Posted on 10/02/2009 10:36:27 AM PDT by nickcarraway
A little more than three weeks ago I chopped a pile of garden cabbages and embarked upon another potentially dangerous kitchen experiment.
I was determined to make sauerkraut.
The recipe called for a pail (or crock), shredded cabbage and Kosher salt.
It's easy. Simply layer the cabbage in the pail, sprinkle with salt and repeat. And allow the thoroughly natural process of decomposition to commence.
As an aside - I would remind my 46 readers that you can do this yourself at home with little risk of injury. Other than chopping with a big, sharp chef's knife you will run no risk of burns from exploding pressure cookers.
Anyway - the bucket was placed with great care in the laundry room (seeking a uniform 65+ degrees of temperature) and the kraut-to-be was relegated to fermenting along with the socks and underwear.
What? Food preparation accompanied by dirty unmentionables?
To be clear - I am fastidious about hygiene so the cabbage was sealed from the pungent atmosphere of the baskets of sweaty laundry by placing a plastic garbage bag filled with water on top of it. This ingenious and simple air-lock sealed the bucket yet allowed the fermentation gases of the rotting cabbage to escape and mingle with the other assorted laundry room odors.
Trust me. You don't want to keep the bucket in say - your bedroom.
Really honey - it's the kraut.
I digress.
I had been thinking that the stuff had to fester for upwards of five weeks or more - at least that's what the internet said to allow. But a reader suggested I check it sooner.
This last weekend I checked on it and sure enough it had stopped bubbling. A signal that the putrefying cabbage was ready.
I tightly packed it in jars, topped-off each jar with kraut juice from the bucket and processed it for about 25 minutes in the canner.
I have to tell you that this stuff is fantastic! I've already served it with a meal of Jaeger Schnitzel and spaetzle and again with frankfurters. No more bland, uninspired, factory made, store bought kraut for this Gärtner.
Hence forth - home-grown laundry room kraut is the rule.
I have even had visions of a vast, cabbage-centric meal at deer camp this fall. The boys will be ecstatic.
I am genuinely mirthful over the fact that I really hit one out of the park with this first-time attempt. So I am positively tickled to present you with a carefree musical tribute...
I’ve been meaning to try that myself.
Although I enjoy all kinds of cooking, I notice I’m especially interested in the “chemistry experiement” things (fermentation, etc.)
Plus, I love a good Kraut!
I gotta try to make some kraut some day soon. Would especially like to find out how to make Bavarian kraut.
I grew up in a Slovak home and every Sunday, at grandma’s for dinner after church, it was all the sauerkraut you could eat. Needless to say, about 2 hours after dinner it was rather odoriferous which was why, I’m guessing, everyone head outdoors..
Man, I miss those days..
Illeojejunal contraction
And incomplete enzymatic action
conspire to drive me to distraction.
There is but one exaction
That will prevent impaction.
So now it sneaks
between the cheeks,
this resonance that reeks.
At that sound,
all those around
will gape in disbelief,
But, then, will I feel relief
FYI, it’s an extremely healthy dish, loaded with excellent enzymes.
FYI, it’s an extremely healthy dish, loaded with excellent enzymes
When I die I intend to be buried under tator tots and bacon grease (spread on toast with salt, pepper and raw onion.) And a little homemade Kraut on the side.
Did you ever see a healthier, stouter, stronger people than the Germans? The secret is in those big, gooey, potatoe dumplings.
For a hearty breakfast fry some thin sliced potatoes, add some sausages and kraut fry a bit to heat the sausages and kraut and lastly scramble some eggs in the mixture.
For a little variety, try the Korean version: kimchi. Delicious!
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