Sour what?

This post is dedicated to my dad, a real New Yorker. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens, always yells at me to wawk the dawg, drinks his cawfee in the morning (well, not so much anymore), and most importantly, he eats his hot dogs with mustard and sauerkraut. If you aren't from the New York area, you probably think sauerkraut is stinky and gross. But it really is delicious, not only on hot dogs, but also on Reubens! When I picked up a head of cabbage from the CSA a few weeks ago, I knew I couldn't make more stuffed cabbage (no room in the freezer) and I'm not a huge fan of cole slaw (sorry, Mom!)...so I decided to ferment it...and make sauerkraut!

Believe it or not, this is probably the simplest recipe that ever existed. There are only 2 ingredients. Yes, you read that correctly...TWO INGREDIENTS: cabbage and salt. There are other variations, such as Bavarian sauerkraut which includes juniper berries, but this recipe is just for your basic sauerkraut. And it turned out great! Here's a link to the recipe I used: Homemade Sauerkraut. Since I did not have any cheese cloth, I just used coffee filters (as you can see in the above picture), and it seemed to work just fine.

So far, we've only eaten it with hot dogs, but I plan on making some Reubens with it, as well as making homemade pierogies.

Stuffed Cabbage

This recipe comes straight from my mom. For as along as I can remember, she's been making stuffed cabbage. It's one of her many dishes that I love eating, and for me, it's definitely comfort food. Wrapping the cabbage was a bit more difficult than anticipated, but besides that, this dish is fairly easy to make! Plus, it freezes very well...so no need to worry about finishing the leftovers quickly.

Stuffed Cabbage

Ingredients:

• 1 head cabbage
• 1 1/2 lbs ground meat (I used turkey)
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup minute rice
• 1 egg
• 6 cups tomato juice
• 3 Tbl chopped onion
• butter/margarine 

Directions:

1. Steam cabbage, either in microwave or on the stove. When cool, remove leaves. 

2. Sautee onion over medium heat until translucent. Set aside.

3. Mix together meat, salt, rice, egg, 3 cups tomato juice, and sauteed onion.

4. Scoop approximately 1/4 cup of meat mixture into cabbage leaf. Wrap and place in large pot. Continue until all meat is used.

5. When all cabbage has been placed in the large pot, pour in remaining tomato juice. Dot with butter.

6. Bring to boil, cover, simmer for about an hour.

Before...

...and after!

CSA Week #3 & Kale Chips

The theme of this week's recipes is freezer-friendly or simple recipes that use few ingredients. Here's what I picked up on this rainy day from the farmer's market:

Other options at the CSA included lettuce, swiss chard, easter egg radishes, broccoli, and kohlrabi. What the heck is kohlrabi? I am hoping it will be around in 2 weeks so that I can try it out. Next week, I will sadly (ok, maybe not so sadly!) be on vacation, so there will be no CSA pick up to blog about.

Tonight, the kale was turned into kale chips, one of our go-to recipes. It's very simple and quick....it takes longer to make the kale chips than to eat them. They always seem to disappear approximately 30 seconds after they come out of the oven.

Kale Chips

Ingredients:

• kale
• olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 ºF. Wash and dry the kale thoroughly. If using full bunches of kale, tear or chop the kale into smaller pieces, making sure to remove the stems completely.

2. Place kale on a baking sheet. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Drizzle with olive oil. Mix until kale is evenly coated.

3. Bake kale in oven for 20-30 minutes, until crispy. 

This recipe is very simple and requires only a few ingredients that are staples in most kitchens. It meets the requirements of an easy meal! Kale chips can be served with anything - burgers, baked chicken, soup, or by themselves. It's an easy, delicious, and healthy snack, too. Kale chips don't store very well...but they also seem to get eaten very quickly, so storage shouldn't be a huge problem. Just eat them all, you know you want to!