The Chef Within

This is a recipe called Krazy Kraut that I discovered years ago in Bon Appetit magazine.  I have tweeked it a bit and look for any excuse to serve this to the public because they are always surprised.  Many people, myself included can take or leave sauerkraut.  But when you turn it into Krazy Kraut, I can’t get enough of it.  I like it too because it goes with lots of different foods, not just corned beef and the Reuben sandwich .

So let’s get right to it.  BTW - picture here is a double recipe but printed is a single which still makes alot.

 The ingredients:

30 ounces sauerkraut (appx)

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

12 ounces beer (can use non-alcoholic)

1 1/4 cups ketchup

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 medium granny smith apple, peeled, pared and thinly sliced

1 small green pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon salt

All those ingredients get dumped into a large saute pan or kettle….

stirred and simmered.  It does require some serious simmering time because you need to reduce it until all the liquid has cooked off. 

It can not be the least bit runny.  The above picture is cooked halfway.

And here’s the final.  Notice that almost all the liquid has been absorbed.  When it has completely cooked down, remove it from the heat, cool and store in an airtight container.  It will keep for several weeks and can even be frozen.

I love this on a Reuben which I made for a crowd last week and this is also a great side for any and all meats.  It’s also great with rice and of course on a hot dog.  You have to try this once.  It’s great to have a recipe like this in your repetoire and seriously, people who don’t ususally care for sauerkraut will be Krazy for this.