Morroccan Preserved Lemons

Meyer lemons are in season right now in places like California. They are sweeter, more orange-y than standard lemons, and are always recommended in fancy lemon desserts. They also seem like a good selection for my first ever attempt at Preserved Lemons.

Preserved lemons are basically pickled in lots of salt, with whatever other spices suit your fancy. I made mine more Moroccan style, but there are lots of ways you could go. My preserved lemons are currently in week two of brining, and after another two weeks they will be ready to eat. You eat the peel and chop it up to put on fish, salads, chicken, veggies, in the previous post's couscous, etc. Apparently you can put it in anything that calls for lemon, and the preserved lemon will be even better. So I hear - this is all just second hand information until mine are ready. Oh the wait!

I based my recipe and directions off of this lovely post by Hunter Angler Gardener Cook (his photos are also way nicer than mine, but so it goes), though modified it to suit my spices. I did not can the jars of lemons (I checked several other preserved lemon recipes and it seems unnecessary) or wash them. I don't know, I'm just not a food washer when I buy it from the co-op. Here is what I did:

1. Slice off ends of each lemon, then slice lengthwise, almost in quarters. You want the lemon to still be in one piece, but almost cut through.
2. Using Kosher, pickling or pure sea salt, stuff the lemon. Pack it in well, and use about a tablespoon per lemon. Mush the lemons into a clean Mason jar. I used a large mouth quart jar and fit 6 meyer lemons, though probably could have smashed a 7th in there. Toss a little more salt on top.
3. Next add in whatever spices you want to use. I went with: Cinnamon (preferably a stick, but I only had powder), peppercorns, bay leaf, cloves (again I only had powder), and cardamom seeds/pods. I debated about putting in some fennel but I think I kept it out. ?
4. "Cover the lemons with vinegar or lemon juice, or not." It seems that many people put some extra lemon juice in there to cover their lemons. I only had a couple of other lemons on hand, so I put in the juice from them and then went for the "mush the lemons until their own juice covers them" method. It took a week or so until the lemons were entirely covered with juice, but nothing seems to have contaminated or otherwise compromised the exposed lemons in the meantime. So, do what you will. After my mushing, the quart jar is now only half full because everything is so squished down in there, releasing all those juices. Put a lid on the jar.
5. Put the jar/s in a dark place for 3-4 weeks. After that they are ready to eat, and they need to be kept in the fridge. They will last at least a year, if not longer.

Once mine are done I will do an addendum to the post about how they taste....to be continued!

apple carrot kraut

Nothing revolutionary here. Just follow the basic steps in Megan's earlier post about sauerkraut and add whatever other tasty (or colorful) things you want. I chose apples and carrots for their hint of sweetness and for the colors they add, but you could try just about anything.

Being as it's a bit colder these days, this batch will probably take a few weeks to ferment to my liking ... just in time for Thanksgiving, come to think of it.

frozen herbs

So the frost probably already got your basil, but there's still time to save your thyme and rosemary for the long winter ahead. I know, it's hard to think about how soon your garden will be buried under a mound of dirty, crusty snow, but IT WILL HAPPEN. And if you don't get those little herbs out of there soon, your soups and stews and pizza crusts will suffer a terrible blandness all winter long. Don't let that happen! Do this instead! And listen to some good (albeit slightly depressing) music while you're doing it, dangit.

Chop up your herbs as fine as you like them. Put the choplets in ice cube trays and fill until the water is just barely covering them. Freeze for a few hours and then top them off with enough water so that none of the herbs are exposed. Take a deep breath and tell yourself everything will be ok.

Sauerkraut

A couple of years ago my mom got me a really fancy German sauerkraut crock. It is extra fancy in that there are weights to hold the kraut down under the liquid, and there is a lip around the whole thing that you pour water into to keep an air seal for the fermenting kraut inside. And it is big enough to make 7 quarts of sauerkraut! This last batch is the largest I have ever made, and with the help of friends, it went very quickly.

The recipe we used is based on the one in Wild Fermentation, but really it is just salt and cabbage. We added caraway too.

1) Chop or grate cabbage, with or without hearts, however you like.

We used a blend of green and red cabbages, and tried three different shredding techniques:
1) My food processor (which has a grater blade and shreds very small)
2) My hand-me down mandoline (an orange plastic job that you might remember from the pay per view commercials circa 1980)
3) A sharp knife

My personal fave was the mandoline because it made long thin strips, and because it was even FASTER than the food processor?! woah. who needs these new-fangled electronic gadgets when you can do better without?

2) Sprinkle salt on cabbage as you go. This is because the salt pulls water out of the cabbage, which creates the brine for the fermentation process. It also keeps it crunchy.

Katz's recipe calls for 5 pounds of cabbage to 3 T sea salt

Through some scientific hand weighing, we determined that each head of cabbage approximated about 1 T of salt (the small ones a little less, the big ones a bit more). And we just poured in the caraway seeds in between in quantities less than the salt.

3) Add other veggies if you like, or herbs and spices.

4) Mix ingredients together and pack into crock (or jar or whatever food grade bucket you use).

We established a fancy system to get the most liquid out of the cabbage: using the butt end of a wine bottle, we pounded the cabbage in a bowl before transferring it to the crock, where it was pounded some more with a fat rolling pin. This got lots of liquid out of the cabbage and allowed for a jam packed crock.

5) Cover kraut with a plate or some other lid that fits snugly. Place a clean weight (glass jug filled with water) on the cover. This will keep the cabbage submerged under the brine. Cover the whole thing with cloth to keep dust off.
*This is where the fancy German crock comes in handy...no dust via the water seal.

6) Leave the crock to ferment for 1-4 weeks. It was getting cool the last several weeks already, and ours sat out about 3 weeks. The warmer it is, the faster the fermentation goes.

7) Check the kraut every so often. Sometimes a white film (aka mold) appears on the top of the liquid. This is normal and you can just scrape it off (any remaining bits will break up and be unnoticeable). It is due to air hitting the surface, but the kraut itself is under the "anaerobic protection of the brine" (I particularly like that line).

8) Enjoy! (Taste along the way til its the tang you like)

We packed up the many quarts of kraut and stuck them in the fridge. They need to be chilled at this point or they will continue to ferment. Some people can their kraut, but heating the kraut kills all of the really really good stuff (drink the liquid as a "rare delicacy and digestive tonic" says Katz).

Fermented green tomatoes

My tomatoes had a rough year. From what I hear, they weren't alone. The first fruits began to rot on the vine before they turned red. Bottom rot, a pocket of water that accumulates on the bottom of the fruit, is (according to Wikipedia) a possible consequence of erratic watering behavior. My beginning-of-the-season over-eagerness followed by a week and a half vacation might have had something to do with this.
I didn't want to throw them away, so I decided to experiment with fermentation. The tomatoes in my first jar ended up tasting a lot like green olives. I liked them so much I started wondering whether I should let the rest of my tomatoes turn red. Lucky for me, the threat of early frost came along just in time, and I decided to just call it on the tomato plants rather than tucking them into layers of blankets every other night.
This more recent batch was a bit crunchier and greener, so I'm excited to see if/how the flavor changes.

Here are some guidelines:
Put on a good record, probably something good and twangy
Pack your sliced green tomatoes into a clean jar
Add some other flavorful stuff like onions or garlic or peppers
Add some spices and keep them whole (I like mustard seeds and black peppercorns)
Add 2 T whey per pint
Add 1/2 T salt per pint (or closer to 1 T if you're not using whey)

Top off the jar with filtered water, screw on the lid (not too tight) and let it sit (covered) on your counter for awhile. In the heat of summer, I only waited a few days, but with the colder weather you'll probably want to wait a bit longer. Test the tomatoes anytime to check if they're tasty enough for you. When they are, put them in the fridge and keep for as long as you like (ok, probably not more than a year).

ketchup

A few weekends ago, my kitchen turned into a tomato-processing MACHINE. With an absurd amount of tomatoes, plenty of beer, pie and ice cream, we managed to crank out more than 30 pints of salsa. Even so, I woke up the next morning to a beautiful box of paste tomatoes waiting patiently for their turn. Now, I'm a big fan of salsa and all, but the thought of making any more was pretty unbearable. Enter: the king of condiments, ketchup.
When I was a kid, I wouldn't think twice about sucking that nasty red paste right out of the bottle. Perhaps I overdid it in my youth, though, because my (slightly) more refined adult palette has never been a fan of the grocery store variety. Lucky me, this stuff is NOT grocery store ketchup. It's spicy and tangy and has a much more pleasant (and believable) consistency. No corn syrup here! Some of you might even be tempted to bring a jar with you to your favorite bar (aghhhmeganaghm).

From: http://www.canningacrossamerica.com/recipes/regular-ol-tomato-ketchup-but-better/

1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
5 whole cloves
5 cardamom pods, crushed
1 star anise
10 black peppercorns
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes
1 large yellow onion, quartered
2 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil, like canola or sunflower
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/3 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar
1/2 cup champagne vinegar
1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions: Using a piece of cheesecloth (or an empty tea bag), tie the cinnamon, bay, cloves, cardamom, anise, and peppercorns into a bundle. Set aside.

Pour the tomatoes and their juice into a food processor or blender. Puree until totally smooth, and set aside all but about 1/4 cup. To the remainder, add the onion and puree.

In a large nonreactive Dutch oven (bigger than you think, as this will splatter like a Pollock painting), heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion puree and the 2 teaspoons of salt and stir well. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, letting the puree reduce and lightly brown. Add the tomato, sugar, and vinegar, turn the heat to a low simmer, and reduce for about 15 minutes, uncovered, with an occasional stir. Add the spice bundle and reduce for 10 minutes more. When it’s done reducing, it should be a little thinner than commercial ketchup. Stir in the paprika, taste for seasoning, and adjust as needed.

Let the ketchup cool and remove the spice bundle. Pour into a jar and chill overnight, or for at least 6 hours.

How to Store It Refrigerated: homemade ketchup will keep at least 2 months.

How to Can It: Ladle into sterilized half-pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace, and process in a hot-water bath for 15 minutes at altitudes up to 1,000 feet, 20 minutes at altitudes up to 6,000 feet, and 25 minutes at altitudes over 6,000 feet

Dilly Beans

From the fermentation chronicles because, hey, why stop with pickles?


What you need:
Enough beans to fill your chosen vessel
salt
whey (if you're into it)
jalapeno (again, if that's your jam)
garlic, mustard seeds, onion, pepper, and whatever other spices you want to add (but stick with whole spices as powders can get slimy)
Bruce Springsteen album (I like The River, but Born in the USA will do in a pinch)

What you do:
Cook the beans in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, until they turn bright green (or bright yellowish white, I guess). Drain and cool in a bowl with ice and water. Pack them into your vessel, along with your other spices, peppers, etc. Mix a 3.6% brine solution (1T salt per 2 C water) and pour it into your vessel. Add your whey (I'm just guessing here, but I threw in about 1T per cup of water) if you want. Put the lid on and shake it up a bit. Check the beans to make sure they're still submerged in the brine. Let the jar sit on your counter, releasing the pressure every now and again, until they're satisfactorily tasty (about a week). Throw them in the fridge where they will continue to ferment, albeit much more slowly.

Ginger overload

About a week ago, I got some free cabbages from a friend (thanks, Butter Nut!) and thought I would make them into kimchi. I bought a crap ton of carrots, ginger, garlic and scallions in preparation and then ... nothing. For some reason, I couldn't get over the 12-hour soaking period required by the recipe I wanted to use. Thankfully, soon came a better cabbage-fermentation idea (what's up, kraut party people?) and life went on. Except I still had a crap ton of carrots, ginger, garlic and scallions. Enter: Mark Bittman and his wonderfully searchable cookbooks. All of these recipes come from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.

1.) Carrot ginger orange soup

What you need:
1/1/2 lb carrots, sliced
2 T butter
1 t sweetener (sugar, maple, honey, etc)
6 C vegetable stock or water
1 T minced ginger
1 T grated orange zest
3/4 C orange juice
Cream, sour cream, yogurt, etc. (if you're into that sort of thing with your soup)

What you do
Put the carrots, orange juice, zest ginger, and sugar into a skillet/saucepan and bring to a biol on high. Cover, turn heat to medium low, and cook 5 more minutes. Uncover and raise the heat to boil off the liquid. Lower the heat again and continue to cook until carrots are tender. Add the stock and bring to a boil again. Simmer until the carrots are tender enough to smoosh with your choice of immersion blender or regular blender.

2.) Spicy cilantro ginger pesto


What you need
2 C cilantro leaves
salt
2 cloves garlic
3 T oil
1 T lime juice
1 T chopped ginger
1 jalapeno or other hot pepper to taste

What you do
Throw it all in a food processor and blend until tasty.

3.) Pickled ginger (because when you're unsure what to do with something you happen to have a lot of , why NOT make a pickle?)


What you need
enough ginger to fill your jar (For this recipe, I used a fist-sized piece for 1/2 pint)
1/4 C vinegar (the original recipe calls for rice, but I used cider to no ill effect)
1-2 T sugar
1/4 C water
1 T salt

What you do
Thinly slice the ginger and toss with salt. Let sit in a bowl for 1 hour. Rinse *thoroughly* and pack into your jar. Heat equal parts vinegar and water with sugar to taste. Let cool a bit and pour over ginger into jar. This is a refrigerator pickle, so stick it in the fridge.

pickles!

While Megan has been making cucumber drinks, I've been fermenting those little suckers. And they're so delicious and easy. Get yourself a quart jar and a little tray of pickling cucumbers (you know, the tiny ones with thick skin). Can you use normal, larger cukes? Meh. I tried it, slicing them thinly, but they're just not so tasty. You've been warned. I've also been using whey to kick start the fermentation process. You could just add extra salt, but "making" whey is, uhh, whey easy.



Ingredients:
enough cukes to fill your quart jar
1 T mustard seeds
2 T fresh dill
1 T sea salt (non-iodized, unrefined)
4 T whey (or an additional 1 t salt)
1 C filtered water

I've also added some whole peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon stick, garlic, celery seed, etc. to batches. Stick with whole spices, though, as the ground kind tend to turn into a slimy film at the bottom of the jar.

To get the whey:
Plop a bunch of whole milk yogurt into a clean dish towel and let it sit over a bowl for a day or so. The yellowish liquid that ends up in your bowl is your whey. You also have a bunch of really thick yogurt, which is delicious in these.

To make the pickles:
Pack your cukes into the jar along with spices, dill, etc. Add the salt, whey and filtered water. The top of the liquid should fully cover your cukes and be at least one inch below the top of the jar. Put a lid on the jar and let it sit on your counter for 2-3 days. I always cover mine with a dish towel, as I've heard that sunlight can hinder the fermentation process. If your cukes are fermenting particularly rapidly, you might want to let off some pressure by quickly unscrewing the lid and then screwing it back on. If you like a sour-er pickle, let it sit on the counter longer. When the pickles are pickled to your liking, transfer them to the fridge. They'll continue to ferment in there, but much, much slower.

If Peter Piper pickled a peck of peppers...

Then how many peppers did Peter Piper pickle?

Go ahead, say it three times fast. Then pickle your own peck of peppers.

My banana pepper plant has been going, err, bananas this summer. Lucky me, since I LOVE pickled banana peppers on my pizza. I used the very official-looking recipe from the University of Georgia National Center for Home Food Preservation. Then I went and modified it, thus probably ruining all of the very carefully calculated ratios of whatnots to whoozits. I added another mystery pepper (larger, greener), omitted the celery seed (didn't have it), and semi-accidentally turned the jar on its side in the hot water bath. If you're still interested in coming over for pickled pepper and pepperoni pizzas with some pretty persnickety pals, let me know.

Pizza: Sauerkraut, Apple, Cranberry and Pesto Tomato

This weekend brought Eren and Naomi to town for anniversary and birthday celebrating, Barebones, and some seasonal feasting. Pizza was selected for Saturday dinner. I got the crust recipe from Baking Illustrated (my go to for always perfect baking) and we tried a couple of different toppings. Topping one involved some recently finished sauerkraut and an amazing Sauerkraut/Apple/Cranberry recipe from a canning class KP and I took earlier this month. Topping two included leftover Cilantro Pesto and roasted tomatoes. Yum. Perfect early dinner pre-Barebones and to celebrate the years of love among us.

Pizza Dough (makes enough for three pizzas) *hand kneading version
1/2 c water
1 envelope instant yeast
1 1/4 c. water at room temp
2 T extra virgin olive oil (just realized I forgot that part!!)
4 c bread flour (Up to half can be wheat - I went 1 c wheat/3 c white)
1 1/2 t. salt

Sprinkle yeast on warm water and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells (about 5 minutes). Add remaining room temp. water and oil and stir to combine. In separate, deep bowl, combine half the flour and salt. Add the liquid ingredients and use a wooden spoon to combine. Add the remaining flour and stir until a "cohesive mass" forms. Turn out to a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (7-8 minutes), using as little dusting flour as possible. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel and let rise until doubled in size: 1 1/2-2 hours. (Note the wheat flour will slow rising time a bit.) When risen, press dough to deflate, divide into three balls, and stretch/pull with hands to form crust.
*Baking Illustrated recommends a pizza stone for perfect pizza. Sprinkled semolina/corn meal or parchment paper allows you to transfer the uncooked crust to the pizza stone that you want to have pre-heating in the oven. Cook pizza hot - 500 degrees, and remove when crust is turning brown and toppings are sizzling (6-12 minutes).

Pizza One: Sauerkraut with Apples and Cranberries and Squash
*Makes 3 pints (which you then would can, 1/2 the recipe for a more manageable amount to consume before it goes bad!)
1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. light brown sugar
3 large sweet apples - peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1/2 large onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 c. dried cranberries or cherries
1 t. caraway seed
1 t. fennel seed
1 bay leaf
4 c. fermented sauerkraut and juice

Combine apple cider and brown sugar in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil to dissolve sugar. Add onion, apple, cranberries and spices and simmer gentely until apple is tender. Stir in sauerkraut and juice. *If canning, heat mix to 180 degrees, fill scalded jars leaving 1/2" headspace and process for 25 minutes.
We put this mix on the pizza with some baked squash and cheese. Yum. Toss a little salt on too for some improved flavor.

Pizza Two: Spicy Pesto Tomato
Cilantro Pesto: food process 1/2-1 bunch cilantro with nuts (almonds or walnuts), salt and pepper, parm cheese, and olive oil. Sorry I don't have better amounts, I don't think you can go wrong though!
Roasted tomatoes
2ish T. Red Onion, chopped
2ish T. Jalepeno, minced
Cheese!

Salsa! Canned Tomatoes!

This weekend I finally canned some things...thanks to KP and 25lbs of tomatoes. Both of us are fairly novice at the canning business, but KP has some family history. Which sort of says something - having seen it done and maybe not being so worried about botulism (like others of us were). Except grandma's technique to not boil the jars a second time seemed a little too risky, even to KP. Canning is scientific, and though we debated following the salsa recipe allotment of 2 cups (!) lemon juice or just putting lemon in each jar, we ultimately followed the recipe. The lemon juice functions as the additional acid needed to prevent botulism, and apparently tomatoes hover below the right amount of acidity - especially with onions and peppers. Interestingly, you need to use bottled lemon juice - I am still not clear why. I think in the future I might try to find citric acid though (way more concentrated), because 2 c. of lemon juice adds a lot of liquid.

There are lots of salsa and tomato canning recipes online. KP found this salsa recipe that is a good amount of kick. The orange and red heirlooms also made for stunning jars.

Canning was definitely an all day project- especially with the pots we had which held only 4 jars at a time. Phase two for canning includes getting another pot...maybe the actual canning kind?! FYI: 25lbs of tomatoes = 9 pints of salsa and 7 quarts of tomatoes, approximately.

Pickled Beets

It has been so hot lately that I only want cold things to eat. I am also thinking ahead to fall - making pierogi with pickled beets and sauerkraut a la Bedlam. Beets are $1 a bunch at the farmer's market right now, and they are gorgeous! I tried this easy refrigerator pickling recipe and they smell and taste amazing - warm cinnamon spices with apple cider vinegar. The beets/brine will stay good in the fridge for up to 6 months, and you can replenish beets as they get eaten. I suspect these would be amazing on salad greens with goat cheese and pecans. yum.