Hello My Name is Tasty Book Signing + Recipe for Tasty Sauerkraut

We are thrilled to welcome local author Liz Crain to the market this weekend! Liz is an accomplished local author, and her latest book is a collaboration with chef John Gorham - Hello My Name is Tasty: Global Diner Favorites from Portland's Tasty Restaurants.

Liz will sampling Tasty Zuke Pickles at the market on Saturday, and will be selling and signing copies and answering questions! We can't wait to dive into this book, full of unique and interesting recipes.

In addition to being an author, Liz also organizes the Portland Fermentation Festival! This is a celebration of all things fermented (from kraut to kombucha) and it's always a super fun event. The festival takes place on Thursday, October 26th at Ecotrust from 6PM-9:30PM. ($10 tickets advance online, $12 cash day of, children 12 and younger get in for free). Tickets and info at www.portlandfermentationfestival.com!

Since Liz is a fermentation enthusiast, we thought it would be fitting to include a recipe for sauerkraut from the book. (Plus, have you seen the size of cabbages at the market lately?! It's kraut season!) Be sure to come say hi to Liz at the market on Saturday (10/21), she'll be selling and signing books from 10-12PM. And pick up some cabbage while you're at it and give this recipe a try!

TASTY SAUERKRAUT

(From "Hello My Name is Tasty")

Our kraut recipe comes from an old homebrew magazine from the seventies. We

shred the cabbage, salt it, mix it, and put it into food-grade buckets to ferment.

We go through a good deal of kraut at the Tasty restaurants, so we ferment in fiftygallon

buckets. If you make our kraut, be sure to start it at least ten days in advance.

MAKES 2 QUARTS

4 pounds cored, trimmed, and quartered green cabbage (about 2 small heads

weighing 5 pounds whole)

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt

1. Using a mandoline or a very sharp knife, cut the cabbage into ⅛-inch slices.

2. In a large bowl, using clean hands, toss the cabbage with the salt for 2 to

3 minutes. Squeeze the cabbage as you do; it should become watery and limp.

3. Pack the sauerkraut very tightly into a container large enough to fit 2 quarts with

at least a few inches of headspace—either a large, wide glass jar, stoneware crock,

or food-grade bucket—and push it down so that the cabbage is submerged under the

brine, and then top the cabbage with a clean plate or something else that’s nonporous

and fits inside your vessel. Top the plate with a plastic bag filled with enough water to

push the plate down onto the cabbage and seal any gaps. You want the fermenting

cabbage to be able to bubble and off-gas as it ferments, but you don’t want any air

in direct contact with it. The water-filled bag serves both purposes: it weighs down

the cabbage and seals all of the gaps of the vessel thereby keeping air out of and prohibiting any airborne molds from getting into the kraut. See Below the Brine (below) for additional explanation.

4. Ferment the sauerkraut at room temperature for about 2 weeks, checking on it every

day or so (wiping down the inside of the fermentation vessel with a clean towel if there

is any sort of buildup when you do so) and making sure that the cabbage is submerged

in the brine. If it is not, it can get moldy. The colder the temperature at which the kraut

ferments, the slower it ferments; also, the longer the kraut ferments, the more tart and

pungent it gets. I like the flavor and crunch of the kraut after 2 weeks, but sample it as

you go, and once it’s to your liking, lightly pasteurize it.

5. To lightly pasteurize the kraut, transfer it to a very large pot over medium-high heat

and cook, stirring it regularly, for about 5 minutes, or until it reaches 145 degrees F.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

6. The kraut can be used as soon as it’s cool. Store any leftovers still submerged in

the brine in a lidded glass container in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

BELOW THE BRINE

This type of lactic acid fermentation is anaerobic, meaning it doesn’t like air. With kimchi, sour pickles, and most fermented vegetables, you want to keep the ingredients below the brine, but you also must allow them to off-gas as they ferment. If there is no way for them to do so, the vessel that they are in can explode.

We like using a clean plate topped with a plastic bag filled with water the best. The vegetables can off-gas but nothing gets into the brine.

Or just go ahead and spend several hundred bucks at H-Mart and get yourself a temperature,

humidity, and UV-controlled kimchi refrigerator. In Korea, these are one of the most coveted household appliances.