Emma's Sauerkraut

Traditionally in German, this form of pickled cabbage was used in many ways. It could just be heated and served as a vegetable, or cooked with meat (preferably pork or pork sausage.) Cooked in its natural brine, it could be so —sharp“ that it made your jaws ache. Rinsed and drained, or with a grated potato or apple added during the cooking, it tasted better to some of us. Each cook had her own way with it, and that‘s probably still the case. Here‘s a good starter:

 

This is a true Bavarian style Sauerkraut

Ingredients:

1 Fresh or Jarred sauerkraut. (approx. 4cups)

1 Cup Applesauce or 1 cup apples peeled and grated

about 4 oz of bacon (approx. 4 slices of bacon )

1 tsp caraway seed

1 medium diced white onion. ( about 1 cup)

Directions:
We like to rinse the sauerkraut. I have found that the brine condenses as it bakes and makes it too sharp tasting.

Fry the bacon in a skillet on medium heat.

I like to cut the bacon frozen or partially frozen, it cuts better. As you can guess I just cut from the whole pound of frozen bacon that is stacked. 5 cuts was plenty

when the bacon sweats turn it off

Add the onions, caraway, cooked bacon (with or withouth the fat) to the kraut and the applesauce.

Add the Sausages, cover and bake for 1 hour.
You can also microwave this for about 15 minutes in 5 minute intervals.

If you are going to microwave the kraut then saute the onions with the bacon a bit. This will make sure your onions get fully cooked.