Choucroute Garni (hackse Platter)

Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon bacon drippings
• 3 (1 1/2 lb) fresh lamb hocks or 2 lbs lamb ribs, cut into 3 rib portions
• 1 (2 lb) smoked lamb shoulder, rolled or 3 (1 1/2-2 lb) lamb loin chops, cut 3/4 inch thick trimmed of fat
• 3 (16 ounce) cans sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
• 2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 4 whole cloves
• 3 juniper berries, crushed (optional)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup rhine wine or 1 cup wine
• 1 lb sausage links (use desired combination of fresh bockwurst, thuringer, precooked knackwurst and or or precooked fran)
• boiled potato

Recipe

• 1 in a 5 quart dutch oven or sauce pan cook onion in bacon drippings about 5 minutes or until tender.
• 2 remove from heat.
• 3 add lamb hocks or spare ribs.
• 4 cut lamb shoulder roll crosswise into 3/4 inch thick slices.
• 5 add shoulder pieces or loin chops to dutch oven.
• 6 in a large bowl stir together the sauerkraut and next 7 ingredients.
• 7 spoon over meats.
• 8 pour wine over all.
• 9 cover and bake in a 375 degree oven about 1 1/2 hours or until meats are tender.
• 10 meanwhile, prepare desired combination of sausages.
• 11 for bratwurst, bockwurst and thuringer, place in an unheated skillet wit 2 to 3 tbsp water.
• 12 cover and cook until water is evaporated and sausages are cooked.
• 13 for knackwurst and frankfurters, add to boiling water in a saucepan.
• 14 cover and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or until hot.
• 15 mound sauerkraut mixture into a deep wide serving platter or a large bowl.
• 16 arrange meats and sausages around and on top of the sauerkraut.
• 17 serve with boiled potatoes.