December in Ohio is the month for sauerkraut. When those Arctic winds fly over Lake Erie to our doorsteps, we need the fortification of a good plate of steaming kraut.

The world treats sauerkraut in different ways. In some places such as Poland, it’s a pirogie (dumpling) filling. In Canada, they bury hot dogs in it. In Germany, it’s served with great chunks of roast pork or ham -- we’re talking whole hog in some places.

Our tradition comes from Pennsylvania Dutch. They produced so much sauerkraut they had to invent a legend behind it. Hence the notion that eating kraut is lucky.

Holiday tradition

It becomes a fetish on New Year’s Eve. The first food of the new year must be sauerkraut or you might as well stay in bed for rest of the year.

Sauerkraut’s not good for breakfast, so that meant cooking it for a midnight meal.

We still have a number of New Year’s parties that end in a kraut feast.

Restaurants sell tons of it that night. No one can explain it, but nobody wants to chance a rotten year because they did not eat pickled cabbage.

I grew up with standard kraut right out of the can. I loved it raw, but my mom always cooked it with pork roast. The shredded cabbage at the bottom of the Dutch oven absorbed the pork fat and was something we fought over.

We always had mashed potatoes streaming with butter. I somehow latched upon Czech style, piling kraut on my potatoes. Still do.

A little tinkering

We learned over the years that we could improve upon this noble pickled cabbage. A native German friend of mine served me a giant plate with – what’s that? -- apples. The sweetness of the fruit was a beautiful contrast to the sour kraut. So that’s the way I make ours.

Another worthy additive is caraway seeds, a prime flavor of German rye bread. They offer yet another contrast, a nutty, spicy flavor amid the sour.

I learned that the longer you cook kraut, the milder the flavor. For a bright, crisp plate, just warm it right out of the can and serve immediately.

Sauerkraut balls are a favorite appetizer, but might not contain enough kraut to bring exceptional luck. So you must eat a lot of them, which isn’t that hard.

PORK AND SAUERKRAUT WITH APPLES

1 14.5-ounce can sauerkraut
2 to 3 pound boneless pork loin
1 strip of bacon
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced

Fry bacon in baking dish. Remove. Brown pork roast in the fat on all sides. Pour off fat and add sauerkraut, onions and apple. Cover and cook over low heat for 90 minutes or until pork is tender, adding water if necessary. Serves 4.

SAUERKRAUT BALLS

1/2 pound ham, ground or diced
1/2 pound corned beef, ground or diced
Olive oil
1 cup onion, minced
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons chives or parsley, finely chopped
1 pound sauerkraut, chopped
1 cup bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
2 cups vegetable oil

Coat skillet with oil and cook meat and onion. Whisk milk into flour, mustard and a dash of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add parsley or chives. Add mixture to meat over low heat and stir until it thickens. Be careful of scorching. Chop kraut and heat in separate pan. Drain and add to meat mixture, cooking for 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Measure 1/4-cup morsels and shape into balls. Dip into beaten egg and roll in bread crumbs. Fry in vegetable oil until brown. Makes about a dozen balls.

Canton Repository