Ingredients:

32 oz finely shredded sauerkraut
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
4 thick cut boneless pork chops
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons yellow mustard seed
1 1/2 tablespoons strong German mustard
1 1/2 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon sugar or 1 teaspoon liquid turbinado sugar
1 bay leaf

Directions:
Quickly brown each chop on all sides in a nonstick skillet.

Place half of the sauerkraut, bay leaf and onion in a 2 or 4 quart slow cooker.

Whisk together the mustard, horseradish, sugar, vinegar and spices. Add the pork chops and cover with remaining sauerkraut and onion. Drizzle with vinegar mixture. Cook on low 8 hours or 4 hours on high. Serve hot.

My thoughts:

Sauerkraut is a pretty popular dish here in Baltimore. Thanks an influx of German immigrants, we eat kraut not only on our hot dogs but on Thanksgiving, right along with our turkey and mashed potatoes. So it is no surprise that a good number of even non “foodie” people make their own and that there is always several brands to choose from on the supermarket shelf. Since we’re doctoring up the sauerkraut a bit you can use your favorite store bought or homemade sauerkraut and have great results.

When I was developing the recipes for my slow cooker book, pork chops were a challenge. I like boneless ones because they are thick cut but, like boneless chicken, they cook quickly, don’t take up much room in the slow cooker and are pretty low in fat. All things that work against you when it comes to successful slow cooker recipes. I found that if there was enough liquid and bulky ingredients, you can make juicy, tasty chops in the slow cooker. In this recipe the sauerkraut almost acts like insulation and seals in the juices into the pork chop. The pork chop also becomes so tender, there is no need for a fork! So, despite it being some what unphotogenic, I think this recipe is a keeper!