Braised Pork with Sauerkraut

Pork with sauerkraut -not photogenic but delicious.

For many years we spent Christmas Day with the Gitlers: Painter-Sculptor Maryjo Schwalbach, jazz critic and author Ira Gitler and their son, now well-known art director Fitz. She always served braised pork  with sauerkraut,  lots of  cabbage and onions; and  apple sauce as a side dish. It was great fun!  Maryjo’s artwork is unique and quirky like she is. There are life-size paper mache figures of sport stars like Willie Mays about to start running after hitting a homer  or a basketball  being dunked into the basket by a large brown hand –action shots in relief and multi-media collages of faceless country women.  She also does wonderful watercolors  line drawings of jazz musicians as shown below.

Ira is interested in everything, but nothing more,  than jazz and ice hockey. He formed and captained his Gitler’s Gorillas  ice hockey team and they played until their knees, backs, and hips gave out. We’d listen enraptured for hours to his stories about artists such as Billy Holiday, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, and other jazz musicians he’s known over the years as he played their old records.

He’s call on jazz stars like  Tommy Flanagan, Al Grey, Major Holley, Oliver Jackson,  Jon Faddis,  and many others to play at my apartment when I gave him a book parties for From Swing to Bop and The Encyclopedia of Jazz. (that he co-wrote with Leonard  Feather who gets the title credit.) It was a golden time in my life.

Our family  grew as my sons got girlfriends and  I a boyfriend and we no longer fit in their tiny 6-person table and  stopped going.  I’d make the pork and they came to us instead until our family added wives and husbands and their children.  Now we can have no one else but the family which is exactly what we did last night becasue they’ll be away for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We had a great time  and the pork was delicious. Instead of applesauce I sauteed apples and pears with sausage, duck bacon, walnuts and sage. Recipe TK _better picture than the pork for the net!

Braised Pork with Sauerkraut

Makes 8 servings

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

4 pound Boston-style pork shoulder, but or blade roast excess fat trimmed

2 tablespoons olive oil or bacon fat

4 cups shredded cabbage

2 cups thinly sliced onions

1/2 cup diced carrots

1/2 cup thinly sliced leeks (white part only)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 pound sauerkraut, rinsed and drained

1 cup chicken stock

12 ounces dark beer

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

1 teaspoon dried savory

2 bay leaves

In a small bowl, mix together the sweet paprika, salt, black pepper, sage, thyme, and dry mustard with a fork. Pat the meat dry and rub with the spice mixture. Allow to “marinate” in the refrigerator for 2 to 24 hours.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees.

In a large heavy Dutch oven, brown the meat over medium heat on all side in the bacon fat or olive oil.

Remove the meat to a plate temporarily.

Pour off the rendered fat, leaving 2 tablespoons in the pan. Add the cabbage, onions, carrots, and leeks. Cover the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until the vegetables are softened and the cabbage is wilted, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Add the sauerkraut, chicken stock, beer, caraway seeds, dried savory, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil.

Return the meat to the pan, nestling it into the cabbage mixture. Cover and braise in the oven for 2 hours. Check the meat. It should be fork tender. If not, cook for 30 to 60 minutes more. Remove the meat from the pan and skim off any fat from the pan juices. Slice the meat and serve with the vegetables and pan juices.