Pennsylvania Dutch Pork and Sauerkraut

These are old family recipes that were written down in the late 19th/early 20th century, when instructions were a little less precise than they are now! We’ve put in quantities for the main dish – but for the mashed potatoes use whatever recipe you normally use … just be sure that they are solid enough to soak up the sauerkraut juice.

Ingredients:

2.5 to 3 lb pork loin or shoulder
Water
Sauerkraut (2 cans/bottles/pouches)
Salt
Pepper
Sugar (1 to 2 tsp to taste)
Carraway seeds (if desired – less than 1 tsp)

Take the pork and trim off most of the fat. Put the meat in water to about half cover and a small amount of salt (the sauerkraut will add more) and boil it for about 45 minutes.

Add the sauerkraut in with a dash of pepper and the sugar. If you need more salt, you can add that later. Many people put in a wee little bit (less than a tsp) of carraway seeds.

Boil the meal for two hours.

While it’s boiling, take some potatoes and peel them and boil and mash them – you can add butter, milk, etc, but it’s better to keep them fairly stiff as the sauerkraut and pork will have a lot of juice.

Then put on the plate a layer of potato, a layer of sauerkraut and the pork beside it.