Homemade sauerkraut is more than just delicious, it’s actually enormously healthful. For lovers of homemade food everywhere, this basic recipe can be your guide to experimenting with kraut adventures. While kraut has the reputation of being a German food, it’s actually just the German name for the simple brine fermentation that is a common practice of preserving vegetables in cultures throughout the world. Pickles and kimchee are other examples, for instance.
If you love the crunchy, tangy taste of sauerkraut, you’re actually tapping into an ancient tastebud tradition. Fermented vegetables have been in the human diet for thousands of years! Our ancestors were working in harmony with the microbial environment to preserve food with fermentation, and without the aid of a refrigerator, probably even before the advent of fire.
And yet, in the past few generations (you can thank Louis Pasteur for this), we have erased the actual TRUE goodness of sauerkraut and its brethren from the modern American diet. You see, the sauerkraut and pickles you buy in the store have been heat processed, and so robbed of many of the valuable micro nutrients our bodies have thrived on for eons.
But the good news is, you can easily remedy this grave gastric injustice right in your very own kitchen. You can stage a silent coup of the industrial food monopoly in a jar or crock of your own design. So far, there are no food police, so you’re still allowed to enjoy delicious food of made in the privacy of your subversive culinary habitat. And it’s so easy.
Wild Fermentation - How fermented food can change the world
I have to give a shout out to my friend Mike Clark for turning me on to this wonderful book. Wild Fermentation not only tells you how to make kraut from scratch, it chronicles the makings of dozens of fermented culinary delights that anyone can master. This book is more than just a great DIY guide, it’s a manifesto for health, wellness, and whole food, free from industrial processing. Wild Fermentation encourages us to take control of our own diets and take back our culinary history from the powerful food industry that perpetuates our separation from the grounding, life-giving forces of nature.
Everything I learned about sauerkraut I learned from this book by Sandor Ellis Katz. And, yes, I admit it freaked me out at first to be eating something that had been sitting at room temperature for several days. But overcoming my fear has paid off big time. Now there is not a day that a crock of kraut is not seasoning in some corner of my kitchen.
Sauerkraut recipe
A pictoral step-by-step of kraut making.
In this recipe I used equal parts red and green cabbage, plus I added some lovely fresh, local beet greens.
Chop the cabbage and greens into bite-sized pieces.
After producing a thick layer of chopped veggies, sprinkle some sea salt. No need to measure. But err on the light side. A good rule of thumb is about one tablespoon per cabbage head.
Continue until all your vegetables are chopped. Then mix them up, distributing the salt throughout.
Pack the vegetables tightly into a jar or crock. I use a wooden spoon or mallet (intended for meat tenderizing). The crushing of the leaves helps the salt to penetrate the vegetables and draw out the water.
Choose a lid that will fit very snugly inside the crock or jar. A bit of space is allowable, but you want to be sure to keep ALL the vegetables submerged under the brine. You’ll also want to weigh down the lid with a heavy rock or another jar filled with water.
Use a snug fitting lid with a weight,
or use a tightly fitting jar filled with water
to weigh down the kraut below the brine level.
Here I use a tupperware lid,
and weigh it down with a
boiled rock from Lake Michigan!
Press down the weight every few hours or so until you you are assured that water has risen above the vegetables. It can take up to 24 hours for the salt to completely leech the water from the vegetables. If after 24 hours there’s still not enough water to cover the veggies, you’ll want to add a bit of brine. Use 1 tablespoon of salt, completely dissolved, per cup of water.
The brine should be over your lid,
and no veggies showing!
This can take up to 24 hours.
It is VERY IMPORTANT that your lid is snug enough that NO VEGETABLES are floating to the top. Vegetables MUST stay submerged, or you are going to invite the wrong kind of bacteria into your crock - and the result will just be putrid vegetables rather than fermented kraut. (You’ll know from the smell, trust me. And nothing is sadder than having to throw out your lovingly chopped cabbage that never got the chance to fulfill its nutritive potential.)
Leave your crock ajar, but cover it with a towel to keep out dust (or cat hair!)
So now you wait. Don’t seal the crock. Leave it open a crack. You will want to cover it with a clean dish towel to keep dust out, but allow air to circulate. Each day or so you may want to check your crock to be sure all is well. The water has a tendency to evaporate if your home is very dry or the weather is warm. After day four or five you can remove the weight and lid and sample your kraut. I’ve found that day ten to twelve (here in winter in Michigan) is when I find it “perfect” - I then take out a big handful to put it in the fridge to enjoy. I carefully repack the crock, submerging the cabbage and weighing it down, to let the remaining kraut season even further, creating new taste variations as it ages.
Kraut around my house never lasts past week three, as we eat it pretty quickly, but you can continue to store it under brine for many weeks in cool weather. Of course in hot weather the kraut will mature more quickly.
Finished purple kraut
So that’s it! Pretty simple! I like to add my kraut to a sandwich of steamed kale, mustard, and tahini on rye bread for a lovely vegetarian ruben. It’s also amazing on sausages. Or just straight out of the jar! My roommate and I love to just eat a bowl of it when it has finally reached maturity..sort of a little kraut celebration, an epicurean tribute to the wonders of home fermenting!
I’ve experimented with combinations of cabbages and greens - probably my favorite combo being a spicy pink kraut I accomplished by combing four heads of green cabbage, one head of red cabbage, two large bunches of mustard greens, and four tablespoons of mustard seeds.
Makings of spicier kraut
Feel free to experiment! Add garlic and peppercorns. Spinach and kale. Get creative! Enjoy!
I heard a fable of an exotic bacon-chocolate chip cookie, which had made an appearance at a party I’d sadly missed. Having been notable enough to be the most mentionable event of the party, I was intrigued. Later, after seeing a lot of online talk about the bacon chocolate bars, I decided to investigate this mythical cookie, intending to recreate its magic for myself.
With the incentive of a party invite, I searched the internet and finally uncovered a recipe in the cache of a defunct blog (RIP neverbashfulwithbutter.com, thanks for the inspiration!). To this, I added a real maple glaze. The cookie was well received (all gone), and I shared a picture on line.
I’ve now had about a dozen requests for the recipe, so why not post it here?
This obviously is NOT health food! But truly a divine treat - containing two of the world’s most loved foods in one cookie! Plus, the maple icing adds a fantastic bridge to lift the sultry smokiness of the bacon to its fully realized high chocolate note.
The trend this anti-shopping holiday season is toward making gifts for the yuletide - imagine the delight and surprise of your family and friends after receiving these delectable beauties from your kitchen!
THE RECIPE
Makes one dozen cookies
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour (I prefer to mix 1 c unbleached white with 1/2 c of Whole Wheat pastry flour, but all white will do)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup bacon bits (this must be REAL bacon that you cooked to crispness, drained of fat on paper towels, and then chopped into bits yourself - nothing less will do! As far as quantity, I used a bit less than 1 pound of bacon to make the cup, leaving out three strips for garnish. But you can adjust according to your bravery or taste.)
ALL TOGETHER NOW
Soften the butter to room temperature before you begin. Beat the butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs until well creamed. Sift together the flours, salt, and baking soda. Add the dry mix to the butter and cream mix, and stir together until a batter forms. Add the chocolate chips and bacon bits and stir until combined. Spoon a generous dollop onto a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet (or an oil misted cookie sheet will do, though parchment paper keeps your cookie sheet nicer). Place the dollops at least an inch apart.
Bake cookies for approximately 11 minutes, or until the dough starts to turn brown along the edges. Remove the cookies and allow them to cool while you prepare the glaze.
REAL MAPLE GLAZE
6 level tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons real maple syrup
Sift the sugar into the syrup. Whisk together vigorously until smooth and creamy.
Place the glaze on the cooled cookies, working with two spoons to help you edge the sticky sweet glob onto the cookie. Top with a piece of crisped bacon.
A NOTE ABOUT INGREDIENTS
I recommend using nitrate-free bacon, which can be had at organic grocers or ordered online. The very finest in bacon comes from Benton’s in Tennessee and can be ordered from Zingerman’s.
Always use the freshest and highest quality eggs and butter you can find. The quality of these ingredients is THE difference between good and amazing baking.
I think you’ll love this cookie as much as my friends and I did. Enjoy!
I’m trying my best to eat less convenience foods. So, rather than cracking open a plastic package of something with unpronounceable additives ($3.50 at the local food factory), I’m trying instead to put a little imagination behind the basic ingredients in my pantry. I know that with a little effort I can whip up something with more flavor and nutrition (and at a lower cost!) than anything the food industry can provide on a shelf!
This is not an intimidating task involving years of practice, study, and a dozen cookbooks. It’s just a matter of diving in.
Take, for instance, this morning’s banana bread. Now, I used to think that baking was a science. I believed would-be cooks had to have the exact ingredients, in the right proportions, added in just the right way, or the end result would be a disaster. I’m hear to tell you: NOT SO!! You can be just as adventurous with baking as any other kind of cooking.
Banana bread is a great example. Some recipes will say: “Take 3 to 4 bananas…”
Ummm, ok. Is that three or four? Big bananas or little ones? Define the exact size of said banana - right?
Then there is the egg thing. They rarely say what SIZE egg. What happens if I put two large eggs and they wanted two small ones? Should I just use one Jumbo egg?
What’s a conscientious baker to do?
CREATIVE BAKING
I say: Improvise! For instance, this morning I referenced this banana bread recipe, but only had one banana. So I sort of winged it with my proportions. For the egg, I used enough egg replacer for about 1/2 an egg, then I added about 2/3 less sugar than the recipe called for, and I also put in half whole wheat flour instead of all white. PLUS, I just lumped all the ingredients together and mushed them up with my hands instead of first mixing in the sugar with banana, then adding flour, etc.
I also put the batter into little mini soufflé pans rather than a bread pan. I cooked them on 350 until they looked done (maybe 25 minutes?).
BAKING EXPERIMENT - THE MOMENT OF TRUTH!
The result? Lovely little individual banana breads, perfect for Saturday morning coffee.
So my point is, BE BRAVE! Experiment! EVEN with baking!!! Make foods from the whole ingredients in your pantry, and over time you’ll be surprised at how much money you can save AND how delicious and satisfying the fruits of your culinary adventures can be!
OK, I have been on a quest lately to perfect the vegan “Twinkie Cupcake.” This isn’t an original idea. I was inspired by a recipe for vegan twinkies made blogosphere-famous by Schmooed Food (recipes from the vegan lunchbox) - fun site that recreates a lot of children’s standards in a vegan incarnation.
I tried the recipe as it was written (mostly), and…I don’t know, the cake part was a little heavy. And the filling, while tasty in its own right (malt=yum), was not the fluffy texture one would expect in a “twinkie.” And besides that, the whole thing begged for some contrast (like chocolate ganache frosting, for instance).
So in my own test kitchen, after several attempts, I devised a winner! One friend who ate one of these lovelies told me it was too good to associate with the name Twinkie. I felt bad that he had a negative impression of this sacred childhood classic, but I got the point.
This is mostly an adaptation and combination of several recipes, since I am not chemistry-savvy enough to be a truly original baker…
Here goes (makes two dozen cupcakes):
The Cupcake
(adaptation of Chez Bettay’s vanilla cupcake recipe)
- 2 cups plain soy milk, (you can use vanilla flavored, too, but may want to adjust how much vanilla extract you add!)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 cups unbleached white flour (type of flour is important - whole wheat pastry flour just doesn’t do well in vanilla cupcakes)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1-1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Earth Balance (or other soy margarine), soft
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar (I use Florida Crystals - organic and US grown/produced)
1/2 tablespoon coconut extract (this gives a richer flavor, but your cakes will not taste like coconut)
1-1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract (try to use the best you can find. Good Vanilla makes a big difference!)
Preheat the oven to 350.
Add vinegar to the soy milk and set aside (mixture will curdle)
Sift together the dry ingredients (flour through salt), except sugar.
Using a hand blender on a low setting, cream together the margarine and sugar, and slowly add the extracts. Then slowly add the soy milk/vinegar mixture. Now you are ready to blend in the dry ingredients. Blend just until it is all wet, as you don’t want to over mix (this will affect fluffiness!).
Fill your paper or aluminum muffin cups using a 1/4-cup measuring scoop. Helpful hint: spray the muffin cups with spray oil (I use spectrum’s canola, largely flavorless) for ease of removing the cupcake from it’s paper after baking.
Bake for about 30 minutes, but you may want to start checking them around the 25 mark depending on you oven.
The Filling
- 1/2 cup Earth Balance (or other soy margarine)
1 cup non hydrogenated shortening
1-1/2 cup caster sugar (this part is important! - if you can’t find any in the market, buy it online)
1/2 cup malt powder (get this at home brew shops, light is preferred)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of coconut extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Using you hand blender, cream together the shortening and margarine. Add sugar and malt powder and blend well - for at least five minutes. Finally add your extracts and salt and blend for one more minute.
The Icing
(this one is all me, from years of ganache-making)
- 8 oz of semi sweet chocolate, chunked up into small bits
1/2 cup soy milk
In a small frying or sauce pan, bring soy milk to a simmer, slowly add the chocolate and remove from heat. Stir constantly until all the chocolate has melted.
Putting it together:
You have to wait for these puppies to cool before you do anything, or the filling will seep into the cake and wow, what a let down.
Here’s what I do: I jab my finger into the top center of the cooled cake, all the way to the “floor,” to create a well. Using an icing bag fitted with any large opening tip, I fill each cupcake with that gooey, creamy filling.
Then (timing here is important), I take the still warm small pan of ganache, tip it to the side to get some depth, and carefully dip each cupcake into the chocolate. Then set the cupcakes in the fridge for about 15 minutes to set the ganache.
Finally, take the icing bag of filling mix, fit it with a star tip, and make little flowers on top to hide the dent you made to house the filling. (the ganache alone just won’t do the trick). If you’d like , you can dust the final product with confectioners sugar or cocnut to make it extra pretty.
Voila! Chocolate-dipped twinkie cupcakes! My first semi-original baking recipe. Only don’t go blaming me when you gain 10 pounds! While these little gems may be vegan, they are NOT low fat!!!
