Man Cave Cuisine

Autumn and Winter are my favorite times of year to cook. Sure, cooking an all-grilled meal is a staple of summer. And, yes, a Low Country Boil spread out on newspapers, and shared with friends, is a wonderful way to spend an evening in the back yard. But, braises, roasts, chili, and in this case, a slow simmered crock-pot meal is the bees-knees if you ask me. If you don’t use your crock-pot very much, I encourage you to whip it out and try a dish or two. Besides, it’s just taking up space next to that rice cooker you never use.

Before I met my wife, who is originally from Eastern Pennsylvania, I had never mixed sauerkraut and pork. Boy, was I missing out! In the past we mostly cooked pork chops and kraut separately but I thought I’d give a variation of that dish a try in the crock-pot. Country-style ribs are one of my favorite cuts of pork and turn out fall apart tender in this dish.

For this dish you’ll need:

4-5 lbs country style ribs (I opted for bone-in)
1 or 2 packages of sauerkraut (you can used canned too)
1 small yellow onion (diced)
1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes
1 beer (I used Yuengling, If you prefer to not use beer add an extra cup of stock)
1 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp celery seed
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp Dale’s Seasoning (optional)
Chili powder
Garlic powder
salt/pepper
*Note* This is for a large crock-pot. You’ll want to cut the amounts down if you have a smaller model.

Season ribs with a generous amount of salt, pepper, garlic and chili powder. Heat a couple tablespoons of oil, brown ribs, and set aside.

Line the bottom of crock-pot with a thin layer of the kraut. Then add the: ribs, diced onions, tomatoes, chicken stock, beer, celery seed, and Dale’s. Top with remaining kraut and let it cook all day on the low setting. I turned mine on before I left for for work (8am) and let it go until I got home.

When you get home (assuming that’s 5ish) add the apple cider vinegar to brighten up the flavors (and salt/pepper if it needs it). You’ll want to delicately incorporate the vinegar and not just stir it in–you’ll shred your meat because it’s so tender. I set my crock-pot on “warm” for about an hour and a half until we were ready to eat. I served this with mashed potatoes, and, in my opinion, mashed potatoes are a must with the pork/kraut combo. 

See how easy that was? I’ll be posting more crock-pot recipes in the near future but if want to look for more I recommend these ladies: Crock Pot Girls or The Southern Lady Cooks. 

Enjoy!