It seems the East Coast is catching a whiff of our krauts!  In her “Bits and Bites: News You Can Eat” column this past Saturday, WSJ food writer Charlotte Druckmann shared a few of her winter pantry favorites:

You might also want try melting a mild cheese like fontina on a crusty slice of  rye and topping it with the Apple Fennel Kraut- add a glass of crisp sauvignon blanc and you’ve got yourself a winter picnic by the fire. Cheers!

Set to debut February 1, 2012, our new Cauliflower Curry Kraut is rich and packed with loads of exotic flavor. A couple of weeks ago I paired it with my favorite Coconut Cream Dal (Deborah Madison’s recipe from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone). The acidity of the krauts brightens the aromatics in the dal and the combination is slightly intoxicating. Here the dish is topped with chicken sausage- pretty good but I think next time I’ll top the same combo with fried tofu. Will keep you posted…

Ok, this isn’t really a recipe. We all know how to grill our favorite dogs or sausage and set them atop a plate of chunky mashed potatoes but had it crossed your mind to add a few heaping spoonfuls of Garlic Dill Pickle Kraut? Add a dollop of your favorite mustard and we’re talking true comfort food.

Photos courtesy of Dad- thanks!

Happy New Year! We’re feeling like proud parents around the kitchen these days. Our first born ferment and customer favorite, the Smoked Jalapeño Kraut is all grown up and a finalist in the 2012 Good Food Awards.

If you haven’t already heard, the Good Food Awards are organized by a host of food loving, community building, sustainability promoting activists and is the brain child of Seedling Projects. This, from their website, sums up the event:

How long have we dreamed of such an event?

This Friday January 13^th, seventy one winners will be announced (by Alice Waters no less) across eight categories: Beer, Charcuterie, Cheese, Chocolate, Coffee, Pickles, Preserves, and Spirits at a shin dig in San Francisco. Ruth Reichel (former editor of, I cried when it closed, the best food magazine of all time, “Gourmet”) will be presenting awards. If I’m lucky, I’ll get to shake her hand.

It’s funny and a little surreal to think about the path to this place. The first kiss of real kraut in Germany in 1995. My decision in 2008 to stop fighting the bad guys and start a business creating “good foods”. A farmer’s innocent question about smoked jalapeños to the aha moment in my neighbors kitchen – followed by lots of jumping up and down when I realized my kraut experiment had merit. Then to Slow Food Nation where during the course of three days we handed out 8,000 samples and sold 1,000 pound of the stuff-whew! Three years later, thousands of folks regularly eat the Smoked Jalapeño Kraut on their eggs in their morning or their grilled quesadilla at night. And now this – to have the good fortune on Friday the 13^th to be considered for a Good Food Award. All grown up indeed. Many thanks to all of you for your willingness to play along- keep your fingers crossed…

Cheers, Kathryn

Counter Culture

Meet the NEW GENERATION of sauerkraut. It’s naturally fermented, it comes in audacious flavors, and it isn’t just for dogs.

KATHRYN LUKAS FOUNDED Farmhouse Culture, a small organic sauerkraut business, in Santa Cruz, California. Appropriately enough, the city is halfway between two world bastions of fermented cabbage — Munich, Germany, and Seoul, South Korea — both culinary muses for Lukas.

By Sara Dickerman Photographs by Todd Coleman

WHEN I WAS A KID, every pickle my father ate was a bit of a disappointment. Dad, who grew up in the 1930s and ’40s in the Bronx, New York, remembered plucking kosher sours out of barrels filled with cloudy brine — “Now those were pickles!” he’d tell us.

Makes two hearty sandwiches

4 slices sourdough bread
8 slices of good quality sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup cup Smoked Jalapeño Sauerkraut, *drained
Butter for grilling

Set your skillet on medium heat. Lightly butter each slice of bread on one side and lay two slices in skillet. Top each slice with 2 pieces cheese, 1/2 cup of sauerkraut and two more pieces of cheese. Top each slice with remaining slice of buttered bread. Toast over medium heat on both sides until browned and crisp, about 3 minutes on each side. Let rest for 2 minutes before cutting in half and serving.

*drink the reserved kraut juice as a probiotic health elixir or save to use in salsas, sauces and marinades.

Soon to be your favorite side dish or potluck salad, this combination of ingredients is a don’t miss. The olive oil mellows the acidity of the kraut while lending an enticing silkiness to the texture. A good customer from the Sunnyvale Farmers market shared the basics with me a couple of years ago. An Israeli citizen of Polish descent, said this was a fairly typical side dish on her family’s table.

The simple recipe below is my rendition but try experimenting with different raw ingredients, like cucumber, sprouts or radishes . Serves 6

1 lb Classic Kraut with Caraway
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup chopped green onions
1/2 to 2/3 cup good quality California olive oil

Toss all ingredients together and serve as a side salad. Will keep for several weeks in the frig- really.

Kraut is surprisingly good in stuffing. The acidity brightens the other flavors and the added texture is a welcome addition. I developed this recipe a couple of years ago on a whim and was just thrilled with the results. You can use any of our krauts but I like Classic and Apple Fennel best.

Makes 11 cups
1 medium onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 lb sauerkraut, chopped
3 T butter
1 ¼ cups vegetable, turkey or chicken broth
1 large egg
1 lb Beckmanns stuffing mix
Salt to taste

Heat 2T butter in skillet over medium heat. When foaming subsides, add onion and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened 7 to 9 minutes. Add ¾ cup broth and bring to a simmer. Stir in sauerkraut (including all juice) and remove from heat. Add vegetable mixture to stuffing mix and toss to combine.

Generously butter a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with remaining tablespoon butter.

In medium bowl, whisk egg and remaining 1/2 cup broth together. Add egg/broth mixture and gently toss with stuffing mix to combine. Salt to taste. Transfer to baking dish, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and place baking dish on rimmed baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees on lower-middle rack for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes or until top is brown and crispy. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Notes to Cook

“The D.I.Y. movement has never tasted (or looked) better. As these participants in the Eat Real Festival in Oakland, Calif., can attest, all you need is a Mason jar, your friends and a very sharp knife.”

Krauters & Picklers

Kathryn Lukas, Farmhouse Culture; Jordan and Todd Champagne, Happy Girl Kitchen Co.; Michelle Fuerst, Montalvo Culinary Fellow
Credit: Lucas Foglia for The New York Times