Brussel Sprout Sauerkraut Recipe

Photo by Fotolia/fishbowl

Try making sauerkraut with homegrown Brussels sprouts.

Directions

• Shred the cabbage as you would for sauerkraut, the finer the “strings” the better. The Brussels sprouts should be sliced or shredded paper thin with stems intact. You begin by scattering 1-1/2 pounds of shredded cabbage on the bottom of the crock.
• Then scatter over this one pound of shredded sprouts (or mix the two together). Add a few sliced cloves of garlic and scatter 1-1/2 tablespoons of pickling salt over the top.
• Repeat with another layer of cabbage, Brussels sprouts, garlic, and salt, and continue in this fashion until you have filled a sterilized crock about 3/4 full.
• Press down with a weight and add enough untreated spring water to cover the dish or plate. Add 2 extra tablespoons of salt, cover, and let the mixture undergo the same fermentation process as cabbage.
• The vegetables should develop a white scum after about 1 to 2 weeks; this is a good sign. However, skim it off. If the vegetables smell or taste too sour, add a little more salt. Allow 1 month, then drain the vegetables from the liquid, discard the liquid (or reuse it instead of spring water as starter for another batch). When the process is completed the vegetables will have a flavor and aroma similar to Polish cucumber pickles, especially if you add dill blossoms along with the garlic.
• You can serve this pickle in several ways:
• Uncooked as a pickled side dish.
• Cooked like sauerkraut with various cuts of meat. Smoky ham is excellent. The classic Pennsylvania Dutch method is to cook the mixture with apples and then scatter finely chopped fried slab bacon or smoked sausage over the top. The vegetarian alternative would be to cook the vegetables with mushrooms or even grilled eggplant.
• Freeze in zip-lock bags for later use. This also tenderizes the vegetables. The frozen kraut will keep from six months to a year.
• William Woys Weaver is an internationally known food historian, author, and heirloom gardener living in Devon, Pennsylvania.