Sauerkraut

Sometimes my days get away from me.  It's usually the result of an unexpected errand or responsibility.  Today has been one of those days.  Sometimes it's just better to go with it, so I continued the cooking jag making potato leek soup and sauerkraut.

I think the sauerkraut will be one of my holiday gifts (if you're on my list and hate sauerkraut, don't worry - I know).  As you might guess, I am a friend of fermentation (one of the clubs at Hampshire College where Ian went), and I"m quite excited to see how this experiment will turn out.  I followed a rather simple albeit physical (pounding cabbage for 10 minutes) recipe from Saveur which uses only cabbage and kosher salt.

Before:

(This bad boy weighed 7 pounds.)

After:

(Looks majestic, doesn't it?)

Now it's a matter of waiting and attending (but not hovering).  It'll be ready in as little as 10 days for "new" sauerkraut, described in the Saveur article as "[z]ingy and effervescent."  I'm not going to mess with it in this go-around.  Next time I'll see about adding caraway seeds or using white wine.

Next up?  Kimchi!