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!
Few acts of cooking are more satisfying than removing a perfect loaf of golden brown, yeasty hot bread from the oven.
Bread has come a long way. Having been in the human diet since the dawn of civilization, with the yeast that creates its leavening power carefully cultivated and passed down through families, all the way to today - where scientists isolate and improve yeast strains for mass commercial production, and bread aficionados possess machines that knead and bake the perfect loaf.
USING YEAST - THE EASY WAY OUT
As a slow food enthusiast, I am currently deep in study of traditional bread making, and am currently nurturing a sourdough starter in a tucked-away corner of my kitchen. But this week was Thanksgiving, and my starter was not yet ready (cold weather rendering its evolution a bit on the slow side). Rather than buy bread, I really wanted to make some. Equipped with a little jar of yeast from the bulk foods store, I perused my recipe collection for a process that would seamlessly fit into my already busy cooking schedule. I stumbled upon an amazingly simple recipe - so easy I felt a bit guilty as though I were cheating. Yet, my guilt was mixed with the pride that comes from making your own staples.
LAST CHANCE FOR HOME-GROWN HERBS
Even though it’s frequently freezing in SE Michigan this time of year, I still have some hearty herbs hanging on in my kitchen garden. They likely won’t last long, so I wanted to make use of them for the holiday meal - perhaps the last meal they will flavor before Spring gives them new life.
Armed with fresh rosemary, thyme, and sage, I set about adapting the recipe for No-Knead Whole Wheat Herb Bread from Vegan Vittles, a popular recipe book for vegan standards. Except that I used real milk, having procured an excellent local source of high-quality, grass-fed milk, which I suppose make this recipe a bit blasphemous. I am sure it works fantastically with rice or soy milk, for those who are inclined.
MY ADAPTED RECIPE
1 1/2 cups milk (regular or soy for vegan version)
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup atta, white, or chick pea flour
1/2 small white or yellow onion, minced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs or 2 tablespoons dried herbs (of your choice)
Heat the milk on med-high, to just before boiling (little bubbles will begin to appear on the edge). Turn off the heat and dissolve the sugar and salt in the milk, and add the oil. allow it to cool to luke warm.
In a big bowl, dissolve the active yeast in the warm water. Add your milk mixture and mix in your flour, onions, and herbs. Mix well with a wooden spoon until well incorporated. This dough will be much “softer” than the dough you are used to kneading. More like a batter, really.
Cover the bowl with a clean, damp tea towel or cheese cloth and allow it to rise in a warm place for about an hour (I have a shelf high above my stove where I place my dough; it’s pretty toasty up there).
The dough will have almost doubled in size when you come back. Right about now you’ll want to turn on the oven to 350 to preheat. Stir up the dough again for ten minutes or so. Then turn the dough into a bread pan that you have coated or misted with olive oil. Let the dough rest for about 15 minutes. Bake the loaf for about an hour, until it’s a lovely golden brown color.
DAY-OLD BREAD
Of course bread is best fresh from the oven. But with this bread, it’s especially good the next day, re-heated, as the herbs have infused the bread even more. I recommend enjoying with a pat of butter. If you happen to have any left after day two (unlikely), this bread makes excellent croutons for soup or salad - simply cube and crisp in the oven with a spritz of oil and dash of salt or Parmesan.
It’s important to remember that, unless you have a convection oven, your bread is going to be a little heavier and moister than what you buy commercially. But much more delicious!
Like many people these days, I’m stocking my cupboard with a strict budget in mind. This means coupons and cutting back on a lot of culinary luxuries that I once enjoyed. For instance, only breaking out the truffle oil when I have company, as I can’t justify spending $12 on two ounces of oil any time soon - as much as I ADORE truffle oil!
Part of my strategy is to buy less packaged foods and hit the bulk bins. I even have a great store here in Ann Arbor, called By the Pound, that is just bins and bins of grains, legumes, flours, spices, nuts, fruits - just everything a person could need. Even coffee and sweets. I feel so “smart-shoppery” when I leave there, little sacks of ingredients just waiting to be turned into healthy, economical, and delicious meals at my hand.
As I’ve been stocking up on the essentials, I’ve also been spending more time in the kitchen, as these in-bulk ingredients take a little more skill, thought, and time to become something truly wonderful.
GIVING POLENTA A CHANCE
In the past I’ve enjoyed polenta at restaurants or prepared easily from a pre-made packaged brand. Seeing polenta in my recipe books, it always seemed too involved to make at home. There is a prolonged cooking period - you must boil on the stove and stir frequently. But seeing that the price is so inexpensive, and considering I am spending so much more time in the kitchen anyway, I decided to give it a try. And I am very glad I did!
Polenta wasn’t really that hard to make. There was the stirring in the first few minutes, but I found it just requires a little check in now and again after the first 15 minutes or so. (There are also recipes that involve only baking and no stove top preparation — even better!) I’ve prepared a batch and kept it in the refrigerator as a hearty side that could be baked or fried throughout the week. A small batch lasted for four meals for two people. I even had a little bit for breakfast one morning, and it was very satisfying.
SOME SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
- Fry and serve with beans and greens
- Bake until golden and serve with marinated tofu, topped with salsa
- Bake and serve topped with chili for an especially filling meal
- Bake and top with and your favorite Italian marinara (I like mushrooms and red peppers, myself!)
- Bake or fry and top with goat cheese and chopped herbs
Here are some recipes for creating basic polenta - from the iCook Club and Busy Family Meals. .As I said, I stored the basic prepared polenta in the refrigerator, baking or frying throughout the week. But you can also freeze it. My favorite so far has been with added herbs from the garden along with some chopped mushrooms, just toward the end of boiling.
NOTE ON COOKING POLENTA
when boiling polenta, if it seems to still be under-cooked (i.e. a little crunchy) and yet is already quite thick, feel free to add more water than the recipe calls for until you get the desired consistency!
And if you don’t want to spend time over the stove top, try this version!
If polenta is new to you, I urge you to give it a try. You may find it a favorite addition to your repertoire. I know I did!
Ok, so for reasons I’ve alluded to in my last post, I’m trying to be animal-product free, at least until farmer’s market season starts, when I can be sure to get farm-fresh eggs.
It’s been a great challenge and I actually am feeling great. But being the adventurous sort that I am, I’ve gotten a bit tired of tofu, seitan, beans, nuts and nutritional yeast for my protein sources. (Well, that’a a lie. I’m still not tied of nutritional yeast. That on popcorn is like an addictive bag of cheetos, only less styrofoam-ish and without the dayglo color!)
And so… recently I found out about the virtues fu. How come no vegans ever mention fu? I found out about it from the Just Bento site, which isn’t even neccessarily vegetarian, (though healthy bent, for sure). Fu has about 1 gram of protein for every 15 calories. And NO fat. What are we waiting for?!? Let’s all get busy and start singing the praises of fu! Alert the skinny bitches for inclusion in Skinny Bitch 2.
Fun fu
So fu comes in many shapes and forms. When you find them in the grocery, you’ll notice that they actually have odd little names, reminiscent of anime characters, such as matsutake, chikuwabu and komachibu. It’s a great pantry staple, as it’s dried and just hangs out in there til you’re ready for it. One day you’re out of tofu and beans, you’re debating a trip to the grocery at some god awful hour, where you’ll have to resort to some late-night, corporate-stocked store, and just then your little buddies in the pantry speak up, having been waiting on the side lines for this, their savior moment: “hey, remember me? That dried-bread-looking stuff? It’s time…”
So you soak this dried-bread-looking stuff in water, just about 2 minutes is enough. You sort of squeeze it out then. And add it to stir fries or soups. That’s about it. It is essentially wheat gluten and has no flavor at all, yet it absorbs the flavors of whatever you cook it with, much like it’s dense cousin tofu, but even more absorb-y.
Not to be confused with TOfu
For instance, one of my favorite ways to cook it is to braise it in a mixture of soy sauce, mirin, garlic, chili paste (just a touch) and mushroom broth, and it ends up so flavorful!!! (And with a chewy sort of texture that will satisfy any flesh-gnawing urges.) I then add another couple of tablespoons of liquid and toss in some prepared rice*, a handful of greens, and mushrooms, simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, and then I have a steaming little exotic gourmet plate of low-fat, high-protein and high-fiber goodness. It’s an excellent, filling, and healthy meal in !Less Than 10 Minutes! In other words, a great thing to have in your repetoire if you are busy person in need of a quick protein source, such as myslef.
Happy fu, dancing in a pan
(they DO kinda shimmy as they simmer!)
Another quick meal with some fu protein added: Miso soup! Just boil a couple of cups of water or broth, add a little soy sauce, toss in some dried seaweed (I like wakame, myself, but the seaweed is of course entirely optional), possibly some bok choy or mushrooms (I love mushrooms, can you tell?), and add your fu for some protein punch. Toward the end of cooking (once the dried seaweed and Fu are fully reconstituted, about 5 minutes), remove the pan from the heat and take about a quarter cup of the broth and mash in your miso paste until well blended (fully boiling the miso kills off beneficial enzymes). Pour that miso concentrate into the cooling soup, along with a dash of sesame oil, if you’d like. The fu soaks up the flavor of the broth and miso and adds some interest and texture to this healthy soup. (I also like to spoon in some prepared rice*, to cool it off and complete the meal at the same time!)
(Well, maybe I blogged too soon about no vegans shouting out fu’s many attributes: I noticed that always inventive and inspirational SusanV has a version of Oden, using fu and root vegetables. This savory stew looks to be a scrumptious soup-fu combination, too! I’ll have to try that one next!)
So get to your nearest Asian grocery. Go snooping near the dried stuff, like the seaweeds and mushrooms. Chances are good you’ll find some fus to experiment with! Let me know what you come up with!
*Rice (a footnote - or foodnote?)
So I’ve long been a fan of Helen Nearing’s Simple Food book. Helen, along with her famous husband Scott, was a renowned “back to nature”-ist, well before hippies even existed. Helen’s book is a great collection of common sense advice and the most impossibly simple recipes of wholesome good sense. Sometimes with such vague details as “place in a hot oven,” so you’ve got to figure it out yourself, possibly through a ruined dish or two. From her basic recipe, and my own experimentations (as I found the cook times and proportions just weren’t working for me) comes my essential staple of Baked Rice. I make this rice on a Sunday and it carries me as a base for a few breakasts, lunches, and dinners throughout the week.
Crazy-Easy Baked Rice (from Helen to me to you)
2 cups short grain brown rice (or 1.5 cups short grain brown and .5 cups wild rice for a little extra crunch in your texture)
4 cups veggie or mushroom broth
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 to 2 teaspoons salt
1 to 2 teaspoons white or black pepper (or a combination of both - preferably fresh ground, of course)
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (optional)
This is so easy, it might become a staple in YOUR kitchen: Simply put all ingredients in a casserole dish and cover. Cook for about 50 minutes to an hour at 350 and you’ve got this yummy rice supply to add to tofu scrambles, burritos (with beans), soups or stir fries… or Fu (see, full circle after all!).
