They say that your tastebuds change over time. While that’s probably true, there are certain
foods that, as a kid, I just wasn’t interested in even trying. Sauerkraut is one of those things. As a kid, it looked gross, smelled gross, and
I was sure it tasted gross and was not going to even try it.
As an adult, I decided to give it a chance. We grow cabbage and when we harvest it, we
make lots of cole slaw, cooked cabbage as a side dish, and our favorite way to
eat cabbage: we chop it and mix with ground meat and spices and make homemade
egg rolls. One other thing we do is make
sauerkraut. Sauerkraut has numerous
health benefits, among them:
Ø
Good source of Vitamin C, A, K, and B,
Ø
Provides iron, copper magnesium and calcium,
Ø
Contains lots of fiber and aids in digestion,
Ø
Boosts your immune system,
Ø
Provides Energy
We have Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions cookbook and
follow these simple directions to make 1 quart of sauerkraut (expand recipe as
needed):
·
Cabbage
·
1 Tablespoon salt
·
4 Tablespoons whey
First we go out to the garden and pick a nice bid head of
cabbage, peeling off the outer leaves and sharing those with the cows. Sometimes we have to pick a few slugs off of
the inner leaves as they like to get in there and feast on the big head.
Nice, big, fat head of cabbage |
Then I remove the hard stem and chop up the cabbage into
small pieces, putting the cabbage in a large bowl and adding the salt and
whey. The whey is a by-product of making
yogurt (kefir) and we always have some in the fridge. Then, using the head of a meat tenderizer, I
begin pounding on the cabbage in the bowl.
Over and over I beat the cabbage, bruising the leaves, causing it to
release the juices contained within. I
continue banging on the cabbage for about 10 minutes, so I guess you can say
that the act of making sauerkraut has health benefits as well in the form of
cardiovascular health and stress-reduction.
Crushing the Cabbage |
Next I spoon the cabbage, whey, salt mixture into a wide
mouth quart-sized canning jar, packing it in tightly so that the liquid appears
at the top of the jar, but allowing 1 inch head space at the top.
Packing sauerkraut into wide mouth jars |
Finally, I screw the lid to the jars on tightly and store
at room temperature for 3 days, labeling the date on the top of the jar lids.
Sitting at room temperature for 3 days |
After three days, I’ll place them in the fridge. Sauerkraut can be eaten immediately, but we
find that it tastes better with age and we try to postpone eating it until it
has been in cold storage for a couple of months. Making sauerkraut has become an annual event
for us and we look forward to making and eating it, especially during the hot
days of summer as it serves as the cold, fizzy sauerkraut is a refreshing
appetizer!
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