What to make with Sauerkraut leftovers...Vegan, Vegetarian, and Meat Eater Options

After WHOtoberfest, we had a grip of left over sauerkraut.  ( know that was last month, but it has taken awhile to figure out how to use all of it. So I came up with 3 ideas of what to use it up with and made them over the last few weeks. I hope one of my German readers will find this helpful.

OPTION 1

VEGAN OPTION - as long as your Sauerkraut is Vegan, of course
Pierogi (Potato and Mushroom Sauerkraut) with a little help

Ingredients

For the caramelized onions:

1/4 cup canola oil

2 pounds sweet onions (Vidalia or Walla Walla), diced medium

For the potato filling:

1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced, cut into 3/4-inch chunks

1/4 cup canola oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

For the mushroom sauerkraut filling:

4 tablespoons nonhydrogenated margarine (or 1/4 cup canola oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt)

10 ounces mushrooms, sliced (about 3 cups)

2 cups sauerkraut

1/4 teaspoon pepper

For the dough:

1 cup warm water

3 tablespoons canola oil

3 cups all-purpose flour, divided, plus a little extra for sprinkling

3/4 teaspoon salt

For serving:

Applesauce

Preparation

Make the Caramelized Onions
Preheat a heavy-bottomed skillet, preferably cast iron, over low heat. Add the oil and the onions and toss the onions to coat. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, leaving a little gap for steam to escape. Stir occasionally, every 5 minutes or so. Onions should turn amber, but not burn, although a couple of darker spots are fine.

Remove the cover and turn the heat up just a bit, to a medium setting. Stir often for 10 more minutes. Onions should become a darker amber, and some of the moisture should evaporate.

Make the Potato Filling
In a medium-size pot, cover potatoes in water. Place a lid on the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cook for about 20 more minutes or until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.

Meanwhile, in a large pan, sauté the onions in oil over medium heat for about 7 minutes. Turn the heat off but continue to stir occasionally because they could still burn from the hot pan. When the potatoes are done boiling, drain them well and add them to the pan with the onions. Just mash them right in there with a potato masher; that way you are sure to get all the oil, plus you save a dish. Add the salt and pepper. Make sure potatoes are mashed well and fluffy. Set aside to cool a bit.

Make the Mushroom Sauerkraut Filling
You know I don't usually advise cooking with margarine, but I really love it with the mushrooms here, I think because growing up the mushrooms I ate were really buttery. Anyway, this filling is really simple. In a large skillet, melt the margarine over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté for about 7 minutes, until the mushrooms are soft.

Before adding the sauerkraut to the pan, give it a squeeze over the sink to get out as much water as you can. It's important to do this so that your pierogi don't get all wet. You'll need to add the sauerkraut to the pan a cup at a time. Add to the pan and cook for about 10 minutes, cooking out any excess water. Season with the pepper. The filling shouldn't look dry (a small amount of water is okay), but you shouldn't be able to slosh around in it in rain boots.

Make the Dough
This is really the brunt of the work in this recipe. If you're like me, you have limited counter space and so rolling out dough can be a hassle. I make the dough last because the mess becomes much more manageable when you don't have to prep on the counter afterwards. It also gives your filling some time to cool. So make sure you clean up after your filling making and get someone to do the dishes for you. I find that a serene counter makes all the difference in dough making.

Pour the water and oil into a large bowl. Add 2 cups of the flour and the salt, keeping one cup aside. Use a fork to stir the flour in, and as it starts to come together, use your hands to knead until a loose dough forms (about 3 minutes).

Cutting the Dough Circles
Sprinkle your counter with flour, then turn the dough out onto it and knead. Add the reserved cup of flour a little bit at a time, working it into the dough, until it is very smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If it's too sticky, you can add a little bit more fl our and knead it in, sometimes up to 1/4 cup extra. Conversely, if you get a good-feeling, smooth, elastic dough with less than the extra cup of fl our, then that's okay, too.

Now we roll the dough out, and also bring a salted pot of water to boil—the largest pot you've got—for boiling the pierogi.

Divide the dough in half and make sure your counter is clean and sprinkled with a dusting of flour to prevent sticking. Roll half the dough out to about 1/16 of an inch thick, which is to say, very thin but not see-through. I roll it into an 18 x 10-inch rectangle, but as long as you have the thinness going, the shape doesn't matter so much. Sprinkle the top with a light dusting of flour.

Using a 3-inch (7 ½ cm) round cookie cutter (they can be made larger if you like) carefully cut out circles, trying not to deform the circles of dough too much, although this dough is easy to work with and “correctable”. I lifted up the circles, 2 or 3 at a time, and made sure they were on a floured section of the table before trying to fill and fold. With floured fingertips, I tapped each circle a bit to stretch out the circle.
Constructing and Cooking the Peirogies
Place a mounded teaspoon of filling just off of the center of each round of dough.

Now, gently pull the wider half over the mound of filling and place the side edge-to-edge with the side with the dough. Nith the edges matching/meeting, just press with the side of your floured index finger, pulling the dough and pressing to seal. The edge should be a bit less than a finger’s-width. This will also keep the edge from being too thick. Be very careful not to rip the dough covering the filling.

As you form the pieorgi, 1, 2 or at the most 3 at a time, place them on a floured or lined and floured plate or baking sheet until you are ready to cook.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once it is boiling, lower a bit to a healthy simmer and drop in the pieorgi just 6 or 7 at a time (they shouldn’t crowd or overlap in the pan). Allow to cook for 6 to 7 minutes. They should float to the top and, when lifted out with a slotted spoon, should look puffy. Cook the rest in batches. Place on towels to drain.

To fry, simply heat olive oil or a mixture of butter and olive oil in a skillet and fry the pierogi for a few minutes per side, in batches, again, not overcrowding. They should be golden on each side.

A filling of tasty-savory-ness

While this appears to be a lot of work, remember that this is for left over sauerkraut. I already have caramelized onions in my sauerkraut so I skipped a few steps. I mashed a couple potatoes, sauteed some mushrooms, combined 'taters and 'shrooms with the onions and kraut, and then prepped some dough.

hmm golden browness...

These turned out VERY Nicely. while I wish that I could have stuffed with them with more deliciousness, I was happy with how they came out as were all the people at the Halloween Poker Party. I made their kitchen a bit smoky unfortunately (I am not use to the electric stove top), but the food was yummy enough that I was forgiven. I would say that I thought these were a little more work than I prefer to give, but they were worth it.

OPTION 2

VEGETARIAN OPTION  - as long as your Sauerkraut is Vegetarian, of course

Fried Sauerkraut Cakes <Optional with Kielbasa>

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fried-Sauerkraut-Cakes-with-Kielbasa-231486

Ingredients

1 (1-pound) package sauerkraut (not canned), rinsed and drained well (2 3/4 cups)

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup chopped scallion greens

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 to 3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 pound smoked beef and pork kielbasa, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices <For NonVegetarians>

Accompaniment: warm applesauce

Preparation

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Pat sauerkraut dry between paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible, then transfer to a bowl and stir in eggs, flour, scallion greens, salt, and pepper until combined.

Heat 1/4 inch oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Fill a 1/4-cup measure three-fourths full with sauerkraut mixture, then turn out into oil, using a fork to release, and flatten to 3 1/2 inches in diameter with fork. Form 2 more cakes in skillet, then fry, turning over once, until golden, about 4 minutes total. Transfer cakes with a slotted spatula to paper towels to drain. Keep cakes warm on a rack set in a shallow baking pan in oven. Fry more cakes in same manner with remaining mixture.

Brown kielbasa in 2 batches in oil remaining in skillet over moderate heat, turning, 2 minutes per batch, then transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve cakes topped with kielbasa.

Fry up!

Not a GREAT photo...

I was very on the fence of if this was going to be good or not. Even though I already know that I like my sauerkraut with the addition of apples and bacon, I was worried about the moisture level etc. Fortunately, they were perfect. I had to add a little extra flour to soak up the moisture, and had to be rather gentle with the flipping as I didn't want to break them. I garnished it with applesauce (and sour cream, if I had had some). I HIGHLY suggest these as a leftover sauerkraut option, both easy and yummy.

OPTION 3

MEAT EATERS OPTION
Reuben Sandwiches
This is pretty simple an rather obvious option:

Toasted Rye Bread
Leftover Sauerkraut
Sliced Swiss Cheese
Thousand Island Dressing

I don't like Rye Bread so we got a nice sourdough instead. Also, there is no reason for us to own a bottle of Thousand Island Dressing, but I lucked out by a couple co workers going to In and Out and I asked them to grab a couple pack of extra sauce (which is pretty much Thousand Island Dressing).

This sandwich was perfect to welcome Husband home from a long day at work with a beer, strawberries, and Arrow. This is a "duh" option for using up left over Sauerkraut.

Until the next amountage of leftovers needs to be used up...