Sauerkraut and Beans

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Mom Marvels at Homemade Kraut
We used all my homemade sauerkraut–three heads of cabbage worth–in one holiday meal. The Ruthenian Christmas Eve feast features 12 meatless dishes. My mom used the kraut in a folded pizza dough creation known as pagachi in the Carpathian Mountains. I don’t know the name of the other traditional dish– sauerkraut cooked with roux and blended with kidney beans (chime in you Slavic speakers). Mom used to mix bottled kraut and canned beans to make it and no one at my house was very fond of it. But this year we made it with homemade kraut and dried kidneys cooked overnight in a crockpot with garlic. There were hardly any leftovers.

The 10-liter Harsch Kraut Crock
My first attempt at making sauerkraut was a success. It took two weeks to ferment, but it was ridiculously easy (and extremely fragrant). The kraut had a great crisp texture, but it was a little too salty. In the future, I will rinse it thoroughly before cooking it.

I asked Santa for a Harsch Fermenting Crock for Christmas, but the old man must be getting deaf. So it looks like I may have to go buy one myself. I am trying to decide between the 7.5 and the 10 liter size.

4 thoughts on “Sauerkraut and Beans”

  1. Dan

    I have the 5 L version of the crock. Be aware, even that one is large – bigger than my biggest stock pot, and pretty heavy. You can fit three heads in it if you press really hard.

    But it is a beautiful thing. The quality is great, you will love it.

  2. robbwalsh Post author

    I am thinking I want the 7.5 so I can make the kraut and can it. It would probably hold one hell of a lot of pickles.

  3. Dragana

    I have never heard of this machine before – sounds very convenient!
    The dish you’re thinking of is ‘Kupus i Grah’ (sauerkraut and beans) It is a poor man’s dish and is cooked in certain parts of the former Yugoslavia and with many Slavs in the US. It is also served during lent.
    My family is from Belgrade and we never mixed sauerkraut and beans together. A popular dish ‘podvarak’ is sauerkraut cooked with smoked pork. ‘Prebranac’ is a dish of beans (usually large white beans), cooked with lots of caramelized onions and paprika.
    If you have any whole sour cabbage leaves, here’s my parents’ stuffed cabbage recipe: http://bit.lycSu9Hu

  4. Robert Strangways Jr.

    In polish cooking the kraut can be used to stuff pierogi then boiled and the fried in butter with onions and the kraut also is mixed with yellow split peas and onions and potatoes for Kapusta. Love to know that all of us eastern europeans keep with our heritage through food

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