Zelniky (Saurkraut Crackers)
By Monica on November 11th, 2008
I found this fun little gem over on Recipezaar, and it turned out to be a super easy, fun, delicious item I fully plan to incorporate into Thanksgiving. The saurkraut taste is pretty subtle so just wipe that idea of a nasty cabbage-cracker right out of your mind!
Zelniky - Czech Saurkraut Crackers
3C flour
1t white pepper
3/4 cup vegan margarine
2C saurkraut, drained
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease two baking sheets and set aside. Combine the flour and white pepper in a food processor, add the shortening, and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the sauerkraut and pulse until the dough starts to form a ball.
Pinch off tablespoon-sized pieces of dough, roll each piece into a ball, and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten the balls with the bottom of a drinking glass to about a 1/4-inch thickness.
Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more, or until the crackers are golden brown and crisp.
And for the grand finale I topped them with some cranberry-horseradish, a little more saurkraut, and very thin slices of Julie Hasson’s sausages. Perfect little vegan fall-themed hors d’oeuvres!
Lastly, before I attempt to catch up on all of your blogs which I am shamefully behind on, I’ve been tagged by the lovely Eat A Vegan!
Four Places I Go Over and Over:
1. Las Vegas. I am a big fan of traveling to new places each vacation, but I still feel the need for a quick weekend in Las Vegas about once per year.
2. Little Village. This is the neighborhood the PAWS Chicago spay-neuter clinic is located in, so I spend a few days a month there waiting for my feral cats to be snipped. It’s home to a number of special landmarks to me including the cemeteries where most of my ancestors lay, 2 homes my great grandfather built that are still standing, 2 apartments my great grandmother rented that are still rentals, Vesecky’s Czech Bakery (who makes the best rye bread anywhere), and a number of amazing Czech restaurants that I can’t eat at!
3. My super secret, undisclosed, favorite thrift store. Last week I scored a brand new soy milk maker for $4.
4. “The barn” - to see my horse, of course!
Four People Who E-mail Me Regularly
1. Ray
2. An innumerable number of animal welfare outfits, I swear some of them must have a staff of thousands just writing emails all day long soliciting money. (I’m looking at you, Ingrid Newkirk…)
3. My brother, stealer of my ice cream maker.
4. Jellybean - a dear friend I’m slowly converting into both a vegetarian, and a crazy cat lady.
Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now
1. Prague.
2. At home, snuggled up on the couch with a host of warm, furry cats & dogs and a big blanket, watching a horror movie or reading any number of books I’m behind on.
3. Aboard the Steve Irwin, with Sea Shepherd, about to head into Antarctic waters. Too bad I require copious amounts of Dramamine to even look at a boat…
4. Oh geez, any number of places on my must-see travel list that I haven’t made it to yet: Greenland, Kenya, Greece, even Antarctica is on my list!
Four of My Favorite Places to Eat
1. The Chicago Diner - a no brainer!
2. Eduardo’s in Dekalb, IL. One of the very few local places that knows what vegan means, and can make any item on their menu with TVP chicken instead.
3. Fressen, Toronto. No explanation necessary!
4. Weird Fish, San Francisco.
Four TV Shows I Watch Over and Over
1. 90210, and not that awful new remake either. It’s my guilty pleasure, leave me alone! This is the only series I will watch re-runs of, making it extra special, and extra annoying to my husband.
2. Good Eats. Despite Alton’s love affair with eating carcass, I still find a lot to be learned in even the meat-centric shows.
3. Anything with Gordon Ramsay. I realize he’s a giant ass, but I’m willing to overlook that due to the extremely high entertainment value of watching him scream strange British obscenities at some unfortunate victim.
4. All the Charlie Brown holiday specials, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and anything featuring a Muppet. Despite denouncing Christmas, and despite having all of these on DVD, I must still watch them on TV every season for authenticity.
Four People I’m Tagging!
1. Virginia - Bananas & Soymilk
2. Monika - Dabbles with Apples
3. Liz - Kamutflake Girl
VeggieGirl says:
Intriguing recipe!!
LOVE THE MEME!! I too go to Las Vegas a lot, and loooove watching “Good Eats” and those holiday specials; and Gordon Ramsay is a guilty pleasure, haha
November 11th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Jes says:
Interesting idea! I’ve never made any sauerkraut or anything using it before, but I think crackers would be an easy way to start. And they do look perfect for holiday hors d’oeuvres.
Great meme–yes yes yes for Charlie Brown Christmas specials!
November 11th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
JanScholl says:
(I’m looking at you, Ingrid Newkirk…)
Hey that woman is the reason (along with the republican party) why I no longer plug in my home phone. I need the phone line for DSL otherwise it would be gone. I decided to support only local non-profit animal charities after seeing how many snail mail solicitations PETA sent out. Sickening. Then somehow she got my unlisted phone number! Knew me by name! phone is not in my name. Woman pisses me off.
Go local in donating and eating!
November 12th, 2008 at 12:14 am
Shellyfish says:
These cracks sound really fun - I live the hors h’oeuvre idea!
You found a soymilk maker for 4 freaking dollars??? I’m trying to convience my husband we need one, but they are SOOO expensive here. You rule!
November 12th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Agnesss =)) says:
Heyy!!
Thx for commenting on my blog!! =)))
Ohhh these crackers are AMAZZZING!!!!!
And well…yeah …PRAGUE is a BEAUTIFUL CITY…=DD
Hope you’re enjoying your time!!
Pls visit me again onm y blog!! I’d be soo happy!! =)))
November 12th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
ChocolateCoveredVegan says:
As someone who loves Saurkraut (especially now that I’ve learned how to spell it!), this recipe sounds great to me.
Also, I definitely do not want to go with you to Antarctica! But I’d be happy to come over for a Chalie Brown marathon!
November 12th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
eatavegan says:
I hear ya on Prague — top of my list of places to get to VERY soon! Thanks for the inspiration — now I totally want to make my own crackers!
November 13th, 2008 at 1:44 am
jessy says:
oooooo! sauerkraut is one of my faaaavorites! i super love it sooo very much! these crackers sound too awesome! i want to put little slices of roasted potatoes, some scallions, and maybe a “cream” sauce of some sort on top of them! soooo awesome! the cranberry-horseradish sounds freak’n amazing, too! i’m gonna have to do some recipe finding! mmmmmmmmm!
and you got a brand new soymilk maker for 4 bucks?! awesome!
November 13th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Tori says:
mmm. Those look great! They look so crispy!
November 13th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Happy Herbivore says:
oh man, now that you mention it, I wish I was in Prague. I miss it!
November 13th, 2008 at 10:36 am
vegetalion says:
what an awesome receipe! I had sauerkraut bread recently, and have been wondering what else I can incorporate the cabbagey goodness into… now I know!
November 13th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
jenn says:
That recipe looks fantastic - I think I have to try it. I just brought home a head of cabbage to make some curtido, but I could just make sauerkraut and then make the crackers.
True story - when I came to this page, the title has strikethrough and so does my name on the list of taggees….
I’m going to answer here because I’m shy about putting memes on my own blog.
Four Places I Go Over and Over:
1. Yosemite
2. Hwy 395 Corridor (hot springs!)
3. Russian River
4. Home!
Four People Who E-mail Me Regularly
1. My sweetie who is depressed and trying to break up with me so not so much e-mailing with me right now.
2. Too many spammers.
3. BA Veg newsletter.
4. mailbox is pretty slow these days - not a lot of regular correspondents. Seems to be a lot more Facebook and in person stuff.
Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now
1. the gym
2. in a hot tub
3. on a massage tble
4. Kauai
Four of My Favorite Places to Eat
1. home
2. sweetie’s house when he makes vegan Japanese
3. Millennium Restaurant
4. Cha-Ya vegan Japanese (prefer Berkeley to SF location)
November 14th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Tofufreak says:
saurkraut crackers look awesome! especially when paired with the sausages and stuffs
November 15th, 2008 at 7:21 am
sheree says:
How fun! Those crackers look awesome! I love reading interesting facts about my bloggin buddies.
November 15th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
jenn says:
PS - I realized I left off the TV question but…. I don’t watch tv.
November 16th, 2008 at 1:10 am
Maureen says:
Fressen is great! But portions are a little small. I see we share the same passion for travel, although I’ve never been to Las Vegas. i don’t really like saurkraut but I applaud your food-making skills! Everything looks great!
November 16th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Joanna says:
those crackers look so darn good!! i’m german, so i’ve always been surrounded by saurkraut. my dad would go nuts of these.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Jackie says:
I spend a lot of time at RecipeZaar as they have the most amazing recipes there. The sauerkraut crackers sound so different but worth a try.
Aboard the Steve Irwin, with Sea Shepherd, about to head into Antarctic waters. Just where I would love to be as well but my being ancient now would probably be a major problem which they wouldn’t need
November 18th, 2008 at 3:13 am
vegancowgirl says:
Love the sausages. I never EVER would have thought to tackle this recipe. You rock.
November 18th, 2008 at 3:27 am
Mihl says:
These crackers sound like a lot of fun! I live so close to Prague, come and visit me
November 18th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Stacey says:
Awesome recipe! I’ll have to try that real soon! I dig your blog!
November 21st, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Liz² says:
ha, prague and thrift stores and barns, I love it! and thanks for the tag… I suppose I have to do this now, eh?
November 25th, 2008 at 4:19 am
Alisa says:
I live in LV, and am curious if you have found any dining gems on your annual visits?
December 8th, 2008 at 1:47 pm