Sauerkraut - uncomplicated dish, which causes to itself the most reverent attitude. Recipes for sauerkraut - innumerable.
Her fermented classically with salt or marinade, with the addition of spices and other products: mushrooms, apples, plums.
Very popular and original is the preparation of sauerkraut with beets.
This root crop gives the pickles a beautiful burgundy color, and also contributes to the unique vitamin cocktail, which is the finished dish.
The benefits of sauerkraut with beets
The product is famous for its large amount of vitamin C. It is one of the most unstable vitamins, but in an acidic environment it lasts a long time, up to eight months, subject to storage conditions.
Besides him, cabbage and beets contain others: a number of vitamins of group B, E, PP, K, H, U. About the latter, by the way, it was thought that it was only in cabbage, but later it turned out that it has beets. It accelerates wound healing, has anti-allergic actions.
In sauerkraut there is a solid set of mineral substances: phosphorus, potassium, sodium, calcium, zinc, sulfur, iodine, and others.
Beet contains a unique substance - betaine, which is not found in other fruits and vegetables. Betaine helps to digest proteins, normalizes liver function.Cranberries, which are also often used in cabbage starter recipes, are no less healthy.
Lactic acid bacteria that are responsible for fermentation, fight against the putrefactive bacteria that live in the intestines.
Due to this composition, sauerkraut with beet enhances immunity, cleanses the body, normalizes metabolism, reduces the amount of "bad" cholesterol, improves blood formation, and also has anti-tumor properties.
Naturally, due to the high acid content, it should be used in moderation.
The food is not recommended for people who have increased acidity of gastric juice for various reasons, there are gastritis and ulcers. Also, the product is contraindicated for hypertensive patients, people with diseases of the pancreas, suffering from renal failure and gallstones.
Cabbage, fermented with beets - a popular product, as evidenced by the number of recipes for its preparation. However, there are basics that need to be considered, regardless of the recipe.
As mentioned above, recipes for sauerkraut, there are many. The most popular with certainty can be called cabbage with apples or cranberries. Well, for beginners hostesses quite simple recipe for cabbage in brine.
Subtleties and secrets
When sour cabbage, you need to know a few simple secrets:
- For pickling cabbage, you need dishes and oppression, which are not oxidized. At home, it is a glass or enamel container;
- cabbage is needed late varieties, as it contains more sugar. It is he, fermenting with lactic acid bacteria, that causes the process of fermentation and the appearance of lactic acid;
- cabbage must be properly harvested and stored;
- frozen or frozen cabbage is not suitable for pickling;
- crushing the cabbage with salt, you do not need to exercise excessive zeal, otherwise the cabbage will be soft and not crispy;
- cabbage fermentation requires room temperature. If fermentation did not start in three days without fermentation, increase the weight of the yoke and add some salted water to the cabbage. For the same purpose (to speed up fermentation), a crust of rye bread is sometimes put on the bottom of a container, covering it with cabbage leaf from above;
- when fermentation begins, a gas with an unpleasant odor will form in the cabbage. It should be regularly released. For this purpose it is convenient to use a knitting needle, wooden or stainless steel - to pierce and turn the cabbage in several places;
- Store the product in the refrigerator, at a temperature of about 2 ° C, while ensuring that the cabbage is covered with brine. Without it, it loses its taste and vitamins.
At about the same time as the cabbage salted, the hostesses started pickling or salting the mushrooms. About what ways to do this exist and what is the whole process of this action, read the detailed article of our site:How to pickle mushrooms for the winter?
Before moving on to recipes, let me offer you useful tips on how to cook cabbage quickly, what ferment secrets exist, how to make sauerkraut crackles and recipes for cooking it in jars.
Recipes
Cabbage recipes are many, we will tell you a few of them, but the most delicious.
With garlic
For the preparation we need:
- cabbage - one large head of cabbage (about 3-3.5 kg);
- beets and carrots - 2 pieces of medium size;
- garlic - two medium heads;
- Vinegar (table, not essence) - 100 ml;
- sunflower oil - 100 ml;
- sugar - 100 g;
- salt - 1 full Art. spoon.
Cabbage cut as you like. Someone loves finely chopped, and some prefer large pieces.
The same applies to beets: grate, cut into cubes or plates. Grate carrots using a large grater, peel the garlic, cut the large cloves in half.
Put prepared vegetables in layers in the following order: cabbage, beetroot, carrot, garlic. The last layer should be cabbage.
Vegetable layers pour marinade, for which the remaining ingredients are combined with a liter of boiling water. Cabbage put under the yoke at room temperature. Fermentation usually takes 3-4 days.
Readiness can be checked for taste - if everything suits, then the product is sent to the refrigerator.
With spices
Take these ingredients:
- cabbage - 1 large head;
- beets - 2 pieces;
- Table vinegar - 100 ml;
- sugar - 100 g;
- salt - 1 tbsp. spoon;
- Spices: bay leaf, black pepper and sweet peas - to taste.
Cabbage and beets cut and mix. For the marinade boil a liter of water with spices, salt and sugar. Ten minutes to give the mixture to boil, then add vinegar and a minute later remove from heat. The resulting marinade pour the vegetables, mopped in a jar, put the oppression on top and leave to ferment.
With horseradish and garlic
Take:
- cabbage - 1 head;
- beets - 1 medium;
- garlic - 2 heads;
- horseradish - a small piece, about 30 grams;
- sugar - 3 spoons;
- salt - 1 tbsp. spoon.
Cabbage and beetroot chop, chop garlic, horseradish grate and mix everything. For the marinade, take a liter of water, dissolve sugar and salt in it, boil and cool slightly.
Vegetables pour warm brine, put pressure on them and leave to ferment.
Without salt
The peculiarity of this recipe is that lactic acid and the absence of salt will add a special taste to vegetables. It will take:
- cabbage - large head;
- beets - 1 medium size;
- carrots - 1 medium;
- onion - 1 onion;
- bay leaf, cumin, pepper - to taste.
Washed cabbage and beetroot cut, grate carrot, chop onion rings.
In a jar lay layers: cabbage, onion rings, carrots, pieces of beets, spices.
To finish the layers should cabbage. Put the laid and trapped vegetables in water, so that about 10 cm is left up to the top of the cabbage. Above weights, and in a warm place to ferment.
With pepper
It will take:
- cabbage - 1 large;
- beets - 2 medium;
- sweet peppers - 3 medium;
- citric acid powder - 1 spoon without top (table);
- garlic - 4-5 cloves;
- dill seed, bell pepper - to taste;
- salt - 1 tbsp. spoon.
Chop the vegetables, finely chop the garlic. Wash in a jar in layers so that the top was cabbage.
Boil water (about a liter), dissolve salt and citric acid in it and pour the cabbage so that the marinade does not reach its top by 10 cm. Put pressure on the top and remove for fermentation.
Of course, the given list of recipes does not contain even a hundredth part of those that were invented by inventive housewives, but based on them you can invent your own, adding new ingredients and spices.
Sauerkraut with beetroot is a healthy, beautiful and festive dish, it will decorate any table, will please any guest, will attract even naughty children with its appetizing appearance. To be or not to be such a product in the home bins - everyone decides for himself, but there are hardly many who can refuse!
