Recipes
Believe it or not, there are endless ways to enjoy sauerkraut. Just last week I heard reports of Holy Smokes paired with Tuna in a sandwich. Yikes! She swears it’s delicious. Perhaps even stranger was my Holy Smokes Thanksgiving stuffing last year—everyone raved.
We’d love to hear from you. Do you have a favorite family recipe? What’s your favorite way to eat kraut? Send us your recipes and we'll post them here!
Recipe of the Week
Apple a Day Kraut and Guanciale Crouton - Submitted by Joel Peach
Perfect as a mid-day snack or an hors d'oeuvre for entertaining guests. This simple plate combines the delicately sour, seasonal flavors of Farmhouse Culture's apple and fennel sauerkraut with savory salt-cured pork jowl and rich, melted fontina cheese.
Guanciale is available locally from Fatted Calf and Bi-Rite, though you can easily substitute pancetta or prosciutto. Great sourdough is available locally from Acme Bakery.
- 1/2 quart Farmhouse Culture Apple a Day sauerkraut
- 4 1/2-inch slices of sourdough bread
- 8 thin slices guanciale
- 2 oz. fontina cheese sliced into thin strips or grated
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 small tomato, finely diced
Set a skillet over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, add the guanciale slices and allow the fat to melt out and meat to sear slightly. Remove from skillet.
Turn the heat to medium low and set sliced bread on top of the rendered fat in the skillet to toast. Flip once and when bread is toasted to your liking, remove.
Add the sauerkraut to the skillet and cook approximately 5 minutes until the sauerkraut is heated through.
Assemble by setting a portion of sauerkraut on each bread slice. Next, divide the crisp guanciale and layer it atop the sauerkraut. Add a few slices/shreds of the fontina cheese to the top of each piece and crack fresh pepper.
Put the topped bread on a baking sheet and finish by placing under a broiler until the cheese melts. Remove from broiler, garnish with diced tomatoes and serve.
(Serves 4)
Other Suggestions
Classic:
• With a hot dog (with or without meat), bratwurst or any type of sausage
• On a pastrami sandwich.
• With a hunk of aged cheddar, a slice of sourdough rye bread and a glass of sauvignon blanc (a weekly supper in my home).
• Try classic kraut tossed with a little olive oil and serve it as side salad. An Israeli dish, suggested by an enthusiastic customer at the Sunnyvale farmer’s market. It’s really good.
• Choucroute Garni - Alsatian comfort food. Lots of smoked meats, pork chops, potatoes and sauerkraut combined casserole style. Check it out on wikipedia:
Apple a Day:
• My favorite way to eat Apple a Day is on rye, grilled with fontina cheese but any mild, melty cheese will do.
• Apple a Day pairs beautifully with pork chops. One customer pan roasts his chops a few minutes on each side then tops with Apple a Day and finishes the dish in the oven. The juice tenderizes the chop.
• Chicken sausage is a natural with Apple a Day
• Simply toss Apple a Day into a salad. It adds tang, crunch and good for you nutrients.
Holy Smokes:
• Inspired by an El Salvadoran ferment, Holy Smokes is excellent on California-Mexican food. Try it in a burrito, on a taco or nachos or my favorite- on a quesadilla.
• On sourdough grilled with sharp cheddar.
Final Note: It’s true that when you heat fresh sauerkraut, it loses it many of it’s health benefits. Probiotic enzymes and vitamin C are especially sensitive to heat and that’s why pasteurized sauerkrauts are nutritionally inferior. The key is gentle heat, as with Miso- under 120F is a good rule. This is easy to do on grilled cheese by not leaving the sandwich too long in the pan and by waiting until the last minute to put kraut into a soup or casserole. In some of the traditional recipes like Choucroute Garni, there doesn't seem to be a way to avoid the loss but you do gain exceptional flavor and tenderness. And who knows- maybe nourishing the soul with comfort food is just as important to good health as vitamins and enzymes.
