Saucisses de Francfort et de Strasbourg

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4-quart (3.8-liter) wide saucepan
• •Small covered saucepan for the choucroute
• •Tongs or wire skimmer
• •Kitchen timer

Instructions

1. 1

   Ready the accompaniments

   Warm the prepared braised choucroute in a covered saucepan over the gentlest heat, turning it occasionally so the bottom does not catch. Keep its braising juices with it; if it seems dry, loosen it with a spoonful of the measured water. Put the apple sauce and grated horseradish into separate small dishes. The choucroute is a finished accompaniment here, so keep its braise whole rather than folding another recipe into this brief preparation.

2. 2

   Boil the water

   Pour the water into a wide saucepan with enough room for all eight sausages to lie without crowding. Bring it to a full boil. Have the sausages and a timer beside the stove before proceeding, because the ten-minute limit begins as soon as they enter.

3. 3

   Poach without boiling

   Lower the saucisses de Francfort and saucisses de Strasbourg carefully into the boiling water with tongs, then immediately reduce the heat to its lowest setting. The surface should settle to the faintest tremble, about 175°F / 80°C, with no rolling bubbles. Poach for 8 to 10 minutes and never longer. If the water returns to a boil, move the pan off the burner until it calms, then continue over lower heat; ça se rattrape. If one casing splits, lift that sausage out at once and tuck it beneath the choucroute when serving rather than cooking the others longer.

   Do not prick the casings. Every hole gives the sausage's fat and seasoning an escape route into the water.
4. 4

   Drain and serve

   Lift the sausages from the water with tongs or a wire skimmer, taking care not to pierce them, and let them drain briefly on a clean towel. Spread the hot choucroute over a warm platter and arrange the sausages on top. Bring the grated horseradish and apple sauce separately so each person can choose, but let the choucroute remain the generous foundation. Serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Buy fully cooked, lightly smoked sausages with intact natural casings. A raw sausage needs a different cooking method and should be prepared according to its maker's safety directions; this ten-minute poach is for cooked charcuterie.
• •Choose saucisses de Francfort and saucisses de Strasbourg of roughly equal thickness so they warm at the same rate. Technique first: even modest sausages stay juicy when the water never boils around them.
• •Do not brown these after poaching. The smooth, taut casing and delicate filling are their character, and a frying pan exchanges that delicacy for toughness.
• •Braised choucroute is the proper plate beneath them. Apple sauce gives sweetness and freshly grated horseradish gives sharpness, but both belong in separate dishes rather than stirred into the cabbage.
• •Pour a dry Alsatian Riesling or Sylvaner. Its acidity meets the smoked pork and braised cabbage cleanly without crowding either one.

Advance Preparation

• •The braised choucroute and apple sauce can be prepared up to two days ahead, chilled promptly, and reheated gently while the poaching water comes to a boil.
• •Grate the horseradish no more than one hour before serving and keep it tightly covered in the refrigerator so its clean sharpness does not fade.
• •Poach the sausages only when the table is ready. Leftovers should be chilled within two hours and kept for up to three days; rewarm them once in water held below a simmer, since repeated heating toughens the filling.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 465g)