Pork and Sauerkraut - Traditional Pennsylvania Dutch New Years Meal

[Kibbee Nayee]

Yes, I know, my moniker and my ethnic heritage belie a predilection for Middle Eastern cuisine, but I grew up in Lancaster County (aside -- Amish Mafia is must-see television and Lebanon Levy is a total bad-ass!). Every New Year's meal I can remember was pork and sauerkraut. Tradition says it provides good luck for the New Year. And so it will be on my table for New Year's Day 2013.

I am preparing to pop into the oven a 10-lb. pork shoulder, scored and massaged with a chop of garlic, rosemary, sage, salt and pepper, where it will slowly roast overnight for about 12 hours at 225 degrees or so.

One of the sides will be wild boar sausage that will be cooked in beer and sauerkraut (appropriately, Boar's Head). Another side is straight sauerkraut rinsed well and cooked in beer, with caraway seeds. Another side is skin-on smashed potatoes cooked in broth (I'm debating whether it will be vegetable, beef or chicken....it will be a game day decision).

Of course, this is one of those meals, like the traditional Thanksgiving turkey feast, that most of us only enjoy once a year....that's a shame, since this is comfort food at its finest.

Question for the crowd -- what is your traditional New Year's Day feast? Who else will be enjoying the Pennsylvania Dutch repast?

[by the way, the national dish of Alsace is Choucroute, which is technically pork and sauerkraut, and would therefore qualify.]

[monavano]

I bought rack of pork at Costco, so i think I'll be roasting 4 ribs/pieces (of 8) maybe with a dijon and balsamic glaze. I've got leftover baked yams with strussel topping and brussel sprouts ready to be reheated, so this will be easy peasy.

More pig in my bean soup, so I've got it covered. Pig for moving forward in the new year and green for mo' money honey.

[LauraB]

Our traditional New Years Eve dinner is Choucroute Garnie. Sauerkraut with kielbasa, bratwurst, knockwurst, red potatoes, ham hocks, pinot blanc. In fact, we just finished dinner and it was absolutely delicious. So glad there's plenty for leftovers tomorrow.

[Night Owl]

Dear friends of ours are from PA, of German descent, and this is how they celebrate every year -- a big pork & sauerkraut open house celebration, often for 75+ people. They've moved from DC to FL, but we're down here now and helping them get ready for the annual tradition, which they've brought down with them. Their routine is pork tenderloin browned first, then roasted with sauerkraut, apples, caraway seeds and German beer... mashed potatoes, applesauce (tho this year they made apple-cranberry sauce), and a whole array of desserts. It's delicious and so much fun...

[sheldman]

Question for the crowd -- what is your traditional New Year's Day feast?

Black eyed peas and collard greens, of course. (A southern US thing, which I had thought was widely known but the nice checkout and bagger folks at Whole Foods found it amusing yesterday when I asked if they were selling a lot of black eyed peas.) Cooked them together, with lots of smoked paprika, onion, pepper flakes, and some kombu just because I had some, in lieu of pork bits.

[DonRocks]

My maternal grandmother was from Croatia. I'm not sure why, but my household growing up (courtesy of my mom) had sauerkraut with every holiday meal. We'd have it as one of the sides with Thanksgiving turkey, sometimes with kielbasa, etc. I don't specifically remember it served for New Years Day, but other holidays without fail.

Dirty little secret: my grandmother ran a bootlegging operation during the Great Depression and had a still in her backyard.

[Choirgirl21]

Polish so it's pork and sauerkraut here too typically.

2 years ago I had a big gathering and made pork & sauerkraut, bigos stew, and homemade pierogies. This year I was at a rural farmhouse in VA with friends and my course for our big dinner was homemade pierogies as they've become a tradition for me as well. I filled half of them with the traditional potato and onion stuffing and the other half with sauerkraut and diced kielbasa from the polish store in Rockville. So dinner today is leftover components - kielbasa, sauerkraut, some of the potato filling and leftover caramelized onions. Getting hungry thinking about it.

[thistle]

Blackeyed peas & collards, cooked last night so Josh could eat some before heading out early this morning, made a small separate batch w/ veg broth for Lizzy (she needs luck & lucre, too)-other than that, we have way too many leftovers to eat....