Grassi's sauerkraut with bacon and thick smoked ribs

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 500 g sauerkraut, wine – fresh from the barrel
• 3 m.-sized onion(s)
• 75 g bacon, lean
• 25 g bacon, fat
• 1,400 g rib(s), thick, smoked
• 8 bay leaves
• 6 juniper berries
• 6 grains of allspice
• 2 tsp broth, (paste) homemade
• 2 tsp clarified butter or lard

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

hearty and delicious

Place the thick rib in a pot and cover with water. Add 4 bay leaves, 3 juniper berries, and 3 allspice berries along with the stock paste and bring to a boil. If you don’t have homemade stock paste or stock powder, you can use either some root vegetables or some store-bought stock cubes (organic, please, without yeast extract or sodium monoglutamate). Simmer over very low heat for about 1.5 to 2 hours. (Important: Even if the meat is already salty from smoking, it would leach out in unseasoned water, so adding salt or stock is important.) After an hour of cooking, slice the onions and sauté them in the lard along with the bacon. Add the cabbage, along with 4 bay leaves, 3 juniper berries, and 3 allspice berries. Brown everything well and gradually deglaze with about 3 ladles of the stock from the beef rib. Allow to reduce, repeat if necessary. Season the cabbage with salt and pepper. Cut the beef rib from the bone, cut into slices, and add to the cabbage. We serve it with homemade coarse mashed potatoes. For a large group, I also add cooked Mettwurst sausages to the cabbage.