Pork Chops and Sauerkraut

Every New Year's Day, from the rolling hills of Pennsylvania Dutch country to the farmhouses of Wisconsin, families sit down to this dish believing it will bring prosperity in the year ahead. The superstition holds that pigs root forward while chickens scratch backward, so eating pork on the first day of January propels you toward good fortune. I've never put much stock in superstitions, but I put tremendous stock in this recipe.

German immigrants carried this combination across the Atlantic in the eighteenth century and found America's hog farms and cabbage fields waiting for them. They adapted their technique to what the land provided: bigger chops, sweeter apples, and the particular tang of American-made sauerkraut fermented in crocks throughout autumn. What emerged was neither purely German nor purely American but something entirely its own.

The method here is simple braising. You brown the chops first to build a crust and develop fond in the pan, then nestle them into the sauerkraut and let the oven do the rest. Two hours later, the meat falls from the bone at the mere suggestion of a fork. The sauerkraut has mellowed and absorbed the pork drippings. The apple has dissolved into the background, contributing sweetness without announcing itself. This is food that rewards patience.