Saurkraut recipe...for using up saurkraut?

[carfreemama]

My CSA just got more challenging.: February in Nova Scotia and this was supposed to be our treat! I hate to be so ungrateful, but I HATE saurkraut! When I look for "saurkraut recipes," I end up with recipes on how to make saurkraut...

Can I make it into something? I'm really not that fussy, I swear. My big dislikes are onions, turnips and...saurkraut. BTW, I like every member of the onion family except yellow and red onions.

Maybe somebody can tell me how nutritious fresh, local saurkraut is. Is is a probiotic or something? Maybe then I can choke it down. Maybe not.

Thanks.

[staceychev]

Well, if it is uncooked, it's phenomenal for your digestive system! When DH was on his sauerkraut making kick two summers ago, we put it on salads a lot. Great for our tummies.

Now that we don't have fresh (even though I keep emphatically pointing to the crock on top of the fridge and buying cabbage, DH doesn't get the hint), I tend to only use it cooked. I will cook it on the stove top and serve it with grilled kielbasa--yes even in winter--and fresh pierogi that I can buy at my store. I also will cook it in the oven with a pork loin or sausage. You could also look up a recipe for "bigos" and make that.

One thing that makes cooked sauerkraut much better is to cook it with beer! I put a bottle of beer in when I do the oven-baked kind, and about 1/3 to 1/2 if I'm doing stove-top. (The kind that's long cooked in the oven, by the way, is less aggressive in its flavor than the stove-top kind.)

[AnnaNova]

there s this awesome kinda like winter salad thing that has sauerkraut in it. we used to eat all through the winter and it is very nutricious. i dont have exact dosage or anything, i just throw a little this and a little that...
so its about
2 cups sauerkraut, uncooked,
3 medium boiled potatoes (i boil them unpeeled and then peel them),
2 boiled carrots
2-3 boiled beets (these will take the longest to cook)
4 (or so) small - medium pickles
cut everything, throw everything together. serve with drizzled olive oil. because sauerkraut and pickles are already spicy and salty, you dont really need any seasoning, unless desired (some salt).
its great as a side dish or on its own. i love it just by itself with a piece of bread

[oiseau]

Not really a recipe, but I have a tip that turned me from a saurkraut hater to someone who loves fresh saurkraut. Whenever I make a meal that includes saurkraut, I also make mashed potatoes. I put a little bit of potatoes on my fork, then a bit of saurkraut. The potatoes take the edge off the tang of the kraut, so it's a bit more palatable. I started eating kraut like that when I was a kid and now I really like it and eat it plain.

If the kraut is fresh, it has tons of awesome probiotic benefits. Unfortunately, all those healthy critters die if you cook it. I still use the mashed potato trick though: hot potatoes + cold kraut is good and still has all the probiotics.

[carfreemama]

Okay, I'll try all these things. I have a feeling saurkraut is going to be with us for a while. AnnaNova, do you let the cooked veggies cool? Does this still preserve the saurkraut benefits? This recipe uses up everything we currently have extra of, so it's great! Same with the mashed potato idea. I also have some local organic sausage in the freezer, so I think I can manage the sausage thing.

So, um, how do you make saurkraut?

I have lots of raw cabbage, both savoy and whatever the other green kind is. Can you use red? I think I can do this. I can do anything for health, right?

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by carfreemama

So, um, how do you make saurkraut?

There are two basic types, just like pickles... lacto-fermented or vinegar cured. If it is lacto-fermented, then it is a fabulous probiotic. If it's not, then I'd probably cook with it. Drain it, rinse it, and treat it like cabbage - saute it in plenty of butter, bake it with sausages and beer, that kind of thing.

If it is lacto-fermented, I agree with the suggestion to eat it WITH something else that helps with the flavor. For me that's usually mustard, but the potato suggestion sounds good too.

[savithny]

Pork and Sauerkraut Stew

(the one I make is from a book I have, but I googled and this is very, very close to the one I do)

Notes:
My recipe calls for less sauerkraut per 3# of pork.
My recipe has a bay leaf in with the simmering.
I use more paprika (4 Tbs), no tomato paste, and usually use less sour cream (but it depends on the fattiness of the pork)

The sauerkraut mixes throughout the dish during cooking and becomes unrecognizable to kraut haters, and the tangyness of it mellows and jsut does something magical with the pork and the paprika. This is just plain awesome.


http://inerikaskitchen.blogspot.com/...auerkraut.html

Szekelygulyas - Hungarian pork stew with sauerkraut
2 Tbsp oil
3 large onions, diced
3 lbs pork shoulder or butt, cut into 2-inch cubes
3 Tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika
2 Tbsp tomato paste
3 large (32 oz) jars sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
salt and pepper
2 cups sour cream
2 Tbsp flour
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or stew pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute about 5 minutes, until the onions are softened and starting to brown around the edges. Add the pork and saute, stirring occasionally, until the meat has started to brown - you don't need to go for the deep sear you'd want with other kind of stews. Add the paprika and tomato paste, stir to combine, and cook 2-3 minutes more.

Now add water to come about halfway up the meat, bring to a simmer, cover the pot, and let the stew cook until the pork is tender, about 2 hours. The exact time will depend on what kind of meat you used and what size you cut it, so check it after an hour and a half, but honestly, there's really no way to overcook the meat. It will just get better.

When the meat is tender, add the rinsed and drained sauerkraut, stir to combine, bring back to a simmer, cover again, and let cook another 45 minutes or so. Taste and add salt if you need it, plus lots of freshly ground black pepper. Turn off the heat and move the pot off the hot burner. Stir the flour into the sour cream, then add the sour cream to the stew. It's important to do this off the heat or the sour cream will curdle; you want the sauce to be nice and smooth.

Serve over hot buttered noodles. This dish is far better the second or third day; just make sure when you reheat it that you don't let it boil, or, as I said earlier, the sour cream will curdle.

[Gentle~Mommy :)]

I make perogies with saurkraut, serve them with sauted onions & mushrooms and sour cream and it's delcious.

If I don't feel like make the perogi dough, I cheat and use fresh pasta sheets (lasagna) boil them and then layer the aurkraut like a lasagna instead of a perogi - top with onions,mushrooms and sour cream - it is just as delicious.

[AnnaNova]

Originally Posted by carfreemama

Okay, I'll try all these things. I have a feeling saurkraut is going to be with us for a while. AnnaNova, do you let the cooked veggies cool? Does this still preserve the saurkraut benefits? This recipe uses up everything we currently have extra of, so it's great! Same with the mashed potato idea. I also have some local organic sausage in the freezer, so I think I can manage the sausage thing.

So, um, how do you make saurkraut?

I have lots of raw cabbage, both savoy and whatever the other green kind is. Can you use red? I think I can do this. I can do anything for health, right?

yes, veggies cool down and so the sauerkraut still retains its benefits. it is served as a cold salad, too, and it all becomes kinda purplish-reddish from the beets, so you probably won't even be able to tell it has sauerkraut if you dont know

[KatWrangler]

Well I like it with polish sausage in and mashed potatoes. You can add diced apples if you like.

Brown sugar and caraway seed is good too!

[amandaleigh37]

My hubby makes his own and I HATE it. Even the smell makes me gag. But he put some in some lentil soup that he made, and I couldn't even taste it! So maybe you could try putting some in soup? It added some texture but otherwise I would have never known it was saurkraut.

[Magelet]

I like spearing a peice of meat on the same bite as sourkraut (particularly sausage/salami/steak etc), it tastes much better that way.

otherwise not many tips other than to second the "if it's lactofermented, keep it raw" advice. since we only have lactofermented kraut that we make, we only eat it raw to preserve those great bacteria.

[carfreemama]

Okay, I have wonderful sausage and local pork in the freezer, I'll be doing sausages and pork stew once everything thaws out. Thanks. I'll let you know how it turns out!

And lactofermented saurkraut, here we come! I'm not sure how I'll get it down, but tastes adapt, right? I really want to get those bacteria into us. Doubtful dd will touch it, but you never know.

[BedHead]

The lactofermented kind is really yummy with caraway seeds in it.

[staceychev]

Originally Posted by carfreemama

And lactofermented saurkraut, here we come! I'm not sure how I'll get it down, but tastes adapt, right?

It took me a very short while to start preferring the lacto-fermented kind over the vinegar-cured of my growing up years. Tastes definitely adapt!