepare it — tossed in a flavorful vinaigrette and roasted in a hot oven until they’re tender and sweet. Read on for more yum.

Balsamic Roasted Eggplant
Serves 2-3 as a side dish

5-6 medium sized Japanese eggplants, cut into 1-inch rounds
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/3 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp sugar
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Get your oven rolling. 425 degrees, please.

In a big ol bowl, start by whisking together the dijon, balsamic vinegar, thyme, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper.  Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking.  Thanks to the dijon, you’ll get a beautiful thick, rich vinaigrette.

Throw in the sliced eggplant, tossing delicately with the vinaigrette until all pieces are coated evenly.  Transfer to a foil-lined baking dish, spreading the eggplant out evenly.  If there’s extra vinaigrette, leave that out. You want only a very fine coating of flavor and then a nice, dry roast in the oven.  I gave it one last sprinkle of salt before it went in the oven.

Roast for 30 – 40 minutes, turning once half way through, until the skin of the eggplant starts to wrinkle and carmalize and the meat becomes very tender.  This technique works with lots of veggies.  Try a mix with red onions, red bell peppers, and zucchini and enjoy the yum.