[Magdalen] Sauerkraut.

[Brian Reid]

Here's a non-fried recipe:

   http://recepty.vareni.cz/fantasticke-zelnaky/


Here's the classic, fried in oil:

   http://www.toprecepty.cz/recept/5911-zelnaky/


Google is not MY friend, so I translated these myself.

Here is the classic fried zelnaky recipe in English, as I make them.

2 cups sauerkraut
1/2 lb sausage
2 eggs
some flour (Brian recommends about 1/2 cup)
some salt (I see no need to add this, given how much salt is in the 
other ingredients)
some cumin  (I've used 1/2 tsp here)

Squeeze the water out of the sauerkraut and put it in a big bowl.
Dice the sausage and add, then add eggs and cumin. Mix together with 
enough flour that it forms a dough of the same consistency that you'd 
have for potato pancakes.

Fry in oil on both sides.

Grocery stores in Prague sell a brand of sausage called "Landsmännchen" 
that is traditional in zelnaky as served in bars. Texas-made Slovacek 
sausage is pretty close. Any pork sausage that you like will work.


Here is the baked zelnaky recipe in English. Note that it contains more 
fat than would be absorbed in frying, but maybe that's the point.

1 cup flour
4 Tbsp lard or similar
3/4 cup sauerkraut
1/4 cup milk
1/4 pound bacon (the recipe says "English bacon", to distinguish from 
the salt pork that is normally called bacon in CZ)
1 packet of active dry yeast

Proof the yeast in warmed milk.
Chop the sauerkraut and bacon into small pieces.
Mix sauerkraut, flour, melted lard, bacon, and the yeast/milk mixture.
Let it rest 20 minutes or more in the refrigerator.
When ready to cook, preheat oven to 350F.
Roll out the dough about 1/2 inch thick and cut into pieces with a knife.
Bake.

The recipe says "dorůžova", which literally means "until pink" but here 
means crispy on the outside and done enough for you on the inside. 
European bacon (like most modern US bacon) has no danger of trichnosis 
and can be eaten less cooked than is the US custom.