A Taste Of Germany

Sometimes I eat things just to make people jealous.  I generally aim for making the masses jealous.  This time, I was able to appease Boy's love of all things hotdog and target my jealousy campaign at one friend in particular, who I will call Jealous Dude to protect his identity.   I've been making a ridiculously large number of batches of sauerkraut due to cabbage showing up in my CSA crate repeatedly.  Jealous Dude has repeatedly threatened me with needing a saukerkraut tasting due to his unhealthy obsession with sauerkraut.  Claims that he will bring the brats have not come to fruition and so, after a long day of kayaking, mini-golfing, salsa dancing, and parkour training, I decided it was time for my tribute to Germany.

I went to Balducci's on a whim.  Mostly because it was on the way home from the park and because I knew it was supposed to be a fancy grocery store.  Fancier and more outrageously expensive than Whole Foods.  But I knew that I needed to find a brat and buns worthy of my homemade sauerkraut.  Balducci's did not fail me. 

We chose Binkert's Bauernwurst on the recommendation of the meat counter guy, a beef and pork mixed brat which incorporates mustard into the seasoning mix.  The whole wheat buns were hearty and looked like they could stand up to the brats.  A dollop of spicy brown mustard and some grilled sweet corn from my CSA crate rounded out the meal and my plans for delicious, amazing, perfectly balanced German amazingness was complete. 

Garnishes for Summer BBQs

Growing up, my family had a strange tradition of serving sauerkraut at holiday meals.  I'm not sure exactly where it came from, but my mother has always loved sauerkraut.  Its funny, we never ate it as most people do, piled onto a fat juicy brat.  No, it was served in a bowl by itself as a garnish to turkey, stuffing, cranberries, or to eat on its own.  An excess of cabbage in my CSA has led to a series of sauerkraut experiments, due in part by a hankering for brats and threats from a friend of mine who loves sauerkraut.  My friend's mom makes the best venison brats which she traded me for home brew and grassfed beef and they are so good that I am itching to experiment with making my own.  Methinks that homemade Sauerkraut might be the perfect excuse to buy a meat grinder and some casings as my next food project next week, when my first batch will be ready.  [Admission: I had one failed attempt due to the salt water brine not covering my cabbage all the way which I had to throw out]

The most basic sauerkraut is a simple affair, shredded cabbage, kosher salt, filtered water, and bacteria which is already present in the air and on the cabbage leaves.  The salt draws out the water and kills off the spoilage bacteria.  Most recipes I saw called for 3/4 to 2 tsp of kosher salt per pound of prepared cabbage, which I sort of eyeballed and probably ended up using a little more than 2 tsp.

Toss one head of cabbage, shredded, and salt together in a clean bowl to release the juices.  Let it rest 10-15 minutes and then toss again.  Then stuff the cabbage into a sterilized mason jar (you can do this by either boiling the jar and lid for several minutes in water or cheat like me and use the sanitizer I use for beer making).  Then cover the cabbage with a salt water brine, about 1 tsp kosher salt per cup of water.  Cap loosely with a canning lid.  Then let it sit between 65°F and 72°F for 2-3 weeks.  I keep my apartment at 68°F for beer fermentation so it was a lucky coincidence.

The fermentation process producing bubbling as well as air bubbles, so I repacked the cabbage down to force out the air bubbles every couple of days.  I also skimmed off white spots and film from the top (all of which are harmless and expected).  Once the 2-3 weeks are up, transfer to the fridge and start eating!

The mason jar on the left is the basic recipe.  The mason jar on the right has 1 tsp mustard seeds and 1 tsp caraway seeds added.  It looks and smells like saukerkraut.  Once again, I've managed to make something that requires lots of patience that I don't have!