Krautnik Recipes

Steps:

• 1. FOR THE CABBAGE: Core the cabbage. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and boil whole head of cabbage until leaves start to pull away from core. Remove cabbage and SAVE THE WATER that it was boiled in. Let cabbage cool. Carefully remove the leaves until you get closer to the core with the white cabbage leaves. These are too hard to stuff, so chop them up to add to the pot later. With the reserved leaves, cut off the hard veins with a paring knife before stuffing leaves with the meat mixture.
• 2. FOR THE FILLING: Combine rice,beef,pork, salt, pepper,parsley,garlic powder and paprika. Mix very well. Put aside.
• 3. Stuff the cabbage leaves with meat filling. If you have left over meat filling, simply form them into balls. For an even easier version, make balls from the meat mixture and add cut up cabbage without stuffing them at all.
• 4. LAYER INTO POT AS FOLLOWS; A thin layer of the cabbage water 1/2 of the Cut up cabbage 1/2 of the Sauerkraut cabbage rolls and balls remaining 1/2 of the cabbage remaining 1/2 of the Sauerkraut Add saved water from boiling the cabbage to just cover the top.
• 5. Bring to a boil,covered, and then simmer on low, covered for at least 3 hours. This step can be done a day ahead, cool it down, and refrigerate until almost ready to serve. The flavor is better and more developed if you plan to serve it the next day. Regardless of time, continue with the next step.
• 6. Mix some cold left over water from the boiled cabbage and the cornstarch. Add this to the big pot of stuffed cabbage and balls. When almost ready to serve, warm up again. This will thicken the broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer until thickened.
• 7. Serve with a big dollop of sour cream. Yummmm

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients together, gently so as not to break the dumplings if using them.
• Spray 9x13 casserole dish.
• Bake in preheated 350°F oven for approximately 50 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
• To speed this up, I would cook on medium power in microwave for 20 minutes and then add the dumplings for the last 20 minutes in the traditional oven. If not using dumplings, serve with dinner rolls and tossed green salad.

Steps:

• Crack the cardamom seeds and nutmeg with a heavy skillet on a cutting board. Toss them into a saucepan with the caraway seed, cloves, allspice berries, cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, saffron, ginger, turmeric, orange zest and lemon zest. Pour in the water, and bring to a boil. Cover, and simmer until the liquid is reduced by 1/2. Strain out spices, and set the liquid aside.
• Pour honey into a large pot, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Skim off any foam from the top. Stir in the strained liquid from the spices and vanilla extract. Remove from heat and place far from the stove to avoid any flare-ups from the grain alcohol. Slowly stir in the grain alcohol. Place the pot back onto the burner over low heat and cover. Heat through, being careful not to boil or even simmer. Remove from heat and let stand overnight with the lid on.
• The following day, pour the liquid into sterile bottles, seal, and allow to settle for 2 weeks. The longer you let it sit, the clearer it will become and the better it tastes. Serve warm.