I had a hankering for Serbian sauerkraut. It's different from the kind I grew up with, which was sauerkraut from a can warmed up. Here you can buy cabbages and let them ferment in a large barrel, then when they're ready, slice/chop them thin as you need them. Most people (yours truly included) don't have either the place for a large barrel or time to chop. You can buy packages of already chopped saukerkraut in the store. I rinse that sauerkraut to remove a lot of the salt, squeeze it so all the water is removed. Then in a heavy cast iron pot I put a little oil, a couple of bay leaves, peppercorns, and the sauerkraut. Stir and cook until it is a bit brown. Then I add meat of some sort: chicken legs, pork pieces or chops, sausage, or smoked ribs like on the picture. I bury whatever it is in the sauerkraut, cover, and bake until it appears nearly done. Then off comes the lid and I leave it brown a bit.
I wanted this time to buy some ribs, as above. I would not need that many (just me, folks), but the farmer outside our market who comes in from a nearby village only wanted to sell the ribs in entirety....so no ribs for me. (Frown) I don't use meat or even smoked meat that much and would take forever to use it all. So I bought chicken legs and buried them.
