Bostonist says skip the box of Russell Stovers, the $300 10-course prix fixe, wine not included, even skip those fuzzy pink monkeys holding feather-petaled roses from the 7-11, and show your love with premium meat products! That's right! Stay in with your sweetie and cook up a big choucroute garnie, the classic Alsatian winter dish of sauerkraut and sausages.

To prepare choucroute garnie does not require any real kitchen wizardry; in fact, it's quite open to improvisation, in that its ingredients are intended to reflect whatever prepared and preserved meats you'd have around, if, of course you lived in a cottage in the chilly mountain region between Germany and Switzerland. While it's not too likely that you have a basement full of sausages curing, nor a vat of cabbage fermenting (if you do, call us!), contemporary recipes have been streamlined enough to include items available at your local grocer. Considering this is meant to be a special occasion, you should go for top quality meats and sausages, which you could find at The Butcher Shop in the South End, or through a purveyor such as John Dewar's.

Crucial to a successful choucroute, however, is cooking and accompanying your meal with a good wine. Riesling is the traditional choice, and you'd do well to follow the rule of thumb to only cook with wine that you would drink. An Alsatian Pinot-Blanc would also be appropriate. If you are a white-wine phobe, a German pilsner or perhaps a Leffe would be a good choice. Champagne goes with everything; the champagne of beers does not.

Here's a simplified recipe courtesy of renowned French chef, Jacques Pepin. Again, you are whole-hoggedly (ha!) encouraged to use many and varied sausages and meats - the more the merrier; it is a sausage-fest after all. You'll have tons of leftovers, and the flavors will really heighten if allowed to sit for a few days. Just remember that serving up a heaping pile of cabbage and sausages requires will require a degree of … intimacy, shall we say, between partners. This is not highly recommended for that first Valentine's date. In that case, stick to the candies and monkeys.

Ingredients
--1/3 cup kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
--2 tablespoons light brown sugar
--3 pounds pork back ribs or baby back ribs, cut into 3 sections
--6 pounds sauerkraut (in plastic bags), drained
--1/4 cup duck or goose fat or peanut oil
--1 large onion, coarsely chopped
--4 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
--20 juniper berries
--3 large bay leaves
--1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
--1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
--3 cups chicken stock
--1 1/2 cups Riesling or Pinot Gris
--2 pounds Polish kielbasa, skinned and cut into 2-inch pieces
--10 skinless hot dogs
--One 2-pound piece of boneless boiled ham (3 to 4 inches wide), sliced 1/4 inch thick
--2 pounds medium potatoes (about 10), peeled
--Assorted mustards, for serving

Directions after the jump! Post contributed by Heather Eddy of Home Wreckonomics.

Directions
In a large, sturdy, resealable plastic bag, combine the 1/3 cup of kosher salt with the sugar. Add the pork ribs; shake well to thoroughly coat the ribs with the seasonings. Seal the bag, and refrigerate the ribs overnight or for up to 24 hours.

The next day, preheat the oven to 300°. Rinse the sauerkraut in cold water, and squeeze dry. Set a large roasting pan over 2 burners on high heat, and melt the duck fat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in the sauerkraut, juniper berries, bay leaves, caraway seeds, black pepper, stock, and wine, and bring to a rolling boil over high heat.

Meanwhile, rinse the pork ribs under cold water, and pat dry. Nestle the pork ribs in the sauerkraut, and bring back to a boil over moderately high heat. Cover tightly with foil, and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Remove the pork ribs from the sauerkraut. Cut down in between the ribs. Return the ribs to the sauerkraut, and nestle in the kielbasa, hot dogs, and ham. Cover, and bake until the meats are hot, about 25 minutes. Discard the bay leaves.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, cover the potatoes with cold water, add salt, and bring to a boil over high heat; cook the potatoes until tender when pierced. Drain the potatoes, and cover to keep warm.

To serve, mound the hot sauerkraut in the center of very hot dinner plates, and partially tuck in the pork ribs and the kielbasa. Arrange the hot dogs and ham around the sauerkraut. Alternatively, pile the sauerkraut on a large heated platter, and garnish with the meats. Serve the choucroute with the boiled potatoes and assorted mustards.

*If you do insist on going out with the rest of the Valentine's drones, and would like to try a genuine choucroute garnie, head to Sandrine's in Harvard Square, where Chef Raymond Ost specializes in Alsatian cuisine. Here, he serves an inimitable dish (for 2, we hope…) for $29.