Family Favorites...Spareribs and Sauerkraut


   The Good Housekeeping cookbook is one I use more for the information in it than the recipes, however, one I like and fix often is the Sauerkraut and Spareribs. We are all fond of sauerkraut as I have said before and this is another good way of serving it.
  I always use the canned Franks brand. It is inexpensive and the closest I have found to homemade. I have made homemade, but that is another story, (only once).
  This recipe calls for onions and I must confess that I have never put them in. I just can’t get my mind around onion with sauerkraut. I do use all the rest though, especially the caraway seed.
  I buy country style spareribs instead of baby back or the regular ribs. You pay so much for the bones and no meat, which I have a problem with. This time I bought the country style spareribs with the bone in as they were on sale. Normally I buy the boneless. I am not sure how they are cut, but at least you get meat. I use country style for BBQ ribs also. Too cheap to waste grocery money on bones I guess. This dish works well with thick cut pork chops also, or pork steak.
Spareribs and Sauerkraut
2 to 4 Tablespoons salad oil
3 pounds spareribs
2 large onions, sliced
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
½ cup boiling water (part brandy optional)
1 1 pound 13 ounce can sauerkraut
¼ to ½ teaspoon caraway seeds
1 cooking apple, pared, cored and grated.
  In hot fat in a Dutch oven, saute spareribs until brown on both sides. Add onion; saute until tender. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add water (I use about ½ of the amount of water as brandy and the rest water). Simmer covered 1 ½ hours, if using country style or one hour for regular ribs. Move spareribs to one side of Dutch oven; place sauerkraut; caraway seeds, and apple on other side; cook, covered another 30 minutes. Season to taste.
  You can, and I usually do, bake this in a slow oven instead on the stove top. About 325° for one and a half hours, and then add the sauerkraut and bake about 45 minutes longer. Saves having to keep an eye on it.
  To serve, arrange ribs on one side of platter and lift sauerkraut from liquid and arrange on other side of platter. Serve with your choice of potatoes (baked are good if you are using the oven) and hot rolls. Great on a cool rainy day.

7 comments:

  1. I grew up with Sauerkraut. We always put sliced onion, grated or sliced apple and a good dash of white wine with the Sauerkraut, then place 1 large bay leaf and a few black peppercorns with it before heating. I also like to cook some belly pork slices (no bones to waste money on) on top of the Sauerkraut, under a closed lid. It tastes wonderful together and is the real, authentic way to have this dish. I should know, as I am native German.

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  2. I love ribs and kraut! I do use onions but apples as well...in the cold weather I like to do them in the crockpot

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  3. Sarina, It is cold and rainy here today. Sauerkraut sounds good to me. I am going to have to try the bay leaf in mine. I use them a lot, but had not thought of putting them with the sauerkraut. Thanks.

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  4. I am going to have to break down and try the onion with ours the next time I make it. Seems like several of you do use it.

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  5. Yum! I can smell them from here! Today is our first really cool day and this dish is calling me. Thanks for the inspiration. My Mother is German and did not even speak English when she started grade school years ago so I have eaten a lot of the real thing too! Thanks again.

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  6. I've made country pork ribs with a favorite recipe of Weber's BBQ sauce since the early '70s. But I do make pork roast in the crock pot w/kraut & potatoes. I LOVE Frank's kraut! Haven't found it here though so I buy Kuner's. When I was a young girl my best friend's mom made kraut & stored it along the floor of the garage between the studs. Sometimes we'd sneak into the garage & eat it! I used to fix country sausage rings with kraut too, but we don't eat that anymore.

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  7. Hi Nadine, Isn't the homemade sauerkraut good! Our Grandma made it every year also. I will fix ours with smoked sausage rings on occasion.

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