Sauerkraut and Other Ferments

At the request of sister Jeanne, I post the recipe for homemade sauerkraut.  This is so easy and very delicious.  I add my kraut to soups, sandwiches, salads, and eat large bowls all on it's own.  See a pic of my latest batch.  This batch of kraut contains 1 head each of red and green cabbage, plus some yellow beets and salt.  It fermented for about 2 weeks in the basement.  Then I brought it up to the fridge.  It continues to improve in the fridge, but the pace is much slower.  It will keep a long, long time.   My preferred recipe is Sander Katz':  https://www.wildfermentation.com/making-sauerkraut-2/ as I love his whole notion of wild fermentation.  I don't use a crock, a plate, and a rock like Sander but put my cabbage in this nice jar.   I purchased the jar from The Probiotic Jar:  http://www.probioticjar.com/ .  This site also has lots of recipes for fermenting veggies.

I also have to share 2 other interesting fermentation projects.  First, I made my very own Kombucha scoby.  I've been drinking Kombucha for about a year now, ever since sister Jeanne bought some during our trip to MN in 2017.  I love it, but it's so expensive to purchase.  So I've been making my own which is cheap and easy.  I messed up my old scoby (the strange creature which contains the microbes necessary for this particular ferment) so needed a new one.  My co-op was no longer selling so I decided to make my own.  It turned out wonderfully.  It's about 1/4 inch thick and beautiful (at least I think so)  So much better than I expected.  This process took almost a month.  Then I put it straight to work on a gallon batch of kombucha.  See this link to make your very own scoby:  https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-kombucha-scoby-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-202596 or you can have one of mine as each batch of kombucha makes a baby scoby.

 

I also love to bake bread which has been leavened with a wild yeast starter.  I keep my own starter in the kitchen and feed it every day.  It rewards me with beautiful and healthful breads.  This, again, is so easy to do.  See below instructions from the NY Times, which they borrowed from the book "Tartine Bread" written by Chad Robertson. (This is a wonderful book, btw, and I highly recommend).  To make a starter: Combine 1,000 grams white-bread flour with 1,000 grams whole-wheat flour. Put 100 grams of warm water (about 80 degrees) in a small jar or container and add 100 grams of the flour mix. Use your fingers to mix until thoroughly combined and the mixture is the consistency of thick batter. Cover with a towel and let sit at room temperature until mixture begins to bubble and puff, 2 to 3 days. When starter begins to show signs of activity, begin regular feedings. Keep the starter at room temperature, and at the same time each day discard 80 percent of the starter and feed remaining starter with equal parts warm water and white-wheat flour mix (50 grams of each is fine). When starter begins to rise and fall predictably and takes on a slightly sour smell, it’s ready; this should take about 1 week.