Bohemiansauerkraut Recipes

Steps:

• Rinse sauerkraut in warm water and drain well. (Not rinsing the kraut yields a more sour end product which is the way we like it.)
• Place in a heavy saucepan with caraway seeds, berries (if used) , butter, and chopped onions. Cover pan tightly and simmer over lowest heat 15 to 30 minutes.
• Add pepper, water and white wine and cook 30 to 90 minutes longer depending on how soft you like your kraut.

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.

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat the bacon drippings and saute the onion until soft (medium heat works well). Place sauerkraut (with juices) in a large bowl. Cover completely with water. Hand stir to mix water throughout the sauerkraut. Collect sauerkraut by handfuls and squeeze out "most" of the liquid and add the sauerkraut (one handful at a time) to the skillet. Then add the caraway seeds, sugar, chicken stock and sherry and combine thoroughly. Heat to a slow boil and then reduce the heat and simmer until just about all the liquid is evaporated. I cooked at very low heat, for about 30-40 minutes. Also make sure you stir occassionally to incorporate all of the ingredients. Serve immediately.
• Fantastic on hot dogs, and perfect used as a side dish with Roast Pork Shoulder and Mashed Potatoes.

Steps:

• In a bowl or dish, combine the flour, salt and pepper. Add beef and toss to coat. In a Dutch oven, brown the beef in oil in batches; drain. Add the onions, garlic, dill, caraway, paprika and water. , Cover and simmer for 2 hours or until meat is tender, stirring occasionally. , Stir in sour cream; heat through but do not boil. Heat sauerkraut; drain and spoon onto a serving platter. Top with the beef mixture. Sprinkle with paprika.

Steps:

• To Make Sweet Dough: In a medium bowl combine the yeast, sugar and water and mix together; let stand 10 minutes. Stir in flour, dry milk, baking powder and shortening, then knead mixture for 10 minutes, adding as little flour as necessary. Cover bowl with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes, then knead again.
• To Make Filling: Meanwhile, brown beef, sausage and onion in a large skillet over medium high heat. Drain extra fat from skillet, then stir in cabbage, mustard, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Add cheese and cook, stirring, until cheese is melted.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Flatten a piece of dough. Place large spoonful of meat filling onto dough and fold over to form a round bun. Lay folded-side-down in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
• Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

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.