I used to know a german guy in a suburb of Rochester NY with a chain if German Restaurants. The food was very good. I watched them make sauerkraut one day and since then I have a different view of kraut. I have 3 recipes - traditional, basic and advanced:
Traditional: slice cabbage, add salt, wait 3 weeks and voila "sauerkraut" - (I don't do this... ever)
Basic: Thinly slice cabbage, thinly slice some sweet nions (or any onion for that matter), sautee the onion in lots of butter or - even better - some pork or sausage fat. Add the sliced cabbage and either a) cover and simmer all day, or b) put in a waterless pot or crock pot and cook all day. You can also add to this canned sauerkraut (I strain and rinse before adding) - or you can buy just the sauerkraut juice - which is always better tasting than the canned sauerkraut itself.
Advanced: (This is how I like it) cook some pork sausage and then add some sliced onions and saute them in the pork fat and sausage. add slice cabbage and some canned sauerkraut juice (not the canned kraut, and not the juice from canned kraut - but a can of "sauerkraut juice", fill the pot to the top with cabbage. Add a little sliced bartwurst and some chicken broth. I use a "waterless" cast iron dutch oven - and put it in the oven. Bake at like 325 for a few hours. You can also add white wine or beer - shots of german schaaps (like williams birne or mirabelen) should be reserved for the cook. Some times I will add a few caraway seeds, sometimes I don't.