Boil 3 cups of filtered water. Add 2 Tbsp Sea Salt. Set aside to cool.
You take a typical head of cabbage, about 5#.
Fresh picked, fall harvest, organic works best.
Carefully tear off the outer leaves; set them aside.
Core it, quarter it, and shred it in the Cuisinart.
Get out a big clay bowl. Look around for a smashing unit. A pestle, a potato masher, whatever.
Then measure out about 3 TBS Sea Salt .
Throw a layer of cabbage in bowl, then sprinkle in some salt, repeat for all.
Just keep pounding it all the while.
Really tear it up!
Then put all of it in a small crock pot, including all the juice in the bowl.
Set the cabbage leaves on top of the juice. There should be at least an inch, if not more juice above the crushed cabbage.If not, pour the cooled salt water over top.
Next, fill the a big Ziploc bag with the rest of the salt water, and maybe a little more water. Place it on top of everything, making sure that the bag completely reaches all the side surfaces. Put the lid on the crockpot.
Set it in a dark place, or just put a few towels on top.
After 21 days, look inside! I should smell like sauerkraut and be a nice buttery yellow color. Jar it up in a wide mouth Mason jar and keep tightly sealed in your fridge.
Have 1 tablespoon or two with lunch and dinner.
Benefits:
Fermented vegetables are important for healthy nutrition, loaded with the wonderful bacteria that God intended our digestive tract to have; much of which gets destroyed with the antibiotics in the meat we have eaten from the grocery store...which is why I am getting my meat from Diamond B Ranch in Palestine, and the Azure Standard Co-op. You can get organic cabbage from the Co-op, year-round.
Natural fermentation is one of the oldest means of
preservation. Lactic acid bacteria subject the vegetables to a fermentation
process. The vegetable becomes preserved, it develops a pleasantly sour taste,
and it is rich in vitamins and minerals, especially
Looky here for some great resources and interesting facts:
Websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Kneipp
Books:
Making Sauerkraut by Klaus Kaufmann and Annelies Schoneck
Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of
Live-Culture Foods [Paperback]
Sandor Ellix Katz (Author), Sally Fallon (Foreword)
Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges
Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats [Paperback] Sally Fallon and
Mary Enig
I forgot the PLATE! I usually place a plate that is just a wee bit smaller than the circumference of the crock on top of the kraut. The brine can cover it, THEN place the water-filled Ziploc atop all that, Place the cover on and a few towels.
ReplyDelete