January 1, 2010
Our Sunday Stills challenge this week was the word, "Food". Every year, on New Year's Day, we have our traditional pork and saurkraut for good luck. Growing up in Pennsylvania, this was a familiar dish, not only with the Germans, but with every nationality in the state. We always had a fresh pork roast, baked with saurkraut all around it.
My grandma would put a little sugar in the kraut, to take away some of the tang. (She had a little English in her. Both my dad and I love our sweets.) But my husband likes the tangy taste of the saurkraut, and so do our children, so no sugar goes in the kraut. Usually we would cook potatoes and mash them. When we serve the pork and saurkraut, you would spoon the saurkraut over the potatoes. This year, our meal was only for my husband, Tom, and I, so I quartered 6 potatoes and placed them around the pan. We had leftovers for 2 more days!
I love the New Year, and I love the memory of my grandma cooking the pork and kraut.
The recipe: very easy!
The key is to salt and pepper the fat side, and leave that side up in the pan. I usually crock pot the meat and saurkraut together, but most people like to bake the meat. We like the bagged saurkraut, not the type that comes in the cans. It has a different taste. Salt and pepper to taste. Do not let the pan dry out, so add plenty of water to keep the meat and saurkraut moist. Cover with foil, and the lid if necessary.
I would recomment doing mash potatoes on the side, and spooning the saurkraut over the potaotes and the pork.
Enjoy, and good health, good fortune, and good luck to you in 2010!
14 comments:
Now that's my kind of meal! I love pork and kraut. We have country-style ribs and kraut with mashed potatoes on a regular basis in this house. Thanks for sharing. :)
very traditional!
Looks good! Haven't had kraut in a very long time!
Yummy!
I would love this meal. I saute onions and mix them with my sauerkraut...add a little brown sugar and vinegar...delicious.
Oooh! Lori's version sounds devine!
I at first thought your pork was a sea shell! lol!
Thanks for sharing the memories behind your holiday meal and the recipe tricks, too.
Happy New Year,
~Lisa
My kind of meal! The recipe for my fruitcake is here: http://rideagoodhorse.blogspot.com/2009/10/christmas-cake-tutorial.html
Hehe, I thought the pork was a seashell at first glance too! Actually, that sounds really good. Isn't it great to have traditions that are passed down from one generation to the next! And what memories the smell of that cooking must bring to you. That is so neat, thanks for sharing!! :)
dibear, Holly, Rhonda, and Colleen, thanks! And we love some of our other PA traditional dishes, even though we have lived in the midwest for 23 years!
Lori, now I'm wondering which sugar my grandma used. We would use brown sugar in sweet potaotes, so I'm wondering if it was brown sugar. Makes sense - helps to darken the kraut.
Lisa, that is so funny. I went back to look at the first picture, and it sure does look like a large shell! lol
Shirley, thanks for the fruitcake recipe. I have saved it in my files!
Rebekah, yes it is. I never thought of it being handed down. Our 1 son does not like saurkraut, but the other 2 children do. No one could come New Year's Day to eat with us, but my youngest son showed up today. He wanted a sandwich but I told him there were pork leftovers, and he couldn't wait to eat it!
oops, I answered with my other blog name, Horses Are Our Lives. Hope it doesn't confuse anyone! lol
Happy New Year, everyone, Brenda
Being from the west coast, I've never heard of this sauerkraut tradition. But, what a delicious meal that made! I love anything easy too ;~)
Looks tasty..:-)
I have never heard of the tradition as a new years meal..but one of my grandmothers was German and she made fantastic homemade kraut in a crock with a plate on top of it weighted with a rock. It was always served over mashed potatoes. Thanks for the food memories! :)
Nice to see food traditions are still around!
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