• Fermentation is one of the oldest methods of food preservation known to man. Homemade sauerkraut is a simple way to dip a toe into this age-old technique. Here are some recipes: Old-Fashioned Fresh Sauerkraut, Spareribs and Sauerkraut, Sauerkraut and Red Beet Borscht, Reuben Sandwiches and Riesling-braised Sauerkraut and Apples.
  
• An update on Leslie Cole's personal batch of kraut.
• Next time you have a dinner party, instead of worrying about making dinner and dessert, just buy a U-Bake pie.
• Two Tarts, purveyors of tiny cookies at Portland-area farmers markets, have opened a retail store on 23rd Ave.
• Katherine Miller takes her extra rooster to the Northwest Winter Classic poultry show, in the hopes that she'll find him a new home.
• Leslie Cole attends the Wild About Game cook-off and tastes multiple dishes that include wild game.
• The diminutive Forelle pear is currently in season and has wonderful, cinnamon-y flavor that pairs well with cheese and sweets.
• Try making a Dijon Tuna Burger as a change of pace from your regular beef or turkey burgers.
• This week in the Market Basket, you'll find two vinegars and a balsamic spread.
• Kathleen Bauer reports from the Tigard Farmers Market.

I checked out the new blog from the editor of foodie web goliath, Epicurious after Nick's heads-up post about it over the weekend. One of the posts lists three press releases that the editor thought were funny, one of them stating that sauerkraut is the hot food trend for 2006. Sauerkraut?

But one of the comments reminded us that several months ago, researchers and scientists have reason to believe that the naturally occurring Lactobacillus bacteria in the fermented cabbage can help cure avian flu. (The original discovery was made by Korean scientists at Seoul National University who fed kimchee to chickens infected with the avian flu virus and found that the birds began to recover.)

I don't think avian flu will be a huge problem in the United States, or anywhere else in the western hemisphere, for that matter, but I do like the idea of a newfound respect for sauerkraut, which, like kimchee, is a pickled cabbage (kimchee, of course, pickled heavily with other spices making it extraordinarily pungent to the novice nose).

My friend Todd told me about sauerkraut balls that his Mom makes every year, and finally brought some over for me to try. They looked sort of like salmon or potato croquettes, about the size of a golfball, breaded, and deep-fried. Refreshed in the oven from being frozen, they were delicious, especially with a little dunk in good old spicy, grainy mustard.

I haven't gotten the recipe from him and his Mom yet, but I do know that the sauerkraut balls are made by sending sauerkraut and ham through a meat grinder or food processor, mixed with a few seasonings, then rolled into balls, dredged in flour, breaded, and deep-fried.

Hey, if I'm ever struck with avian flu, I'd certainly have no problem medicating myself with sauerkraut balls and nice big bowl of kimchee.