Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage and one of my favorite foods. It has a slightly tart, sour flavor. My mom did not make it from scratch. We had it from a can or jar, but hers always had a better flavor than I had at other peoples houses. I discovered that my mom "doctored" her sauerkraut.
Ingredients
2 Cans/Jars of Sauerkraut (32 oz each)2 Big Onions - chopped
2 Tomatoes diced-or 1 cup canned stewed tomatoes-or 1/4 cup ketchup *2023 update - For more flavor - Use 1 can 14.5 fire roasted tomatoes
1/4 cup pearl barley
Broth/Stock
Salt & Pepper
Cooked Meat (optional)
Caraway Seed (my favorite!)
Instructions
Drain sauerkraut and save juice. Lightly rinse sauerkraut (I don't, mom does). In a large pan, sauté onions in butter. Then add sauerkraut, tomatoes, salt & pepper. Cover sauerkraut mixture with water, or broth/stock (any kind - chicken, vegetable, etc.) Sprinkle barley on top. Cover and bring to a boil, add cooked meat and/or caraway seed (optional), cover and cook for one hour. Add sauerkraut juice if too bland.If too "soupy" add 2 Tablespoons of Zaprashka (Russian for Roux.) A roux is a mixture of equal parts of oil, butter, or fat renderings and flour. Recipe: melt butter, stir in equal amount of flour and brown. The mixture is cooked at least three to five minutes over low heat to remove the raw flavor of the flour. Slowly add a small amount of liquid from the sauerkraut. Then pour into the sauerkraut pan and blend, which thickens the gravy. The roux method is the best way to avoid lumpy gravy.
From: Mom (Sonya Rulli)