Masterfully fermented cabbage is exactly the same indicator of the experience of the hostess, as well as well-cooked soup. There are no recipes for sauerkraut!
Many of them are passed on in secret from grandmothers to granddaughters, as they say, "wander from generation to generation." And although it seems that nothing difficult in the fermentation can not be, not everyone can cope with the task, and knowledgeable people keep their secret knowledge about the sour cabbage.
Cabbage for the winter kvasyat differently: in brine in barrels and in jars without it, with beets and apples. In this article we are talking about cabbage with cranberries.
What do we need?
We need the following ingredients:
- medium cabbage (about 3-4 kilograms);
- 2-3 small carrots (100-150 grams);
- 2 teaspoons of dill seeds (about 10 grams);
- ground black pepper to taste;
- 2-3 bay leaves;
- 1 tablespoon of sugar;
- 100 grams of salt;
- Of course, the main ingredient is cranberries! She, like carrots in the amount of 100-150 grams.
What and what we cook
For cooking use:
- Enamelled deep dishes - a wide saucepan of 5-6 liters, or a basin;
- shredder, or a wide sharp knife. You can food processor with the appropriate nozzle, but cutting will not have enough beautiful and neat look!
- large grater, for rubbing straws.
How to cook?
For the starter, we need to take:
- cleared from the outer leaves of cabbage, divided into four parts. Remove the stalk and carefully cut (shred) straws;
- peeled and washed carrots rubbed on a grater;
- the cranberries are sorted, washed and dried;
- We mix carrots and cabbage in capacity. Some housewives do it right on a clean kitchen table;
- add and mix. Grinding (kneading) cabbage and carrots with your hands can be one of the subtleties of cooking at this stage. This technique allows vegetables to produce juice - the process of pickling begins faster, and the cabbage is very delicate in taste;
- pour the mass with seeds of dill and pepper, add bay leaf;
- mix once again;
- in a clean jar we put a whole cabbage leaf on the bottom - clean and dry;
- we lay out there a little ready mix, we press a layer a pestle;
- from above we fill half of berries of a cranberry;
- sprinkle with a layer of cabbage. Lightly press the pestle without damaging the berries;
- another layer of cabbage and a layer of berries;
- The latter must be cabbage.
The second option, with apples and currants
The main ingredients, as in the first recipe. But we exclude: dill seeds, bay leaf, black pepper and sugar. Salt use in smaller quantities - one or two pinches!
We take:
- cabbage one, or two kilograms;
- 2-3 small carrots (100-150 grams);
- cranberries, like carrots in the amount of 100-150 grams.
Add to the recipe apples (2-3 pieces) and red currants (2-3 tablespoons). Cooking remains the same, only currants and cranberries are pre-mixed. If we also use apples, we wash them and cut them into quarters. Then grind straw.
In a jar, layers of cabbage are alternated with layers of berries and apples:
- the first layer is cabbage;
- the second layer is currant and cranberry;
- the third layer is cabbage;
- the fourth layer is apples;
- the fifth layer is cabbage;
- the sixth layer - berries of currant and cranberry.
Everything on top, at the very end, cover with a layer of cabbage. Lightly tamped!
How kvass?
- The tamped mass should be covered with a leaf of cabbage and put on top of the oppression - for example, a container with water.
- Keep the jar in a container - a basin, or a saucepan. Excess juice flows through the top!
- Keeps in the room for up to three days, until foam appears - a sign of the fermentation process.
- The oppression and cabbage leaves are removed, and the cabbage with cranberries is pierced with a wooden rolling pin, or with a spoon (it is possible with Chinese chopsticks) - in several places all the way to the bottom. Grandmothers assure that in this way we "release bitterness."
- After a puncture, the cabbage is settled openly and without oppression for another day!
- Then drained juice is added to it (the one that poured over the edge of the can into the substituted capacity), the can is closed and taken out for storage in the cold. Can be stored in the refrigerator.
"Quick" cabbage
For those who do not want to wait for the ferment for three days, there is a special recipe.
We take:
- cabbage (about 1 kilogram);
- 2-3 small carrots (100-150 grams);
- 100 grams of sugar;
- a tablespoon of salt;
- 10 tablespoons 9% table vinegar;
- 100 - 125 grams of sunflower (or any vegetable) oil;
- three, four cloves of garlic (you can have a small head);
- cranberries to taste;
- water half a liter.
Cooking:
- Chopped cabbage with grated carrots and washed cranberries mixed with three or four cloves of garlic (passed through a garlic press).
note, what:
- cabbage does not warm up and is not rubbed by the hands;
- shred without stalk.
- Boil half a liter of water. Add 100 grams of sugar, a tablespoon of salt, 100 grams of sunflower oil to boiling water. Stir.
- Add 10 tablespoons of 9% table vinegar, bring to a boil and remove from heat.
- Pouring is poured into cooked cabbage, which is in an enamel saucepan. Cabbage is pressed against a flat saucer or plate. Above is oppression. Cooking time is approximately three hours.
- Three hours later we get ready-made sauerkraut!
Some more quick cabbage recipes can be found here.
Interesting folk omens
Cabbage will taste better if you cook it:
- in the phase of the advancing moon;
- Monday, Tuesday, Thursday - that is, men's days;
- with nice mood.
In order for the cabbage to turn out to be at 100, you need to correctly harvest the crop and correctly determine its storage. Remember that frozen and frozen cabbage is not suitable for pickling.
How do we eat?
Sauerkraut can be eaten as a separate dish. Before it, add chopped onions, or green onions to the meal. Some vegetable oil (to taste and desire). Sauerkraut - the favorite snack of our men!
It is included in the recipes for soup, or salads. It can be stewed with meat. Stuff her duck, or goose. Use for pepper filling.
Honored "Queen of the Russian table" is present in almost every holiday menu. In a word, the product is universal and also useful. For conservatives, there is a classic recipe for making sauerkraut, as well as a cabbage recipe with a crunch.
The successful combination of unique cranberry and cabbage in our plate, the owner of a number of substances necessary for a person, makes food rich in vitamins and trace elements. And this is very important in the winter-spring period, when our body suffers from a lack of sun, fresh vegetables and fruits!
