Basic sauerkraut isn’t that hard. You just need sea salt, cabbage and some good glass or ceramic containers. And the patience to wait about two weeks.
This was my first kraut, which had chopped garlic and carrots in addition to the cabbage. Note the large cabbage leaf on top.
Ingredients and Supplies
Cabbage – any kind will do
Sea salt – a few sprinkles for every time you chop up some cabbage
1 large glass jar
1 small glass jar that will fit inside the large jar – I used a baby food jar.
Knife, cutting board, large bowl
How to Prepare the Sauerkraut
Put aside one or two large, outer leaves from the cabbage for later. Chop the cabbage. When the cutting board is full of cabbage, put it in the large bowl and sprinkle on some sea salt. Each time you fill the cutting board with cabbage, sprinkle on some sea salt. If you prefer amounts, in his book Wild Fermentation, Sandor Katz suggests 3 tablespoons per 5 pounds of cabbage.
According to Sandor Katz, you can’t use table salt, as it may not work in the fermentation process. More about sea salt vs. table salt on this article. You can buy sea salt in Highland Park at Anna’s Health Food Center for about $3.
Once the chopped cabbage is in the bowl, you press it with your hands until the water from the cabbage starts to leak out. In one video I watched, the sauerkraut preparer used a potato masher to hasten the process. In another, the person wore plastic gloves while pressing the cabbage. Next, press the cabbage into the large glass jar. Take the outer leave(s) and press them on top of your chopped cabbage. If the brine doesn’t cover the chopped cabbage, add a little water + salt to the top so it does cover. Press your small baby food jar bottle on top of the cabbage. If you can’t cover your large jar with the cap (and you probably won’t be able to until the cabbage has settled more or has been eaten a bit), cover it with a cloth and a rubber band.
Place your jar on a high shelf in your kitchen or in your basement or some other cool, dry place. Do not refrigerate yet – that will stop the fermentation process. Feel free to try the mixture every few days. We ate some after one week, and then we ate the rest after two weeks. If you have the patience to wait a month, maybe it will be even better then!
Benefits of Fermentation
Sandor Katz writes: “Fermentation not only preserves nutrients, it breaks them down into more easily digestible forms.” Some of you may have heard of priobiotics and its many benefits — think of fermentation as creating your own probiotics. A Finnish study found fermented cabbage could be even healthier than raw or cooked cabbage for fighting cancer.
I’ve been experimenting with pickling and fermenting vegetables. I tried a macrobiotic recipe that just called for sea salt, water and kombu (seaweed) with vegetables, but I didn’t care for the result. Then I found this video:
It shows Sandor Katz teaching how he makes fermented cabbage. I tried it. We will eat the results on Friday night or Shabbat (I don’t care to wait a whole month). Sandor Katz wrote a book called Wild Fermentation. I ordered the book, and maybe after I read it, I will be able to explain why fermenting vegetables is good for you.
Last night I found these two videos, with a fellow named Steve:
There are more videos by SteveMackOnline (that’s his YouTube username).
Notes: you do most of the work one day, and then a week or a month later you enjoy the results. That works well for those who like to plan ahead. Also, you will note both these videos talk about mold growing in the fermenting process (and Steve’s shows him throwing it away). Hmm, guess one has to get used to such things! My vegetables didn’t produce as much liquid as Sandor’s. But his recipe with cabbage, carrots, garlic and onion already tasted much yummier than the cucumbers in seaweed I tried last week. I hope to update you next week with photos of my finished product.
Put banana, raspberries and oat milk in the blender or food processor and blend. You can double or triple the recipe if you have friends visiting.
When you have finished most of your smoothie, don’t panic. Add some grape juice and seltzer, and enjoy a new version of this treat.
You can also use blackberries and/or blueberries, but then you can’t really use the photographs for Ruby Tuesday:
I was inspired by the Green Smoothie of Reluctant Vegetarian, but when I suggested the addition of kale to the smoothie, my daughter balked.
Neot Kedumim Kitchen: Was this what cooking was like in the time of Avraham?
Mrs. S. hosts the Kosher Cooking Carnival for the first month of Adar (we have two this year – extra happiness). There’s tamarind date cake, eggplant filled with bulghur, lemonade, brownies, creamy parsnip soup and more.
3 tsp. olive oil (experiment with amounts of oil – add a little at a time – you may need less)
Sea salt to taste
2 hard boiled eggs
Bake the zucchinis and the onion in a stoneware dish in the oven for about 1 hour. You can do this the day before, or anytime you are baking other items in the oven. Take the baked vegetables out of the oven to cool. Chop the walnuts in the food processor. Add all the other ingredients except the hard-boiled eggs. You can see what this dish would be like without the eggs, in case you would prefer to have an eggless version of vegetarian chopped liver. I found it too watery, but when I added the hard-boiled eggs, oh, my, it obtained the creaminess of chopped liver. Also, the next day in the refrigerator it turns browner, so it looks more like chopped liver, too.
Alternative: use grilled zucchini and onions (I don’t have a pareve grill)
Have you made mock chopped liver? Any suggestions?
My daughter had her palate extender (an orthodontic device that resides in one’s mouth) removed this week; in celebration, we bought and made popcorn. One isn’t allowed to have popcorn (or chewy, goopy food) with a palate extender (or with braces), so it was exciting to once again be sharing popcorn. The popcorn my daughter picked out came in a bag, and I kept eating it. In order not to eat all of *her* popcorn, I made my own.
Ingredients
3/4 cup plain kernels of popcorn
1 paper bag, lunch bag size
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. turmeric, garlic powder, cumin, and pepper
3 tsp. organic butter
1 bunch steamed broccoli
Put the popcorn kernels in the bag and fold it closed. Put it in the microwave – ours has a popcorn setting. When it is done popping, remove the bag. Prepare the butter with the spices and salt by melting it in a saucepan or in a bowl in the microwave. Pour it over the popcorn.
So why the steamed broccoli? After you finish all the popcorn, you are going to enjoy mopping up the spicy butter remnants with a piece of broccoli!
Pumpkin, detail from watercolor painting of Three Squash, 2009
Or any other holiday or reason to gather and eat. I like collecting recipes. Maybe one day I’ll actually try some of these.
Bake the potatoes for over an hour. Take them out of the oven when you can stick a fork in them. Eat a few of them, but make sure you have at least 4 large ones left for this recipe. When they are cool, you can either stick them in the refrigerator for a day or two, or continue with the recipe right away. Cut up the potatoes in cubes, without the skin. Toss them in oil and ketchup (or tomato sauce). Sprinkle with salt and spices. Bake for about twenty minutes. Serve warm.
Red onion at Highland Park Farmer's Market
I love the idea of a side dish that requires no cooking. You might want to make this in the summer, but as winter approaches, fresh vegetables may not be as abundant. This pea salad can be accompanied with squash or rice.
Ingredients
8 oz. frozen peas
1 clove garlic
first cold-pressed olive oil – enough to coat the salad
1 half red onion, chopped (or use a sweet vidalia onion)
sea salt, to taste
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley or cilantro
optional: pepper, allspice or cumin
optional: shredded carrots – 1 large carrot or a handful of baby carrots
Put the frozen peas in a container. Crush the garlic clove, and add it to the top. Put in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve it (the peas will need several hours to defrost). When you are about to eat, coat with olive oil. Add the chopped onion, herbs, salt, optional shredded carrots and any spices you desire, such as cumin or allspice. Stir and serve.
Millet is a healthy whole grain food that is nice to have if you want a change from rice or pasta. It can be rather plain if you eat it just cooked with water and salt, so I created this tasty recipe.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup millet
1 cup water or broth
1 zucchini
1 large carrot or a handful of baby carrots
1 lemon
1 Tbsp. olive oil
salt to taste
1 garlic clove (optional)
parsley or cilantro (optional)
Cook the millet in water or broth. While the millet is cooking, grate the zucchini and carrots in the food processor. When the millet has been cooking for at least 15 minutes, add salt and olive oil. Then add grated zucchini, grated carrots, lemon juice, lemon zest (optional – the peel of the lemon, grated) and crushed garlic (optional). Continue cooking for about 30 minutes or until millet is tender. Toward the end of the 30 minutes, stir often and do not leave the kitchen. Too easy to burn this pilaf at this point. Turn off the flame and stir in optional fresh herbs. Let it sit for an additional 10- 12 minutes before serving or refrigerating. Serve warm or room temperature.
