TRADITIONAL PA DUTCH NEW YEARS DINNER - LIGHTENED UP

Traditional Pa Dutch New Years Dinner - Lightened Up image

Growing up in Pennsylvania, the smell of Sauerkraut meant New Years Day to me. Every year my mom, grandma, & a few aunties made it with kielbasa, hot dogs, and dumplings (my grandma). I am sure they all made it slightly different from one anther. For the first time on NYD 2010, I made this dinner in AZ for my family, however I lightened it up and toned down the kraut just a bit.....but still followed my grandmas exact dumpling recipe (the one below is already doubled).

Provided by Melanie B.

Categories For Large Groups

Time 4h10m

Yield 20 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 18

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Ingredients

3 (15 ounce) cans sauerkraut, juice and all
1 cup water
2 apples, julienned, sweet variety
1/4 cup red onion, sliced thin
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 lbs pork tenderloin, fat trimmed, cut into 3-4 inch squares
1 lb turkey kielbasa, cut into 4 inch pieces
4 low fat all beef hot dogs, cut in half
2 (15 ounce) cans chicken broth, fat free
1 cup water
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup red onion, sliced
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Steps:

The Sauerkraut & Dumplings:.
Place the sauerkraut, water, apples, and onions in a large pot. Bring to a boil and reduce to a rapid simmer.
Mix together flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Combine milk and oil in another bowl. Add wet to dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened.
Drop dumplings from tablespoon atop the bubbling sauerkraut. Cover tightly with a lid, return mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, don't lift the cover, and simmer for 12-15 minutes. This is the key -- do not remove the cover at all once placed on the pot!
Be sure there is enough liquid in the kraut before adding the lid - if not you may want to squeeze some juice out of another kraut can. I used the 1-cup water in the recipe for this purpose and didn't need to add any juice. I used water because it took out some of the intense flavor of kraut (my personal preference). If you do not want to dilute the flavor, you may want to use an extra cup of kraut juice from another can or two.
When finished cooking, serve with the meat, directions below:.
The Meat:.
Place the tenderloin, chicken broth, water, garlic, 1/4 cup onion, some salt and pepper in a slow cooker, crock pot, or a stove top dutch oven. Cook on medium low heat for several hours until the tenderloin is tender and pulls apart easily. At the end of the cooking process, add the kielbasa and hot dogs to the water to cook through for several minutes.
At at meal time, drain the liquid and serve the meat on a platter with the sauerkraut, dumplings, and some mashed potatoes.
**Note1: I put the pork in the pot on low in the morning to cook low & slow and not dry out as a lean cut of pork often will. I turned up the heat a bit at the end to ensure the hot dogs and kielbasa were cooked through.
**Note 2: I lightened this up by using a lean tenderloin, my favorite 98% fat free beef hot dogs, and turkey kielbasa, but you can use any type of meat you want. My mom/grandma/aunties would have used a pork loin roast (sliced not shredded), Full strength kielbasa and hot dogs -- btw -- the hot dogs were typically for the kids who didn't like kielbasa -- but made great left overs w/ the sauerkraut. I used my left over shredded pork & kielbasa for sandwiches the next day -- on rye bread with 2% swiss cheese and fat free thousand island dressing :).
Let me know if you have as much luck with this recipe as I did making it for the first time. Enjoy!