Kraut Time

[21incher]

We took a ride down to the finger lakes for some fresh picked cabbage. They grow a very sweet cabbage specifically for the kraut factories and we make the trek every year because I gave up trying to grow cabbage without chemicals. With the drought the heads were smaller this year ( 6 to 10 pounds) and the cost went up to $2.00 a head.


Also grabbed one Savoy cabbage for my wife's spring rolls. Today was a day of chopping veggies and I starter by making our favorite salad that is from a recipe handed down to me. It is called Jew Salad by the woman that came up with it during the depression made with readily available veggies grown in home gardens. She never shared with anyone and gave it to me just before she passed on because she knew I loved it. I figured I didn't want it to die with me so made a video for others to try it.


 Here is a link to a video I made years back about it

It just fits in a one gallon jar and is best after sitting a day

Next it was Kraut time but I first removed about 20 of the best leaves for cabbage rolls my wife made tonight. Then chopped up 5 more cabbages for kraut. Started 2- 1/2 gallon jugs with airlocks for fridge kraut that will stay in the fridge for months after fermenting is complete. Another 2 1/2 Gallon crock is fermenting for canning for long term storage. It looses the beneficial bacteria during canning but lasts a couple years. The best part is I can control how sour it gets and can it half sour for people that don't like the sharp tang. Here is the start of sauerkraut.


 

 
My arm is sore after pounding all that cabbage into jars and tonight the house smells like farts 
My wife chopped up that Savoy cabbage and made a batch of spring rolls. It was a beauty and I love to support local farmers when we can.


Time for hibernation.
Anyone else make kraut?

[newoodguy78]

Kraut is something I would like to make. Just comes down to the time unfortunately might try some yet this year. Do you use a kraut cutter or  a knife when processing it?
That’s a great looking savoy. They do have a noticeably different flavor.
We picked a bunch here yesterday it’s been selling well for us.

[21incher]

I couldn't believe we got the Savoy for $2 , they have been hard to find reasonably priced lately.  I just use a knife. I try to cut it fairly  fine and short. Notmally I can pound it down in the container with a little salt and there is enough  liquid in the cabbages to cover it. This  year I had to add some water to cover it. Very sweet and crunchy. Must be from the drought we had.

[sawguy21]

I love kraut in a Montreal smoked meat sandwich, there is just nothing better. I once had some made by a German lady, it was so strong I couldn't eat it. I didn't know to rinse it first.

[kantuckid]

Most any local Hillbilly in my area eats what they call "soup beans" VERY! often. Mostly it's pinto beans cooked down with some salt pork or similar chunk of side meat. Sauerkraut is a common side dish eaten with the beans. My wife grew up with it as a staple food but in our home we like Navy Beans far better and mostly eat them with salmon patties and fried potatoes, not kraut.

The link for the kraut recipe above seems to be blocked on my puter?

For great retail veggies like Savoy Cabbage Meijer's Supermarkets has a much more extensive selection than any in my region.

Talking cooking smells: As a young child right after WWII, we lived a few years with a grandmother who's tiny garlow home was in a predominately Jewish neighborhood only a block from the only Synagogue in Topeka, KS.
 Next door to her truly tiny home lived and elderly Jewish couple in a 3-story brick mansion with chandeliers, etc. who I'd visit on my 4-6 year old neighborly trips checking stuff out.
 We had a Jewish doctor who worked from his home a few doors down, all in all an interesting place unlike anything you'd find in todays medium/small sized towns such as Topeka at maybe 75K population then. Far more cultural mixing than todays world. One of the oldest Catholic churches was 3 blocks away and Russian speakers down there. What a hodgepoge of diets and educational levels, skill sets, you name it.   
Their home smelled liked Kraut EVERY time I ever visited them! 
I've never heard of a "Manhattan sandwich"? 

[SwampDonkey]

I gave up on cabbage as well in the garden. But we eat kraut once in awhile, have never made it. We don't eat that much to justify it. But you are certainly well stocked between kraut and all the peppers you process. You could keep an army alive for a few weeks.

[kantuckid]

Hominy we like and sort of same thing as with Kraut, we buy it as what we've made tasted identical to the storebought. We buy the "Silver slaw" sold from the cold case in grocery in bags and keeps forever in a fridge. Our most common use is on a Reuben sandwich on rare occasions when we have the right meat. 

The best store hominy we've used is the Mexican food aisle brand name of "Juanita's" and it's economical and you can freeze remainders from larger cans. My wifes family made hominy from scratch and it tastes identical-by the time to process corn with that lye, etc., and that much effort the results are same and too much mess overall for the results. 
We make a Tortilla chicken Soup recipe that gets loaded with hominy! 

[barbender]

Isn't hominy just grits that doesn't know it?😁

[sawguy21]

 

[21incher]

Made an awesome pastrami Reuben for lunch  with  last year's kraut 😋😋😋.
 80% of the population doesn't  know what real food tastes  like without preservatives.  And the other 20 % lives on grits as shown by all food threads heading south  into grits territory 

[sawguy21]

  Go ahead, stir the pot.

[Texas Ranger]

Even a New Yawker woud not pass on shrimp and grits.

[newoodguy78]

21 are you familiar with the Mohawk Valley Produce Auction in Ft Plain NY? That’s something you and your wife might enjoy. It’s on Monday, Wednesday and Friday every week. With Wednesday typically being the biggest day. The man that runs it is old order Mennonite, he also does my agronomy work. Real nice guy and a heck of a grower himself.

Most but not all the producers selling there are either Amish or Mennonite. It’s really something to see the horses and mules hauling the stuff in on wagons.

Was out there early this summer, the quality of product and pride in presentation was incredible.

[Old Greenhorn]

Even a New Yawker woud not pass on shrimp and grits.

 Well, I think I might. Or just not eat much of the grits.  But I try to keep an open mind about other cultures food proclivities, no matter how weird I might find them.

[SwampDonkey]

I know in southern Ontario the Mennonites have a huge market and lots of it is bought up by grocery chains. A lot is sold auction style, in big lots. They and not the Amish in this area, have never yet organized into those type of markets. There is one local family that travels 100 miles to the city every weekend with cooking and produce on a small scale. That is the Boyce Market and not Mennonite run. Hard to see a profit with $200 of gas burnt hauling a little wagon. I do know all their stuff costs more than from anyone else. $6.50 for eggs for instance, $3-4 from anyone else. And they have no certification. Just 'natural', the consumer doesn't know the difference between 'certified organic grown'. They used to be certified organic but found out in a short time 'natural' gets the same sales. I know they are not certified because a list is kept by Ag Canada under the 'Safe Food for Canadians Act', and they removed themselves. So it is not rumour.

[Texas Ranger]

Even a New Yawker woud not pass on shrimp and grits.

Well, I think I might. Or just not eat much of the grits. But I try to keep an open mind about other cultures food proclivities, no matter how weird I might find them.

I suspect rice and gravy has the same effect, 

[kantuckid]

Isn't hominy just grits that doesn't know it?😁

It's dried hominy thats been ground up and yes we know what we eat down here!
 It is a true starchy comfort food, "cheesy grits" are a big meal staple at my house similar to Mac & Cheese with kids and adults. A big bowl will last us as a side dish sort of like mashed taters for several days-plus it's cheap and easily prepped. 
Far from weird food and a simplistic recipe a child cn make from the side of the Quaker Oats box.  More complex uses of grits I personnally like but my wife not as much as me. I do The Cajun version from Emerill Lagasse's kitchen with shrimp and lots of goodies in it. 
Our local Mennonites (women wear homemade clothes, men store bough mostly) now own a grocery and a market store (Female workers who a Mennonite male vans them to and from work) that also sells the common Amish staple goods that often come from OH or IN and PA. They own several Construction co, Excavation CO,  an overhead door co, a metal roofing Co and much more. Most all Amish here work at outside trades or farm. I'ver found them a nice group to work with but a few are less than friendly like us all. 

[kantuckid]

I know in southern Ontario the Mennonites have a huge market and lots of it is bought up by grocery chains. A lot is sold auction style, in big lots. They and not the Amish in this area, have never yet organized into those type of markets. There is one local family that travels 100 miles to the city every weekend with cooking and produce on a small scale. That is the Boyce Market and not Mennonite run. Hard to see a profit with $200 of gas burnt hauling a little wagon. I do know all their stuff costs more than from anyone else. $6.50 for eggs for instance, $3-4 from anyone else. And they have no certification. Just 'natural', the consumer doesn't know the difference between 'certified organic grown'. They used to be certified organic but found out in a short time 'natural' gets the same sales. I know they are not certified because a list is kept by Ag Canada under the 'Safe Food for Canadians Act', and they removed themselves. So it is not rumour.

Organic in the USA is an interesting topic. The man& wife I buy dates from in CA is not certified but does everything thats involved to be guv certified. It would cost him thousands of dollars each year to become official. Thats a common theme. 

[newoodguy78]

 

 It’s hard to tell but this one is the size of a basketball. Messed around this year putting cabbage on different soil types. Got a winner on this planting. 

[21incher]

Wow, that is beautiful.  Do you grow for storage or sell most of it fresh? 

[newoodguy78]

Thank you.  I enjoy growing the cabbage for some reason. The purple ones this time of year with the heavy dew in the morning is really pretty. Most are sold fresh. We are going to try storing some and see how they sell into the winter. Any tips on storage?

[21incher]

All I know  about  storage is when I first moved up here the guy nextdoor grew and stored cabbage.  He grew a special variety that was made for storage. Has about a 80 x 160 building with  a 20 ft ceiling that they would  stack thousands of what he called 2000 pound cabbage crates floor to rafters. Once sealed up it just had to be kept in the 30's and come St Patrick Day it all left in tractor trailers for distribution.  Only tip he gave me is nothing else in with it because most other storage veggies  release Co2 gas that will cause the cabbage to go bad early. The humidity also was monitored often.