Friday, February 7, 2014

Prolific Amount of Stuff I've Fermented This Last Year

While I'm back on gut health again I thought it might be fun to take a look back at some of the fermented stuff I've made this year, including what I experimented with and what I found out.

Salsa--fermented with starter from mature sour kraut, I kept the jars in the fridge.  I ate the last jar about 4 months after making it, and it was still perfect!

Injera-- Ethiopian flatbread made with a soured grain (teff), you just mix water and ground teff and let it sit till bubbly.  You fry on one side, I suspect there might be a bit of good bacteria on the "up" side.

Oats--mix water and oats, let it get bubbly...unfortantely I've discovered after this year, I don't get to do that anymore.  I am also gluten-free oat sensitive.

Sour kraut--I discovered I can't use brine from old batches to make the new sour kraut, it ruined a whole batch, there was a special "eye of sauron" yellow mold on top, that made everything underneath pure mush...the whole batch had to go.  Sour kraut also does better with a lid on, it's not like vinegar where you want the air to get to it.

Kimchi--if you don't like mustard greens don't add them, no matter how good the recipe looks!  The irony is that the mustard greens tasted great, but everything else tasted like mustard greens...bleeeack! I've also had problems with apples (I wanted them in there so badly I've tried 2x) turning mushy.  apples are great in sour kraut, but I don't like the texture in kimchi, some people puree the apple and /or pear for this reason I suspect, but I actually don't think I like the sweet taste either.

vinegar--apple scrap and crab apple vinegar this year, easier than apple pie! throw scraps into water, stir every day, after it gets really bubbly, strain off the solids, cover with a cloth and wait (you can add a bit of starter from mature raw vinegar if you like), stir daily, or as you can remember, mine has been pretty forgiving.

Kombucha--I have a new scoby this year from my best friend and her family....I have discovered what my husband has always feared...the scoby seems to have intelligence...or at least preference.  This particular scoby will only produce kombucha with black tea.  I've had other scobies, I've never seen one with a preference...maybe I should name it.

Ketchup--made ketchup from scratch, used half the amount of vinegar in the pot while cooking, other half went in after it cooled.  left it on the counter a couple days, then into the fridge.  My husband seemed to make noise about adding less vinegar next time, which I think is doable,  it will taste more like vinegar as it "matures."

Mayonnaise--made it from scratch, added good quality yogurt and raw vinegar as starter

Pickles--tried to make a batch without garlic for my sensitive sweetheart...I ended up with mold and threw it out, that garlic really inhibits mold growth.  The batches with garlic kept fine, I'd say the more the merrier if you can handle it.

I think that's everything.



Next up.....
 hard cider--
finally finished juicing this falls apples...note to self, waiting to juice is a bad idea...the apples got mealy and I spent twice as long trying to get the juice out.  It gets to sit on the counter for a bit, then get airlocked for my first try at hard cider...

Real Cola from Kola Nut

Real Root Beer

I'll get the ginger bug going for the sodas soon...I have these high hopes of making soda that is actually healthy for my boy to consume...whether or not he'll actually consume it is another matter...

3 comments:

  1. Would you be open to sharing your ketchup and root beer recipes?

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    1. I have a good ketchup recipe, but I can't be certain of the root beer till after we've tried it, so I'll let you know if my son approves it. If he does, you can be certain it must be good.

      Ketchup (supposed to taste like Heinz) without corn syrup

      1 6-Ounce can tomato paste
      ¼ C. sugar
      ½ c. raw vinegar
      ¼ c. water
      1 tsp. salt
      ¼ tsp. onion powder
      1/8 tsp. garlic powder

      Combine all ingredients except vinegar, add only 1/4 of the cup. of raw vinegar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until smooth. When mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 min. stirring often. Remove pan from heat and cover until cool. Add last 1/4 cup of vinegar. Put into jars, cover with a cloth (rubber banded if there are fruit flies about) leave on counter top, in a darker place about 2 days, stirring each day, then put on the lids and store in the fridge. Vinegar taste will grow stronger with age, which some people like myself don't mind. If you don't like the strong taste, make only small batches at a time.

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