Monster radishes!

Two years ago my daughter came and helped me make a hugelkultur in the vegetable garden. You can read about that here:  

http://simplyhomemaking60.blogspot.com/2017/10/hugelkultur.html

This morning I went out to check on some radishes that I had planted in the hugelkultur in March and neglected to pull up.  Here is what I found!

Surprisingly, they are good flavored and not stringy.  In fact, they are very good!  So, I cut them up and have started a ferment.  :)

Then I cleaned and blanched the greens and ended up with 4 nice little packages for the freezer.

Sauerkraut 2016 - I had help!

Our granddaughter is visiting us and today, she helped me make this year's sauerkraut!  She picked the cabbages and while I was cleaning them, she shredded them all in the food processor.  Then she swept the floor.  She loves to cook and enjoyed it.

If you are new to my blog, you can find the recipe for sauerkraut HERE.  Today's batch was 6 pounds.  I have a big jar full left from last year and it is still delicious and nicely crisp.  Kraut lasts a LONG time in cold storage. Here is the jar from last year.

Fermenting with Mason Top Pickle Pipes...

I am so excited to tell you about a new product.  I bought mine on one of those "start-up" websites.  I had to w.a.i.t. to get them, but now that they are in production, I'm sure they can be purchased normally.

Ta-Da!!!

Here is the link to the website: http://www.masontops.com/

This is a fairly thick silicone topper for ANY wide mouth mason jar. They come in 3's.  All you need is a canning ring, the jar and the pickle pipe!  On the top of the little protrusion there is a small "X" cut in the top, that is sealed until the pressure from fermentation builds up and then it "burbs" out a little bit, as needed.

I am NOT in any way, being paid for this endorsement.

I had some fresh vegetables that I don't want to waste and will be too busy for a while to use them up, so I decided to make a vegetable ferment using a Pickle Pipe.  Here is my jar:

And here is what I put inside of it yesterday:

A two-quart mixture of:

red radishes - cut in chunks

daikon radish - peeled and cut in chunks

carrots - peeled and sliced

Nappa cabbage - cut in chunks

To that, I added 1 Tablespoon dill weed, 1 teaspoon paprika and two bay leaves.

I filled the jar to within an inch of the top, then packed it down and added a "simple brine" which is:

1 quart water that has 3 Tablespoons of salt well-dissolved in it.  

In this case, 1 quart of brine was a perfect amount.

On top of the vegetables, I placed 3 nice boiled rocks from our creek to keep the vegetables under the water.  You can see a small piece of leaf from the Nappa cabbage floating up. Mason Tops also sell glass weights for this purpose.

Then I put on the Pickle Pipe with a canning ring and it's ready to ferment!  You can see that the top is bulging up a little bit, which indicates that the fermentation has already begun. The reason it is bulging is because you need to squeeze the little top thing before using it the first time, and I had not done that, so, I was easily able to see the evidence of fermentation.  I do not know how long it will take.  After a couple of weeks, I will taste it and see how it is going. Once it tastes nicely sour, I will take off the Pickle Pipe, put on a regular lid and store it in the refrigerator.

Pickle Pipes are so easy to use, and versatile!

Here is a picture of part of the label.  Please do yourself a favor (if you like to ferment) and check out this product!

Fermented Apple Chutney - easy and delicious!

chut·ney

ˈCHətnē/

noun

noun: chutney; plural noun: chutneys

1. a spicy condiment made of fruits or vegetables with vinegar, spices, and sugar, originating in India.

My sweet sister-in-law introduced me to "chutney" many years ago.  It makes a wonderful accompaniment to a meal... freshens up the palate and I love chutneys!

Recently, I've started making fermented fresh chutney and it's spectacular!  No need to cook or process in a canner.  Just chop it up, mix with the other ingredients, pack it into a FIDO JAR, close the lid, let it sit on the counter for 3 days, turning over once in a while to distribute the liquid, and then refrigerate it!  It will stay nice for many weeks in the fridge.  Being fermented, it is rich in healthy probiotics, and also your body will love the easily assimilated vitamins and minerals.  

Meet the magical FIDO JAR !!!

I bought mine yesterday at TJ Maxx in a nearby city for only $4.99 !  They are available on Amazon.com, but cost twice as much (and would be worth it).  You don't have to use a Fido.  You can use a regular canning jar with a lid, but then you need to open it sightly from time to time so it will let out the pressure of the gasses produced.  With the Fido, you fill it, close it, and forget it.  The rubber seal is very tight, but it will sort of burp slightly on its own.

Fermented Apple Chutney

1. In a large measuring vessel or a bowl, combine:

    1 handful walnut meats, broken in pieces

    1 handful raisins

    Enough apples, chopped into bite-sized pieces to make the contents of your bowl measure 1.5 liter. Do 

    not peel the apples, just remove the cores and the little blossom ends and where the stem was.

    1/3 cup honey

    1/3 cup whey (explained below)

    3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

    1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

2. Stir all of that thoroughly and then pack it into a Fido Jar.  

3. Close the lid.  Leave it on the kitchen counter for 3 days, turning it over to let the liquid flow through the 

    contents once in a while

4. Store in the refrigerator - it will keep for many weeks.

Here are some pictures of the process:

Voila!

A note about apples... My mother grew up during the Great Depression.  She never wasted anything if she could possibly avoid it. When she ate an apple, she would wash it, pull off the stem and then just eat the apple.  She did not throw away the core.  I do the same thing.  If you want to try that, don't eat around it and make a core first.  Just eat the apple.  Apple seeds contain laetrile, which many believe has anti-cancer properties.  As I was making this, I ate all of the little core pieces I cut out!  I do like them.  Bite into the seeds.  They taste good (at least to me.)

It is a good idea to eat a small amount of something live and fermented with each meal.  I drink about 2 ounces of milk kefir with breakfast, and have a couple of Tablespoons of live sauerkraut or this chutney with lunch and supper.  The probiotics in the ferments really help your digestion be healthier. Also, they contain live digestive enzymes.

The recipe calls for "whey".  I use whey that I strain from my milk kefir when I make kefir cheese.  You may also use whey you can gather the same way from plain yogurt that has live cultures. 

This chutney is sweet and crunchy and a little zingy!  You will like it.  I promise.  :)

Kefir - Chapter 17 - how I am doing it now...

I began blogging about milk kefir on December 10, 2009.  If you look over on the right side of this page, you'll see the "chapters" there.  I want to update you on how I manage it now.  It hasn't changed much, but I have learned, through experience, what works and what is easiest.

Ok, starting on the left and going clockwise, here is what you're looking at:

1. Quart jar of liquid milk kefir with the lid loosely screwed on.  I always let it sit out on the counter, and use it for many things, including drinking, "buttermilk" biscuits, pancakes and making kefir cheese - which I use like cream cheese... yes, even in cheesecake!

2. 1/2 gallon jar of fresh goat milk.  You can use any milk.  It needn't be raw or goat.

3. Small Pyrex bowl with a stainless steel strainer sitting in it. 

4. Pint fermenting jar with a lid loosely screwed on. In this jar are the kefir grains and I add fresh milk every morning after straining out the liquid kefir into the bowl there.

Kefir grains multiply, so when I have too many, I either share them with friends or just eat them.  They are kind of nice!  Sort of like a softish sour gummie bear.  Truly.  I like them.

Here is the morning routine:

1. Pour the contents of the pint fermenting jar into the strainer placed in the bowl.  Let it drain and then using a stainless spoon, I scoop the grains back into the jar, and eat some if need be.

2. Pour more fresh milk over the grains and put the lid on loosely.

3.  Pour the liquid kefir out of the bowl into the quart jar, shake it up and pour out some to drink.

4.  Put the two jars back in their spot on the counter.

5.  Wash up the bowl and strainer.  That's it! 

It's the work of about 2 minutes, probably.  Very easy and quick.  Occasionally I switch to clean jars when they start looking a bit crunchy, but it is perfectly safe not to do that.

If you were ever in a situation where you wanted to have milk, but had no refrigeration, using kefir grains would keep your milk safe indefinitely. 

Sauerkraut 2015

I picked the rest of my cabbages yesterday and was able to make 12.5 pounds of Sauerkraut!  Here is a picture of it in the Fido jars for fermentation.  Here is how I do it.  Trim your cabbages of anything that is less than nice, cut them in quarters and remove the core.  Shred them in a food processor.  Weigh.  Add 3 Tablespoons of salt for each 5 pounds.  Stir it in well.  Let it sit and wilt for at least 1/2 hour.  Then squish it and squish it with your hands until it is getting softer and the juices are flowing nicely.  Pack into Fido jars, 3/4 full.  Close.  Let it set in your kitchen.  It will begin to ferment and "puff up". When it settles back down (length of time will vary) open a jar and taste it.  If it tastes good to you, transfer the jar(s) to the refrigerator.  It will keep a LONG time.  Easy.  Quick.  Delicious and so so good for you!

Fall fermentations...

I had quite a few Jalapeno peppers and just a few smallish other peppers that I didn't think I'd use up fast enough, so I decided to make a ferment. I adapted a recipe from THIS book by Wardeh at Gnowfglins.

Here are the peppers, washed and drained:

 And here they are, with the ends trimmed off and being weighed.  I had more than I really needed, but went ahead and processed them all anyway.  The chickens got the leftovers.  :)

Oh... notice what I did with the paper plate?  That makes it much easier to actually be able to read the scale. (Idea not my own.)

Here is the food processor with the narrow slicing blade attached:

Now they are all sliced up.

I did NOT remove the seeds, so this mixture is quite hot and can irritate one's skin, so I donned a protective glove so I could handle the peppers.  (See?  Sometimes I actually use my head!  My mommie would be proud.)

For the recipe, I  needed some live whey, so I poured some milk kefir into a birdseye cloth and hung it to drain.  I quickly had enough.

Here is the recipe.  Wardeh used cayenne peppers and added garlic.  I omitted the garlic (DH dislikes the odor) and used the Jalapenos and sweet peppers.

1 pound peppers

1 Tablespoon sea salt

1/4 cup live whey

filtered water

Place the whey and salt in a little jar and shake it up to dissolve:

 Slice the peppers thinly.

Put the peppers into a Fido Jar (wearing a protective glove.)

Pour the salt mixture over the top.

Add enough filtered (non-chlorinated) water to cover the mixture.

Close the jar.  Set it out of the sunlight on your kitchen counter.

Ferment for 2 to 3 days.

Store in the refrigerator. 

This will be a Very Spicy condiment and the juice can be added sparingly to soups and things that you would like to add more heat to.

On to ferment #2 !!

Again, this is from Wardeh's book. 

I have a number of apples that are kind of mushy and my family is reluctant to eat them.  So, I was looking for a way to use some so they won't get wasted.

Perfect - "Spiced Applesauce"

3 to 4 medium apples (any type)

1/4 cup unrefined sweetener (I used real maple syrup)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup live whey

Quarter and core the apples and chop them up in a food processor or blender.  You want it to be chunky:

Mix all of the ingredients together an spoon it into a Fido jar.

Put on the lid and set it on your counter.

Allow to ferment for 2 or 3 days and then keep it in the refrigerator.  It will keep for a few weeks.

Here are both jars, ready to ferment:

Now I just have to wait a couple of days and the jars can join the jars of sauerkraut in the fridge.  

Naturally fermented foods are so very good for you.

By the way, I was able to buy some of my Fido jars at a Ross store very cheaply.  You can use other jars, but this is the easiest and most reliable way I've found.  Prepare it, forget it, and put it in the fridge.  Easy Peasy!

Got Cabbage? - Easy, healthy sauerkraut

Here is a picture of this year's sauerkraut.  I made it from the cabbages we grew in the vegetable garden.  Sauerkraut is VERY easy to make, and if you don't can or cook it, it is full of enzymes and other lovelies that will benefit your body.  Besides, it's delicious!  And this will keep for a LONG time.  I have some from a year ago, that I'm going to give to the chickens today, to make room for the new batch.

Some of this was fermented in Pickl-It jars and some in Fido jars.  Fido jars are less expensive, work just as well and are easier to use because you don't have to bother with the air lock.  I was able to buy my Fido jars at Ross for a very nominal cost. They are also available through Amazon.com.

Last year, I posted instructions on how I make sauerkraut.  That post is HERE.   Cabbages, at least where I live, are very inexpensive right now. What you see in those jars is about 10 pounds of cabbage, and I'd be able to purchase that much for less than $4 right now.  The only other thing you need is salt and a little time to do this.  Don't be afraid!  It's fun! It's easy!  It's good for you!

By the way, I did NOT add any caraway seeds this year.

If you ever feel like strangling someone, I have a better idea. ;)

Cabbages are amazing!  I bought this cabbage (and two more) from a nice Amish lady I know several weeks ago and it has been living in our food storage room, which this time of year stays at about 40 degrees F.  Yesterday, I remembered it and lo and behold!  I had it sitting in there top down, and it was trying to grow a couple more little cabbages.  :)  It was also looking a bit gone by, so I decided I'd better use it up asap so it won't go to waste.

I took off all the dried and icky leaves ~ yes, you CAN safely use a cabbage that is beginning to decompose if you will simply strip off all of the ruined parts.  I lost a lot of it, but there was quite a bit left.  Here is all the icky stuff I pulled and cut off:

Here is the cleaned cabbage as well as part of another one I had in the refrigerator.  I made all of this into a batch of sauerkraut:

I have made sauerkraut many times through the years, and most often have simply cut it up as thinly as possible with a good sharp knife.  I've also used a "kraut cutter" (an old fashioned wooden device with sharp blades specifically designed to do this,) but now I use my electric food processor.  It makes it SO easy. 

Here it is, all shredded in a very large bowl:

I added 2 Tablespoons of RealSalt, mixed it in with my hands, and let the shredded cabbage sit for 30 minutes.  Here is what it looked like after wilting a bit with the salt:

Now comes the fun part.  This is what I was referring to in the title of this post.  I use my hands to "squish" the salted cabbage for about 5 minutes with my hands until it is very juice:

I had some of the juice leftover from a previous batch of kraut.  This juice, being raw, is rich in lacto-bacteria and I added it to the new batch to speed up the fermentation.  That batch was made with purple cabbage, hence the color:

I added all of that (this is optional) and also 2 Tablespoons of caraway seeds(optional), mixed it all well and here is what it looked like then:

Then, I packed it firmly into a Pickle-It jar, closed the lid and put on the airlock with water in it.

This will sit (out of direct light) in the kitchen until it is "done."  After some days, I will taste it and see what I think.  When I like the flavor, I'll pack it in a different glass jar and store it in the refrigerator.  It will keep a LONG time and is a wonderfully healthy addition to any meal, as the lacto-bacillus aids digestion.  Of course, the cabbage is good for you too!

It is not necessary to have a Pickl-It jar.  There are other ways.  I used to pack my kraut in a glass or food safe plastic bucket and put water inside 2 zip-lock bags and use that as a weight to keep the kraut below the liquid.  The bag was also big enough to completely cover the top of the ferment.  Some people use a Fido jar.  I have not tried that yet, but plan to.  Some express concern that it might explode.  I will just plan to not be in the kitchen when that happens... ;)

I don't understand this sauerkraut!

Normally, sauerkraut can take quite a while to ferment.  Something was different this time.  I know I made it a little differently, but it was just a matter of a few days before it got done.  The way to tell if it's done is to taste it, and if it tastes like sauerkraut, it is done!

I used a "Pikl-it" jar, which is very handy, but it can be done other ways, too.  I had a rather large head of green cabbage, so I shredded it in the food processor, put it all in a stainless bowl and added 3 Tablespoons of sea salt.

Next I mixed it up with my hands and then let it sit and wilt for 30 minutes.  Normally, at this point, people "pound" the kraut to get the juices flowing.  I didn't do that.  Instead, I just kept squishing it with my hands until it was nice and juicy.

Then I packed it in the jar, put on the lid, added the water to the airlock and let it sit on the counter.  It was done in about 4 days!  Oh, and I also added a couple of Tablespoons of  Carraway seeds.  It really added a nice flavor.  This will keep for a long time in the refrigerator and is rich in lacto-bacteria and enzymes and such.  I love sauerkraut.  Fortunately, my DH doesn't.  ;)

This post is linked to Traditional Tuesday #27 and Simple Lives Thursday #122

Kimchee - sort of

I check in the refrigerator often to see what needs to be used in there. I have been reading online recently about Kimchee. According to Wiki, one definition is "a traditional fermented Korean dish, made of vegetables with varied seasonings." If you look at the lovely picture they have of traditional Kimchee on there, it puts mine to shame. I probably shouldn't even call it by that name. Sigh...

Last week my husband and I were able to go to Bloomington, Indiana where there is a marvelous natural foods store, Blooming Foods. I knew that in our fridge was a small amount of whey leftover from making the kefir cheese, and so I bought some organic vegetables, planning to make Kimchee. Here they are - cabbages, carrots, garlic, ginger, onion, and a beautiful Daikon radish:



I chopped the onion and garlic by hand, but everything else I chopped up in the electric food processor. If any of you are from Korea, you might want to look the other way. Here are all the vegetables except the cabbage in my huge stainless steel bowl. Also, the crushed red pepper flakes are in here too:



Last of all, I shredded the cabbage and added it, sprinkling the salt between layers of cabbage:



Next, I used the end of a piece of wooden dowel to pound the vegetables. I pounded and stirred them until it was all quite juicy:



Then, I put it all into a gallon jar, covered with a few cabbage leaves weighted down with my clean rocks.



I let that sit out, covered, at room temperature for 3 days, then put it into the refrigerator. It should take about 2 weeks to really get going, but we are eating it already after about a week. I love it. My husband does NOT. He doesn't like sour things. Here is the recipe I used:

2 medium heads of cabbage (Korean's would use Nappa cabbages) cored and shredded
1 large white onion, chopped
6 good sized carrots, shredded
1 Daikon radish, cut into little strips
3 Tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 head of garlic (mine was really big, so I only used half of it) peeled, crushed and diced
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
4 Tablespoons RealSalt
1 cup kefir whey (any kind of raw whey will work, from cheesemaking, strained yogurt or kefir)

Prepare all the vegetables and put them into a very large bowl, crock or food safe bucket, or more than one container if you need to in order to have enough room.

When you add the cabbage, do it in layers, adding the salt as you go.

Pound and mix the vegetables until it is very juicy.

Pack firmly into a gallon-sized glass jar.

Cover with cabbage leaves held down by clean rocks (or some other arrangement you come up with.)

Cover jar. Let sit at room temperature, venting the jar occasionally, for 3 days. Then refrigerate.

When you are ready to eat some, either right away or after a week or two, remove the rocks and cabbage leaves and enjoy!

If you DO like sour things, you will love this. It is very spicy and delicious and being a naturally fermented vegetable dish, it is very healthy and good for you!

If you would like to see how to make REAL Kimchee, check out this site ~

http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/kimchi-kaktugi

I've connected this recipe to Wardeh's Simple Lives Thursday.

Report on Fermented Egyptian Onions

Do you remember my attempt to ferment Egyptian Onions? I promised to let you know how it turned out. This morning I opened the jar:



You can see the two rocks and the wild grape leaves in there:



And here are a few of the cute little fermented onions!



They are crunchy, mild and a nice little nibbly. I think I will save them and put them on the table for a special occassion. Or, if I can't resist, I might just nibble them away one at a time. Here is the conversation I had with my DH this morning:

DH ~ "What is that?"

Me ~ "This is the fermented Egyptian Onions I made a while back."

DH ~ "Are those rocks?"

Me ~ "Yep."

DH ~ "What is THAT?"

Me ~ "Wild grape leaves. I put them in there to hold the onions under the brine."

DH ~ "Oh."

Me ~ "Do you want to try one of the onions."

DH ~ "No."

Me ~ "Why?"

DH ~ "I'm going out in public."

Me ~ "A coward dies many times before his death..."

DH ~ "A brave man dies only once."

So.... a glimpse at life in my neck of the swamp. :-)