Sauerkraut

[308Lover]

I couldn't stand it! I went into our local deli and there were these huge,fresh frankfurters. Then the kicker was a shelf of different sauerkraut varieties. I went for the wine variety and slow simmered two franks with sauerkraut on top. Had two slices of light rye with that, and a bit of hot mustard. Bud in a bottle just came to hand automatically.
I've made sauerkraut too, with a few slices of onion added, and a sweet apple in the centre of the "barrel" to ferment for my Russian neighbor.(His momma did that for him so what could I say?) Tell me your sauerkraut stories---recipes even--memories etc.(I remember eating half frozen sauerkraut from a crock kept in the shed during the winter. Some for me and some I took to the kitchen. God it was good).

[Jagermeister]

You must be a German, however, I could think of better choices of beer to go with that.

[Bow Walker]

I used to work at Ted's Meats in Parksville. He's long gone now, but we used to make homemade smoked sausage.

I'd take a medium-sized pot and cover the bottom with cutup potatoes, then a thick layer of sauerkraut, and then a couple of rings of the smoked sausage.

Add a bit of water to cover the potatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer until the spuds are cooked. Remove the sausages and drain the water. Mash the potatoes with the sauerkraut adding some cream. Don't add too much though - you don't want to make it too runny.

Make patties from the mashed mixture and fry up in some butter. Serve with the smoked sausage and top with dollops of sour cream.

Great tasting.

[MichelD]

My wife is originally from Germany.

We were visiting her mother in the Black Forest one fall when they were harvesting cabbage. The farmer would come to town with a truckload of cabbages and a mechanical shredder. Folks would come and buy however many cabbages they wanted, he'd pop them in the shredder and they'd walk away witha five gallon pail of shredded cabbage to make their sauerkraut with.

The farmer was parked near my mother in law's apartment and the machine was going all day.

It sounded like a tree branch shredder and there was cabbage juice running down the street. Smelled great a couple days later.

[pg83]

Oh man do I love sauerkraut. German parents so I never really had an option I guess. Take your pick of smoked fatty pork hock or darn near any kinda of wurst, add some boiled potatoes and beer and you have a wonderful meal to put you on your ass for a bit.

If any of you ever go to Germany you must head to Bavaria(southern part) and have a greasy meal with 32oz beers. Double fisting is bonus points.

[ratherbefishin]

just had a meal of corned beef,simmered the meat for a couple of hours,took the meat out and then added new potatoes, chopped carrots, celery and a big sweet onion simmered in the salted water until done, then put it out on a dish with the sliced corned beef on top-served with sour cream for the vegetables and dijon mustard for the meat-and of course-sauerkraut on the side.Cold beer goes without saying

I corn venison too-take the brisket and hocks and immerce them in brine with pickling spice for 6 weeks in a crock,the only diference is the colour-commercial corned beef has colour added-''real'' home corned meat is sort of gray-but tastes great.Haven't made my own sauerkraut though

[farside]

mmmmm - kraut.

1 rack of ribs cut into ribs pieces
3 or 4 cups kraut
cold water to cover
small sachel pickle spice tied tight
simmer for about 3 hours
cook up some spuds and mash
Big bowl, spuds on the bottom and top with ribs and kraut
comfort food
rarely any leftovers

[Fisher-Dude]

I had deer smokies in sauerkraut just the other night - pure bliss!

We used to make a crock full of kraut every year. The house would take an a certain "aroma" as the kraut fermented. Still have all the gear for making it at my parents' place. I remember eating the salted cabbage as we were making the kraut, pounding it down, salting, shredding, pounding it down some more. It was an annual ritual with friends over as we all made a year's supply.

Used to have sausage 'n' kraut and hocks 'n' kraut.

That Steinfeld's kraut at Costco is pretty good, and at $2.65 for a big jar, it's hard to justify all the work of making it yourself.

Years ago when I got a job transfer, one of the ladies gave me kraut and smoked pork hocks in canner jars as a going away present. Mmmmmmmmm gooooooood stuff!

[huntwriter]

Bratwurst should be served with sauerkraut, home made of course, and boiled salted potatoes served with fresh made gravy. Any other way is an insult to the bratwurst.

We make our own Sauerkraut from a recipe that has been handed down from one generation to the next from my Prussian great-great-grand-mother.

[mpotzold]

Nowadays we as a family have SK very seldom(each leap year more or less)-nobody likes it but I.
SK memories
-my mom’s every second dish had some SK in it
-SFU Rotunda in the 60’s- they used to serve generous amounts of corned beef/SK on rye bread fresh each day & the lineups were long. The taste was something to die for.

A dish I always crave for-
SK home made style preferably
-fry onions in plenty of bacon fat(NO oil) until brown
-add SK –mix & heat until warm. The only spices I add are pepper & paprika.
-serve with European wieners(no cheap wieners) & nugget potatoes(optional).
Hey LT that must bring back a lot of hunting & school memories from the 60’s-70’s.