Choucroute Garnie

Total time: 30 minutes
    Like many classic peasant dishes, a proper Choucroute Garni will feed a very large family, and normally will have several kinds of pork, ham, sausage, and possibly even duck. This is a scaled down version.

 Ingredients:

• 4 - 8 sausages, depending on size, about 12oz (360gr) total weight
• 2oz (60gr) bacon or dry-cured ham
• 14oz (420gr) sauerkraut
• 1 tbs juniper berries
• 1 tsp black peppercorns  or 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 onion
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 bay (laurel) leaf
• 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) white wine

 Instructions:

• The Kraut:
• Open and drain kraut.  Taste it, if it's really, really strong, rinse it briefly with cold water. 
• Chop onion and mince garlic. 
• Heat oil in deep skillet.  Add onions and garlic and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. 
• Add drained kraut and all of the rest of the ingredients except sausages and bacon. 
• Stir to combine, cover and simmer.
• The meat:  
• Fry bacon in a large skillet until crisp.  Remove. 
• Add sausages to skillet and brown lightly. 
• Crumble bacon and add to sauerkraut, stir to combine. 
• Lay sausages on top of kraut, cover and continue to simmer until sausages are done, about 15 minutes. 
• Stir once or twice to combine flavors. 
• When done remove sausages to a platter, spoon kraut around (removing and discarding bay leaf) and serve.