Preheat the oven to 325F.

Using some cheesecloth, make a bouquet garni with the peppercorns, half the head of garlic, bay leaves, and juniper berries.

In a large dutch oven, begin to brown the bacon. At about the halfway point to being crispy, add the sausages and brown off. Remove the sausages from the pot.

Add the caraway seeds and let saute for about 15 seconds undisturbed.

Add the onions, stirring to mix and let soften.

Add the garlic and dried oregano and stir to mix.

Add the sauerkraut and mix.

Nestle in the bouquet garni and the pork hock.

Pour the stock around the pork hock and bake covered for 1 1/2 hours.

Remove from oven, nestle in the pre-browned sausages, cover and bake for another hour or so. (You may have to add a bit more liquid.)

Take out of oven, remove the pork hock and shred the meat. Remove the sausages and cut into 1" slices.

As there was quite a bit of liquid left, I scooped (well the hubby helped while I shredded meat) out the sauerkraut into a big bowl. After, I added the shredded and cut up sausages and tossed to mixed.

Serve with a dollop of hot mustard!