Margarita's International Recipes

Estonia

Pork with Sauerkraut Stew One of the things I love about this project is coming across dishes that I would never have chosen to cook - or eat - otherwise. I mean, I don't like sauerkraut. Not in the least (or so I thought), but I had a limited number of choices for Estonian dishes and this one seemed one of the best. Boy, am I glad I tried it! This was one of the most delicious stews I've ever had. It's extremely peasanty, you would never see it in a restaurant, but for depth and balance of flavor, few things can beat it. The original recipe calls for putting all the ingredients in a pot and cooking them for hours. I couldn't make myself do that, so I browned the meat and onions first. But you can skip that step and make it in a slow cooker. Other than, my only change was to half the amount of sauerkraut. I'm glad I did as that made the pork-to-sauerkraut ratio perfect. I used Hengstenberg Bavarian style Sauerkraut, because that's what I found at my grocery store, but it gets very good reviews so it may be worth looking for it. I made this stew using a dark beer/ale, but you can use broth or water instead. Pork with Sauerkraut Stew Ingredients 2 Tbsp. oil 2 lbs pork loin, cut in 1/2" cubes 1 onion, chopped 1 apple, diced 2 cups sauerkraut 1/2 cup pearled barley 1 Tbsp. brown sugar 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. black pepper 2 cups beer or broth additional water if needed Instructions Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the pork cubes and brown on all sides. Add the chopped onion, turn down the heat to medium, and cook until it's soft, stirring frequently. Add the apple, sauerkraut, barley, sugar, salt and pepper and beer. Mix well, bring to a boil, and then turn down the heat to very low and simmer for 3 to 4 hours. Add additional water to prevent burning if needed. Adapted from a recipe at Elite Life Estonian Recipes | Margarita's International Recipes | Marga's Food Blog | E-mail