KRAUT!

There is a lady at the Wychwood market who makes the BEST perogies, sauerkraut and pork sausages.  She has them there in the winter and serves them hot in a cabbage leaf with sour cream.  In the summer she is strictly down to the veggies and seedlings business so I have been waiting patiently for fall to arrive when she will have this Eastern European treat once more. Here is a link to her blog in case you are interested in keeping up with her market dates and locations.  It also offers some insight into the workings of a modern day, organic farm. 

http://sosnickiorganicproduce.blogspot.com/ 

 

In the meantime!  I had heard that it is ridiculously easy to make sauerkraut and that you don't even need a recipe.  It's only salt and cabbage!  I am the queen of not following recipes (I attempted to do some recipe testing for Jae Steeles' new book and realized I could not help her since we were not allowed to do substitutions or tweaking.)   I added garlic and onion to my mix and according to the site where I got the directions, anything reasonable can be added.  My mom said that my great grandma and grandpa used to make buckets of kraut on the farm.  I wonder if they turned out as yummy as mine?  I tasted it for the first time tonight and it is tangy like kimchee but without the spice.  The flavor will change and mature as the cabbage slowly ferments.  I am looking forward to tasting this first batch at different stages and being able to determine the perfect amount of time before it's "doneness."  

Check out this site for the directions.