Caraway Sauerkraut Recipes

SAUSAGE AND SAUERKRAUT

Steps:

• Place the sauerkraut, caraway seeds, brown sugar, and apple into a large saucepan over medium-low heat, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, and cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Place the bacon and onion into a skillet over medium heat, and cook until the bacon is almost crisp and the onion is beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir the bacon mixture into the sauerkraut. In the same skillet, brown the kielbasa sausage in the remaining bacon grease until the sausage begins to brown, 10 to 15 minutes; stir into the sauerkraut mixture. Spoon the sauerkraut and sausage mixture into the prepared baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until bubbling, about 1 hour.

TRADITIONAL SAUERKRAUT WITH CARAWAY

Steps:

• Weigh the shredded cabbage (as cabbages vary in size and weight) to ensure the salt to cabbage ratio is correct. The amount of salt you use should come to about 1.5-2.5%, but no more than 3%, of the cabbage weight.
• In a large bowl, mix and massage the salt through the cabbage thoroughly, making sure to distribute the salt evenly.
• Let it sit to sweat a bit-maybe 10 minutes. This is simply to make the next step easier. This is a good time to get your vessel cleaned and to rest up for the next stage.
• With your pounder, pound quite energetically for about 5-10 minutes, until the cabbage is dripping with its own salty water when you pick up a handful. This part is important as you need this liquid-it's your brine.
• You can also use the dough hook of a stand mixer to do the pounding part, which can speed things up somewhat. Don't let it run for too long though, only a few minutes. Using a mixer is easy and great for people who are doing this a lot and in large batches, but it takes quite a bit of the emotional release and fun out of it.
• Next, mix in the caraway seeds (if using).
• Put the mixture into the jar, packing it down tightly as you go using the pounder. Push down well, particularly at the end to coax out any more brine. You need the brine to cover the cabbage.
• Don't pack the cabbage all the way to the top; leave some headroom at the top of the jar to allow for a bit of growth and movement and, of course, the weight. You don't want the liquid touching the top of the lid, as it will end up spewing out of your air-lock or up out of your lid.
• Cover with a cabbage leaf (the follower), the weight and then your chosen lid or system.
• Depending on your ferment, you can start trying it as soon as you'd like, but the less you fiddle with it in the first 2 weeks, the better. It is ready when you think it is delicious. With the right system and temperature, you can leave it to ferment for months before refrigeration.
• If you used a crock, you'll need to decant the kraut to smaller jars before you refrigerate, unless you have a walk-in cool room, or large cellar. (Lucky you.) It will keep in the fridge for 12 months or more. Use your senses.

CARAWAY SAUERKRAUT

Steps:

• In a 5-qt. Dutch oven, cook bacon and onion for 8-19 minutes or until onion is golden brown. Stir in sauerkraut and caraway. Add water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1-1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add potato. Cook for 20 minutes or until potato is tender.

SAUERKRAUT WITH BACON, POTATO AND CARAWAY

Steps:

• Saute bacon until crisp.
• remove bacon to drain, reserving fat in pan.
• saute onion in bacon fat until browned.
• add sauerkraut and saute for 5 minutes; add potato, chicken stock, reserved bacon, black pepper and caraway.
• Bring to a boil and simmer on lowest heat for 20 minutes- stirring frequently, then cover and simmer for an additional 30 minutes- stirring every 10 minutes.

BAVARIAN SAUERKRAUT

Steps:

• Heat bacon drippings in a large skillet over medium heat; cook and stir onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Place sauerkraut with juice into a large bowl and cover with water. Stir and use your hands to squeeze out as much of the water and juice as possible. Add squeezed sauerkraut to onion.
• Stir brown sugar, caraway seeds, chicken stock, and cooking sherry into the sauerkraut mixture. Reduce heat to low and simmer until almost all the liquid has evaporated, 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

SAUERKRAUT WITH GIN AND CARAWAY

Steps:

• Combine sauerkraut, gin, and caraway seeds in heavy large saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently, uncovered, until gin is reduced by slightly more than half, stirring occasionally (sauerkraut will still be crunchy and gin and caraway flavors will be absorbed), about 30 minutes. Add butter and stir until melted. Serve warm.

KIELBASA WITH APPLE CARAWAY SAUERKRAUT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large oven-proof skillet over medium heat, saute kielbasa until browned, about 4 minutes on each side. Remove kielbasa to a plate and keep warm. In the same pan, saute the onion and the apple for 1 minute. Drain and rinse the sauerkraut and add it to the apples and onion in the skillet. Add the chicken stock and caraway seeds to the pan and stir. Return the kielbasa to the skillet and cover. Put covered skillet in hot oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

KIELBASA SAUSAGE WITH CARAWAY SAUERKRAUT

Steps:

• 1. Combine onion, sauerkraut, wine, bay leaves, caraway seeds and pepper in heavy large saucepan.
• 2. Cover and simmer mixture for 30 minutes.
• 3. Add sausage and simmer 20 minutes.
• 4. Discard bay leaves and serve.
• 5. Note: I've also made this in the crock pot on low for about 6 hours.