Have you tried any new recipes or products lately that you enjoy? Or maybe you tried something new and it was a big disappointment (I really hate wasting ingredients on something that turns out nasty tasting.) Let's talk. I recently bought a jar of this stuff, Hengstenberg Traditional Red Cabbage with Apple. It's a product of Germany and actually very tasty. It has a nice tang but a bit of sweetness, and I like it best served cold as a condiment on the side with pork, or as a salad. It can also be heated but I haven't served it that way. I give this a thumbs-up.
I got a recipe for stuffed peppers via email from Thermoworks (the folks who make the insta-read thermometers.) I posted about it elsewhere...the spices are cumin, turmeric and smoked paprika. The stuffing has walnuts and golden raisins. And the sauce is nothing but tomato juice. Like many foods, it was way better the next day. It was very good. I'll have to try that red cabbage. Was that a Kroger find?
The big fancy Kroger nearest Charlottesville does not carry any of their products, and the smaller ones I shop at has a couple of their jarred cabbages/sauerkraut, but not this one. Neither Walmart nor Food Lion stock any of the brand. Looks like a www item for me. Such is the downside of rural Virginia.
Yeh, it's gonna have to be online. I looked at a Kroger I sometimes shop at when I have doctor appointments in our state capital, and they don't carry it, either.
I made that last year. It is good and adds color to the plate. It is like canning pickles, you don't have to worry about botulism if you want to try.
I read about making sauerkraut once, and it seems you need to find the right temp to let it ferment, and you have to scrape mold off of the top. Without someone experienced to guide me, I'd poison myself.
@Yvonne Smith makes it all the time. A number of years ago I was going through a walk-in to take the monthly inventory and found a bag of shredded cabbage for slaw that had somehow escaped from the case and had slipped back behind everything. The cabbage had obviously gone bad so I took the sealed bag to the dish rack to dispose of the contents and when I opened it the very distinct smell of sauerkraut came forth. I tasted it then took it aside and drained the liquid and then added a touch of vinegar and a bit of sugar and cayenne and that was the very last day the restaurant bought sauerkraut. No more throwing away the unused bags of cabbage because the contents started to turn milky. We simply set them aside and in a couple of weeks we could then strain, season and serve.
We’ve been having troubles lately with assorted items. Twice within the past two we have gotten Medjool dates that have had black mold inside some of them. Last night I went to open a jar of salsa and the damn thing newly exploded, my wife came hurrying into the kitchen asking what happened. It still smelled OK but no way I was going to eat it after that.
I was just thinking that I mostly tried different things by browsing the discount/discontinued bins in the grocery store. I've not done that so much lately because my local Walmart does not have such areas, and I've not encountered them when I go shopping at Kroger in the big city. Food Lion has such an area, but they don't discount the stuff. The stores where I lived before seemed to have more of this kind of stuff, discounted deeper. That being said, when Walmart was doing a massive reorg of its grocery section a few years ago, they marked a bunch of discontinued stuff down to $1 just to get rid of it (because there is no permanent Discount area where it can sit.) I happened to be there at the right time. I hung around for quite a while as products were yanked from the shelves, waiting to see what I could get for a buck. I got bottles of $20 olive oil for only $1 each. I also picked up a couple of grinder bottles of smoked sea salt. These are really really good. I put them on meat, and sometimes on veggies. Just a little bit before frying really adds flavor to pork chops. I'll grind a touch of it on Brussels sprouts after adding butter. I don't go through a lot of it, but when these are empty, I'll be replenishing the supply.
I have a quart fermenting right now. It was started on 1/14/23 and has no mold on top whatsoever. The trick is to keep the cabbage well below the brine.
I don't buy as many new things at the grocery store since I shop online and have things delivered. I suppose I need to break down and start shopping in person again to see what I'm missing. A couple of years ago I discovered these cream-of-whatever soups from HEB and tried them (for use in sauces). They are pretty good as a change from mushroom but I haven't bought them since. I don't do a lot of cooking with soups but occasionally it comes in handy.