Homemade Sauerkraut

Continuing to keep that jar full of veggie snacks.  Next up was getting in touch with the German heritage with some sauerkraut.

Recipe

1-2 jalapenos
1 head of green cabbage
2 large carrots
2-4 cloves of garlic
salt & pepper

Set aside a couple outer cabbage leaves, and chop the rest thinly.  Slice your garlic and jalapeno, and grate the carrots.

With about a third of the cabbage at once, squeeze the cabbage with some salt, releasing some of the water and making it wet.  Add the rest of the cabbage in stages and do the same.  Then mix in the carrot, garlic, jalapeno and pepper.

Next, the mixture goes in the jars, pressing it in to bring the water level above all the veggies (this may take a while).  Wedge in an outer leaf or two, and add a weight (e.g., shot glass) to keep everything under water.

Finally, everything sits out for at least a week - uncovered, room temperature, making sure everything stays submerged.  Once it's done to taste, you can cover and leave it in the fridge.

Notes

I only gave it that one week.  It's very fragrant for a small kitchen!  Because of the timing, my kraut didn't end up very strong, but it fit very tastefully into sandwiches and other dishes.

The original recipe has you char the jalapenos over a flame - also not very practical for the NYC kitchen.  I was also worried the full recipe wouldn't fit into my one jar.  I shouldn't have - it all mashes down pretty seriously.

Overall, a lot more work than pickling, but an interesting change!