Experimenting with Fermenting

I did some pickles last month. Someone suggested I try fermenting, too. 
 
So here are my first fermenting experiments. 
 

 
Late September:  

  • (3) jars of red sauerkraut. Red because we had some red cabbages to use. Added coriander because the first recipe I consulted said to. Probably too much. 

  • (1) jar of sweet onions, with a couple of lemons squeezed in to complicate the flavor. 

Early October: 

  • (1) jar Scotch bonnet peppers

  • (1) jar lemon drop peppers, with a little bit of dried lemon peel. 

  • (1) jar cucumber spears with some pickling spices and some fresh dill. Supposedly this will make fermented dill pickles. 

 

September’s Dill Pickles

This made: 3 pints dill pickles, 2 pints pickled onions plus 1 pint extra brine. 

Preparation:
• Wash all the jars (dishwasher, hot setting). Sterilize lids in a pan of boiling/simmering water.


Brine:
2 cups white vinegar (5% acidity)
2 cups filtered water
2 TBSP coarse, uniodized salt
4 tsp table sugar


► Simmer (or boil), stirring, until it’s all dissolved.


Pickle Spears, in each jar:
1 small (or ½ large) head fresh dill, or dill gone to seed.
1 clove garlic, halved.
2 very small bay leaves.
1 tsp pickling spices
• Lots of cucumbers, sliced lengthwise. (I used 4 standard sized cucumbers, sliced into eights plus 4 very small cucumbers, halved.)


Optional:
• Maybe add some spears of bell pepper, or of a warmer pepper, or some pepper flakes, or some onion slices.


Pickled Onions, in each jar:
1 small (or ½ large) head fresh dill, or dill gone to seed.
1 clove garlic, halved.
2 very small bay leaves.
1 tsp pickling spices
• Slice a (red) onion very thin (⅛”), then quartered. Separate the sections. (I didn’t have enough red onion for 2 pints, so one pint is mostly red onion and ⅓ sweet onion, mixed together.)

► Put all the spices in the bottom of the jar. Fill the jar (pretty tight) with onion slices, leaving about ½” clear at the top. Fill with brine to ½” from the top. Wipe the rim, add lid, add ring, only modestly finger-tight. Then boil them in a hot water bath for at least 10 minutes.


► If you have a significant amount of extra brine (I had about a pint extra), pour the boiling liquid in a jar to ½” from the top. Wipe the rim, add lid, add ring, only modestly finger-tight. Then boil them in a hot water bath for at least 10 minutes.

Dill Pickles

My very first attempt at making pickles. I grew pickling cucumbers and the herb dill this year especially for making pickles.

The one on the right is one cup of white vinegar, one tablespoon of salt, enough pickles to fill up a jar, if you sprigs of fresh dill, and two small cloves of garlic, sliced in half, crammed down in between things.

When I finished that one, I needed to expand my options.

The one on the left is a cup of white vinegar, a tablespoon of salt, two small cloves of garlic sliced in half , bunch of Dill cram down in between the pickles , and a teaspoon or so of herb de Provence.

In both cases, I boiled the vinegar long enough to fully dissolve the salt, and I poured it over a cucumbers in the jar, slapped a canning lid and the jar lid on top. I let it sit on the counter for a couple of hours until it cooled off, then it went into the refrigerator. 

Space Jam©

Space Jam©: Left to right: Rhubarb,
Citrus (mixture of lemon and orange)
and Strawberry, plus T&G Powder

I've been making some dried fruit powder, and making Space Jam© out of it.

• Dehydrate fresh fruit until it's really dry and crisp.

• grind it to powder. 

I store the powder in the freezer but i mix some in shaker spice jars.

1:1 mixture of fruit powder and sugar free powdered sweetener. 

Serving: spread peanut butter on a cracker, shake Space Jam© on top to taste. It's pretty darned good, but none of the carbs or calories of sugar. 

I took this mixture on a family campout, and my niece decided this needed to be called Space Jam©. So it's Space Jam© now. 

Also: roast tomatoes with fresh garlic. Dehydrate completely. Grind to powder for T&G (Tomato & Garlic) powder. Still working on the best application for this one. 

NB: Rhubarb, Lemons, Tomatoes and Garlic from my own garden. Strawberries from Spooners. Oranges from the produce department.

NB: Apricot Space Jam© is not worth the effort. Needs a fruit with some zing. Going to try Raspberry and Blackberry soon. 

Lemon Pepper Hot Sauce

Ingredients:

12 Lemon Drop peppers, seeds removed, coarsely chopped
2 Mad Hatter peppers, seeds removed, coarsely chopped
1 small red bell pepper (or ½ standard size), coarsely chopped
½ cup carrots, sliced small
5 small cloves garlic, peeled & crushed
¼ medium white onion, coarsely chopped
1 TBSP olive oil
½ cup rice wine
¾ cup (more or less) water
1 TBSP honey
1 tsp coriander seed, roasted & crushed

Comment: could use some salt.


Instructions:

• Wear rubber gloves and a face mask.
• Seed all the peppers. Coarsely chop them.
• Peel and crush the garlic.
• Chop the onion coarsely.
• Chop the peppers, ⅛” thick.
• Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan.
• Saute all of the above until the onions begin to think of transparency. Stir constantly.
• Add some of the water and simmer until everything is beginning to soften.
• Meanwhile, toast coriander seed. Crush it.
• Add the rice vinegar, honey & toasted & crushed coriander seed until carrots are soft.
• Cool the mixture some.
• Blend the mixture real fine.
• Cool completely.
• Fill bottle or jar and refrigerate.


Next time:
• ½ tsp or so of salt.
• ¼ cup or so lemon or lime juice.
• a tsp or a TBSP of peeled, ground ginger root.
• a little tarragon, fresh is better, ground is acceptable.
• Some cilantro or even parsley. Maybe some chives.
• a little batch of fresh basil.
(Courtesy Ed Currie of Puckerbutt.)

Lemon Chicken with Brocolli

Ingredients:
2 TBSP all purpose flour
½ tsp salt, divided
¼ tsp fresh black pepper
12 oz uncooked skinless boneless chicken breast, thinly sliced
2 TBSP olive oil
1½ cup chicken broth, divided
2 tsp minced garlic
2½ cups broccoli florets, roughly chopped
2 tsp lemon zest, or more to taste
2 TBSP fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions:
• On a plate, combine 1½ TBSP flour, ¼ tsp salt & pepper. Add chicken & turn to coat.
• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high flame.
• Add chicken & cook, turning, until lightly browned & cooked through: ±5 minutes. Set aside on a plate.
• Add 1 cup broth and the garlic to skillet to deglaze. Bring to boil, scraping up goodies from bottom of pan.
• Add broccoli. Cover & cook for no more than a minute.
• Mix remaining ½ cup broth, ½ TBSP flour & ¼ tsp salt. Add to skillet & simmer, covered over low heat.
• Cook until broccoli is al dente, crisp-tender & sauce starts to thicken: ±1½ minutes.
• Stir in chicken & lemon zest & heat through.
• Add lemon juice & chopped parsley & toss to coat.
• Serve with couscous, angel hair pasta or rice.

Mexican Skillet with Eggs

Ingredients:

1 medium poblano chili pepper, seeded & finely chopped
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
½ cup chopped onion
1 cup [canned] black beans, drained
1 cup zucchini, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 pinch salt (kosher?)
½ cup green salsa verde (plus more for serving)
4 large eggs
2 TBSP cilantro, chopped
Cooking spray



Instructions:
• Coat 12” skillet with cooking spray & heat over medium high flame.
• Add chili, corn & onion. Cook stirring often until onion is soft: 5-7 minutes.
• Add beans, zucchini, cumin & salt. Cook, stirring often, until zucchini starts to brown: 2-3 minutes.
• Stir in salsa.
• Make 4 wells in vegetables with back of a spoon. Crack one egg into each.
• Reduce heat to medium. Cook, covered, until eggs are cooked to desired doneness: 5-7 minutes for medium.
• Garnish with cilantro.
• Serve with more salsa if desired.