After my aunt passed away I learned that I had some German heritage in my blood line. Besides, I am needing more probiotic foods in my eating plan. Since the Rituxan and a couple of my other medications kill off the bacteria in my gut. This is a great way to get more probiotics. I was surprised how easy it is to do. I found a great recipe in my Practical Paleo cookbook. I have two quart jars and a pint size jar fermented. It takes two weeks. Though you do have to check it daily.
What you need:
1 head of cabbage. I chose purple cabbage, because I love the color.
6 carrots. Two of them are used for holding the cabbage under the liquid while it is fermenting. And you also want to save the outer cabbage leaves to also hold the cabbage under the water.
4 cloves of garlic.
2 tablespoons of salt
I shredded the garlic and the carrots with my box grater. I just shredded the cabbage with my chef’s knife. Shred the cabbage and sprinkle the salt on. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then for the next 3 hours take time to slowing knead the liquid out of the cabbage. It is okay to take breaks between kneading’s. Then add the shredded carrots and the garlic. Then start packing the cabbage into the mason jars after each handful press it down so that the liquid squeezes out. Leave 2 inches open at the top. Place the left over cabbage leaves over the wet cabbage. Then cut a carrot up enough to have it weigh down the cabbage in the jar. Then store in a dark place, like a cupboard for 2 weeks, checking daily.
I’m looking forward to eating my own sauerkraut that I made. I sometimes think we have lost the art of pickling, canning, and fermented foods. There was a great article about the process of saving food from the seasons in this month’s Bon Appetite. I saved it and stored it in my cookbook. In what ways do you prepare foods for the winter months? Have you ever made sauerkraut, if so how did you like it?
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