Pork Krautten!

For my friends and I, cabbage has been a seriously overlooked budget staple because many of our parents ate way too much of it during their youths to pass it on. We've used red cabbage on a few occasions, going for days living off a huge bowl of a variation of this RED CABBAGE SALAD to which I add carrots, green onions and canned corn. It tastes better and better each day I leave it in the fridge. I discovered the utility of sauerkraut after a 500 dollar trip to Costco in which one of the Most Valuable Purchases was a 4 litre jug of fermented cabbage that my roommate Max insist we buy. It proved to be a great condiment on sandwiches, especially ones made on dry bread that need a bit more moisture. I was interested in ways to use our new jar and found this really easy and basic recipe for pork chops. Unfortunately there were a few mixing errors, too much chicken stock and I don't think I rinsed the sauerkraut off enough so this meal was a bit too salty and vinegary hence earning the name Pork Krautten (get it?!)

INGREDIENTS

• 15ml 1tbsp vegetable oil
• 6 thick pork chops
• 1tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 500ml/2cups sauerkraut
• 1 granny smith apple, peeled and shredded
• 125ml or 1/2 cup condensed chicken broth (undiluted)

Note: Apparently the chicken broth can be replaced with 125ml of apple juice or cider, which I think would help kill the vinegar and certainly includes less salt than the undiluted chicken broth

DIRECTIONS

• Many slow cooker books advice to brown meat before putting it into a slow cooker, but it is a debate as tough as the old "slow cooking frozen meat vs not frozen." I think it is part safety, part grease remover and part presentation points (meat doesn't always brown well in slow cookers?)

• Regardless, I browned my pork chops in the heated oil before placing them in the slow cooker.
• Sprinkle spices on top of chops. Notice in my photo that I didn't sprinkle them all over. This was a mistake since some tasted more of mustard than others. I would recommend mixing the spices in a small bowl first.

• If you're using store bough kraut as opposed to home made, make sure it rinse it off thoroughly in a colander.
• Mix the kraut with the shredded apple, and layer onto chops
• Pour chicken broth or apple juice/cider on top of kraut

• Cook on low for 5 hours or high for 2.5 until the pork has a touch of pink left.

Granted I didn't think the spicing worked out well, but the meat was super tender and I'm sure will work well as leftover sandwich meats