The chill in the air has us wanting comfort food. And while I have a great list of “old standbys” that we absolutely love, both Ryan and I were in the mood for something different. So we grabbed the cookbooks for inspiration. Imagine my surprise when I suggested a sauerkraut based meal, and he agreed that it sounded good! 
Well, I didn’t end up cooking the sauerkraut meal that night. But we did pick up a six-pack of Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale, our new favorite beer. The second I took a sip I knew that this beer just HAD to be cooked into my kraut. 
The cookbooks had told me that I would also need to incorporate apples into my meal, so I picked up a delicious looking Cortland.
The best part of this recipe, it only calls for 1/2 the beer, so we get to drink the rest of it! 
The second best part of this meal, the pork is so amazingly tender and loaded with subtle flavors. Absolutely no knives required! I served some fresh buttery mashed potatoes on the side, and it was perfection.
I know that for some people sauerkraut may be a little too far out of their comfort zone. I implore you to give this recipe a try. Even if the kraut is too much for you, I promise the flavor of the pork is worth every second of the cooking!
It just occurred to me that I have been writing up quite a few German recipes lately. I like it. It means that my heritage is shining through, and it makes me feel close to my parents and brings up great memories of the hot lunches my Oma made every day for Opa…
Pork & Sauerkraut in Beer
Ingredients:
- 1 lb Boneless pork chops
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1/2 Cortland apple (peeled, cored and sliced into matchstick sized pieces)
- 1/2 Vidalia onion (quartered and sliced)
- 6 oz Beer (I recommend Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale)
- 32 oz Can of sauerkraut
- 1/2 tsp Sugar
Directions
- In a medium stockpot, heat the olive oil
- Sprinkle both sides of the chops with salt and pepper
- Place chops in pot and brown for 3-5 minutes, or until brown
- Flip chops
- Put onions and apples in the pot and allow to brown with the chops, stirring occasionally
- After 5 minutes, flip the chops again and allow to brown for a couple more minutes
- Pour in the beer and bring to a medium boil
- Allow to boil for 2 minutes
- Pour sauerkraut on top of chops, mixing slightly with the liquid
- Sprinkle sugar on top of kraut
- Bring to a simmer
- Reduce heat and allow to simmer for at least 1 hour, or until chops are tender
- Serve with mashed potatoes or German potato salad
Eat.Live.Blog. 
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