Lacto Fermented Hot Pepper Relish

My friend gave me a jar of spicy fermented relish last fall, and it was the first time I realized I could make such a thing. It was so tasty I ate it within a week. I don't know what was in that one, but this one turned out nicely - medium spicy and tangy. At the moment I am also making fermented salsa, collard kimchi, pickled jalapenos (pictured) and spiced beets. Soon to come: fermented carrots and more standard kraut. So many plans, and hopefully enough jars to get me through since I hear there is a shortage all over town.

These ferments are quite forgiving and experimental. The main thing is you want to use fresh, crisp veggies to keep longer and maintain their goodness. Use whatever variety you have and like, for whatever degree of spiciness. Fit them into whatever jar will most closely hold the amount you made. For a relish recipe that has more exact amounts than I use below, check out this link. You also will want to do your best to keep vegetable matter submerged under the brine. This was tricky with this tiny chopped bits of peppers - I used a piece of kohlrabi leaf with moderate success (moderate because no mold matter formed, but I don't think that was any result of the leaf, which just stuck to the lid!) You could also use a cucumber, two crossed carrot sticks, a rock, a ziplock baggie with water, etc.

For the hot pepper relish:

I chopped jalapenos and a handful of other peppers from my garden - I had one banana pepper, and a handful of medium-spicy red peppers that look like mini bell peppers. I forget what they are called. I also chopped up some garlic cloves (I did all the chopping in the food processor) and then mixed everything together in a large bowl. I spooned it into a jar, then covered it with salt brine. (Mine was my typical brine of 1 quart of water to 3 T sea salt, though I used a little smoky salt in this batch for an extra thrill.) I left the jar out on the counter for 5 days, at which time the taste was to my liking. *My pint jar expressed A LOT of liquid over the course of 5 days. Like, a large pool was on my counter on morning 2. I also was trying out a jar lid that has an air escape thing, so maybe that encouraged more liquid expression?!

For the pickled jalapenos:

I sliced jalapenos whole, and topped them off with brine. I thought about putting a garlic clove in there, but didn't do it this first time. According to some website recipes, the pickled peppers will take several weeks - so they are still sitting, biding their time. I'll taste them after 10 days or so to see how they are faring, but so far they are looking good.

jalapenos, salsa, collard kimchi, beets...

Chia seed porridge (keto)

I'm eating keto right now in the name of anti-inflammatory, low carb experimentation. I have eaten Whole30 and more strict paleo, but never keto, and it feels so different! Namely that I feel quite full and not at all snack-ish, and some days have so much energy that when I go for my daily walk I feel tempted to run?! Weird. Last week when I was up north I went for a hike on the superior hiking trail, and jaunted up and down the mountain, jumped in the very cold lake, and then bounded back up and down the hilly terrain again, all at a sprightly pace. I got back and thought, what the heck was that? Then it happened again the next day, and again today. I think it is ketosis aided by coconut oil.

This morning I ate this porridge, which is decidedly not as chewy as I might wish, but DID effectively do the energy thing. I prefer eggs and veggies for my brunch eating, but this was tasty and novel. And rich. No struggle to eat enough fat today! (I did eat more than half of it, so there is that.)

I followed a recipe I found online. I used pumpkin seeds instead of hemp seeds, and added some ground flax seed and salt. I also used more coconut milk than she does, and cream/water combo rather than almond milk. She lists all the nutritional info on her site.

Ingredients, serves 2 smaller bowls

• 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
  
• ¹/₄ cup walnut or pecan halves, chopped
• ¹/₄ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
  
• 2 tbsp whole chia seeds
  
• ¹/₄ cup heavy cream plus ¹/₄ cup water (or 1/2 c almond milk)
  
• ¹/₂ cup coconut milk
• ¹/₄ cup sunbutter
  
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
  
• ¹/₄ - ¹/₂ tsp turmeric
• ¹/₂ tsp cinnamon
  
• pinch ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp salt
• ¹/₄ cup ground flax seed (optional)
• stevia or sweetener as you like (optional)
  

1. Place the pumpkin seeds, chopped nuts and flaked coconut into a hot pan and roast for 1-3 minutes or until fragrant. Toss a few times to prevent burning. When browned/fragrant, set aside.

2.  In a small saucepan, mix the coconut milk, cream and water and heat over a medium heat. Once hot (not boiling), take off the heat. Add the almond butter and coconut oil, stir well. Add chia seeds, turmeric, cinnamon, salt, black pepper and any sweetener. Mix until well combined and set aside for 5-10 minutes. 

3.  Add half of the roasted mix from the bowl and any ground flax seed. Stir well. Spoon into bowls and sprinkle remaining roasted mix on top. Serve!

Gomen (Ethiopian Greens)

This week my friend and I are working remotely from the north shore, which was never possible for me pre-pandemic times, and feels pretty luxurious. The leaves are changing and it is really beautiful, and we've had delicious food and cooking and some good movie watching, primarily several Chadwick Boseman films. It has only been 2 years since I saw Black Panther, but I forgot SO MUCH of it! It helped that I knew the basic ending, so when I was stressed out mid-movie, forgetting what happened next, I ultimately knew it ended well. Which I cannot say for 2 of his other films that we watched, 42 and Marshall, which were both excellent and based on true events, so though I had some idea of the ending, it was not enough to not be stressed out!

My friend taught me how to make traditional gomen this week. The most notable thing about the dish is that the collards (or kale) are chopped/minced very fine to get the right texture/cooking. We ate them with some chicken and injera for maximum deliciousness, though I had some leftovers (chicken and gomen) sans injera with yogurt and a cucumber/tomato salad that were also great. *Note: I updated this recipe after cooking this together a 2nd time.

Gomen, serves 4-6

• 2 red onions, diced small
  
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 c Avocado oil (or oil of choice), plus more if needed
  
• 2 large bunches collards or kale
• opt seasoning: chicken bouillon cube
  
• salt and pepper
  
• 3-4 jalapenos, diced small (seeds too)

1. Prep your ingredients: chop and mince the onions, garlic, jalapenos and the greens. You could do all of these things in a food processor (separately), or by hand. If chopping by hand, remove the stem from the collards. Lay the green collard leaves on top of one another and make a tight role. Finely "chiffonade" the greens (meaning cut the role in fine slices, resulting in thin strips). Then take the chiffonade strips and turn them so you can cut them perpendicular to the first cuts to mince them. You want fine pieces of collards.

2. Heat a heavy saucepan over medium heat; add onions and saute until they start to release their juices and get soft (about 5 minutes). Add garlic to saute another 2 minutes. The mixture will get a bit gelatinous. Add avocado oil to keep things from sticking. Also add salt, pepper and any seasoning (bouillon cube, sometimes a dash of paprika and turmeric).

3. Add chopped greens. Saute and cook, stirring often, adding some more oil if needed. You do not add water here, despite maybe thinking about it. You want just enough oil so the greens don't stick to the pan.

4. Once the greens are soft and the whole dish seems like its glistening and delicious, add the jalapeno. Stir well, and heat another few minutes (or alternately turn heat to very low and finish other dishes you are preparing) and serve.

Liver on Grits with Ginger-Onion Confit and Greens

I spent the long weekend camping and harvesting wild rice, at a very slow pace because I am new to the activity, with many a mishap along the way! (Beginning the first day when my friend and I decided to rice at a closer lake than our ricing companions were at, so we ventured out without their tutelage, and push poled from the stern of the boat, rather than the bow. Which is a less stable and much more awkward way to go! 😂) To be on a lake, poling through thick rice, is like nothing I have done before. I'll save my musings for a future rice post, but suffice to say I am sore and grateful to have spent the weekend outside surrounded by beauty as the weather turned cool overnight. My car died on the way home yesterday, making the day quite long. I had enough time to drape the wet tent inside (it was raining out), eat some eggs, and get into bed by 9pm. So tonight when I finished work early, I decided to have wine and make a fancy dinner. Which feels quite perfect on this cool day, where fall seems around the corner, if not here already.

My dinner is based on a recipe from Culture Eatz that I've had saved for awhile. It is originally for polenta, which is so much like grits that I honestly don't really know the difference. I also made some cooked greens to add to the dish, and bacon. Which made this already somewhat indulgent dish even more so!! It was aces. Creamy grits, liver, fancy confit, greens AND bacon?! I mean, what is not to like here. So if you have a little time (at least an hour), settle in and make this dinner. 

I followed the recipe below very closely except for making this grits recipe (where I used butter and some cream, but no cheese or wine), and I only had red wine for the confit, which makes it look kind of weird. Next time I would maybe just use a little apple cider vinegar instead to keep the pale color - the ginger was so nice in there! I also didn't want to use sugar in the confit, so I used a chopped up a date or two instead and added them with the wine. Finally, I did not dredge my liver in flour, and instead just fried it in butter. (I also converted her recipe to American measurements, except for the polenta items, which are in blue.)

I did bake some bacon in the oven to crumble on top, and I made a side of greens where I sauteed some onions in coconut oil, added some garlic once the onions were soft, and then a bunch of chopped kale. I sprinkled water in the pan, put a lid on it to steam the greens, and cooked until the greens were soft. I seasoned with smoky salt. 

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb lamb (or calf) liver (I used chicken b/c that is what I had)
  
• 1 large onion
• 1.25 inch fresh ginger
• 1/2 c white wine (I only had red)
  
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1 clove garlic
• 250 ml milk
• 100 g polenta (corn meal)
• 25 g parmesan
• 1 rhubarb stalk (or 30 sour cherries, 30 cranberries or a tart apple)
• 4 sprigs sage
• flour* opt
  
• sugar* opt
  
• pepper
• salt
• oil
• butter

Instructions:

For the ginger-onion confit: Peel the onion and ginger. Cut into thin matchsticks. In a small pot put the onions and ginger with 2 tbsp water and a pinch of salt. Cook covered over a low heat until soft for about 30 minutes. You do not want it to brown. Add 100 ml of white wine, bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer for 30 minutes uncovered, stirring regularly, or until almost all the liquid as evaporated. Season confit with a good pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of sugar. Mix well and set aside. Note: you can move on to the other components of this recipe when you start your 2nd simmer.

For the crispy sage: Pick 14 nice leaves from the sprigs. Heat a bit of oil in a pan, once the oil is hot fry the leaves until completely crispy but not too browned. They are ready when the leave have gone all dark green. Drain on paper towels and set aside. 

For the liver: Cut the liver into thin slices and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in the same pan you fried the sage in. Drench the liver slices in flour and roast in the pan until cooked put still pink inside. Place the liver on an oven-safe plate and keep warm in the oven set at 160 F.

For the tart fruit: Cut rhubarb into slices and add it very shortly to the pan where the liver was roasted in. You just want to soften a bit, no more. Season with a pinch sugar, remove from the heat and set aside.

For the polenta: Place the crushed garlic and thyme in a cheesecloth and tie with string or a rubber band, cut of extra material. Bring 250 ml water, 250 ml milk, the remaining 50 ml white wine, the garlic and thyme package, and a large pinch of salt to a boil. Lower heat to low and discard the cheesecloth package. While stirring constantly and vigorously, add the polenta to the pot and cook until thickened. If the polenta is thick add more milk, you want a silky and malleable polenta. Add 1 tbsp butter and the grated parmesan and mix. Season with salt to taste. *Or make grits instead, which I find easier.

Assemble: Ladle polenta into two bowls (on top of greens, if using) and top with liver slices. Spoon onion confit on the liver, garnish with rhubarb and crispy sage (and bacon if using). Serve immediately while still warm. 

Meat Stuffed Eggplant (Garni Yarikh)

This is another Bottom of the Pot recipe. It was perfect comfort food to me on this cooler, summer day. I have been attending a virtual training about complex trauma the past several days, specifically around narcissism and how it underlies all of the destructive things we do: loving the image we have of ourselves, and hating what is really there. It is a bit, um, intense. So comfort food seems pretty nice! 

*Also nice was my walk yesterday evening in the warm wind just after sunset, passing two little girls in hijabs singing out really loudly towards the lake as they trailed behind their dad. They were singing a song from Moana, which I watched a month or two ago and loved, about the light on the sea being blinding and calling them. I found the whole scene such a delight.

I love roasted eggplant, and this recipe really takes it to a whole new level. Author Naz Deravian says that Garni Yarikh is Turkish for "split belly," referring to the eggplant. Her words about this dish are more enticing than any I could come up with: "This is the kind of dish that seduces and beckons as silky eggplant collapses into well-browned and delicately spiced meat, all simmering over a rich tomato-based sauce." I was won over by Naz (meaning to buy her cookbook) after hearing her read her mom's poetry and witnessing her emotion about it. Persians and poetry, man. Talk about seduce and beckon!

For this recipe, I also got to use all garden produce except the onion. My garlic is now officially cured, and I selected some nice big bulbs for this recipe. This year, I grew a few different varieties of eggplant, and harvested several of these thinner long ones in the last week or so, which are ideal for this recipe. I also have a handful of palm sized ones, and I was a little short, so I used one of those too. 

Incidentally, while doing my garden plot rotation of refilling the water barrels last week, I saw that someone is growing okra. I have never seen okra grow before, and I found it so stunning I had to go back and look at it again. Next year: Okra!

Split eggplant, oiled and ready to roast

Serves 4-6

• 6 Italian or baby eggplants (about 2 pounds)
• 1/2 C olive oil, divided
• 10 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 yellow onion, finely diced
• kosher salt
• 1 pound ground beef
• 6 T tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• ground black pepper
• 1/2 bunch parsley, tough stems trimmed, chopped
• 1/2 c cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Peel the eggplant in stripes, with the stem and cap on. Leaving 1" on the top and bottom, cut a shallow split lengthwise in the belly of the eggplant, without piercing through, stopping about 1" from the bottom. Place the eggplant in a large bowl and drizzle a little olive oil in each slit, and sprinkle generously with salt. Rub olive oil all over the rest of the eggplant, and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Place the eggplant on a baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes, until fork-tender. Set aside to cool.

While the eggplant roasts, prepare the filling. Bring a kettle of water to a boil and keep it at a simmer. In a large pan, heat 1/4 cup olive oil over med-low heat. Add the garlic and cook very gently, constantly stirring until slightly softened, but taking care it doesn't take on any color, about 5 minutes. Transfer the garlic to a small bowl and set aside. Using the garlicky oil in the pan, turn the heat up to medium and add the onions. Cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle with a little salt, turn up to med high, add the meat, and brown for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook with the meat for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the spices plus 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Give a stir and add 1/2 c water from the kettle. Reduce the heat to med-low and cook until the meat is cooked through and all the flavors come to life, about 5 minutes.Taste and make delicious. Remove from heat and stir in the garlic and parsley.

Eggplant boats

With a fork, gently push the eggplant flesh to either side, making room for the filling, and sprinkle with a little more salt. Fill each eggplant with about 2 T of the filling, depending on the eggplant size. You will have filling left over in the pan. Place the pan back on the stove over med heat, add the cherry tomatoes and 1/2 cup more water from the kettle. Give a stir, and bring to a good simmer. Taste and add more salt or spices as needed. Gently nestle the eggplant boats in the sauce, spoon a little sauce over the eggplant, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook until the tomatoes collapse and release their juices, and the eggplant is completely tender and everything is luscious, 35-45 minutes. Garnish with parlsey and serve.

Post simmering, eggplants all nestled in with the sauce.

Sumac Tea

My recent days have been busy! And they have been hot, which means less cooking and more salads. I am preparing to go wild ricing for the first time soon, and have been busy making a push pole and knockers and assembling the appropriate materials. On my way home from Fleet Farm, I remembered a big sumac stand by the river, so I stopped to gather some. It is definitely later than optimal - you can see that some of the red has washed away in the rains of proceeding weeks. The sumac spice is actually the hair/fibers on the berries, which are what make the clumps so fire red. From what I have read, you want to look for the time when the sumac is bright red, before any big rains. It is usually later July to September during a time of high heat. (Note that there is a poison sumac variety but it has white berries, so you will not be confused.) To harvest, cut the berry cluster at the base - collect several clusters.

I am drying some of the berry clusters (above) in an attempt at making the spice, and I also made Sumac tea. It is delicious! Sumac is very high in vitamin C and used for all kinds of medicinal purposes by indigenous people for a long time. The tea is a nice lime flavor, earning it a nickname of "Indian lemonade" - especially if you add a bit of honey or maple syrup.

Place 3-4 clumps of sumac in a large jar (I used a 2 quart jar) and cover with cold water. Leave to sit for several hours to a couple of days. Some people suggest putting it out in the sun like sun tea, others say the counter is fine - I just left mine on the counter because it was later in the day when I began the process. Strain out the berries/clumps with a strainer or cheesecloth and drink. Yum!

I forgot to take a photo until after I already drank some. So the jar is partially empty - ha!

Mixed Bean Salad

This week I paged through my Jerusalem cookbook for some inspirations, and landed on this lovely yellow and green bean salad that includes lots of garden herbs and capers. It was delicious and would make a really great salad to bring to some kind of potluck event because in addition to being tasty and herbacious, it looks really good and is best served at room temp. 

My general go-to for green beans is to steam them, coat them in butter, salt and nutritional yeast, and eat. This was a bit fussier, which I found pleasant. My mom sat at the table and prepared the herbs and green beans while I chopped the peppers, dried the capers, and boiled the beans for the appropriate number of minutes before "refreshing" them in ice water. (My mom is also working on a puzzle, which you can see in the corner of the photo. These are good activities for someone who cannot put weight on one leg and is currently confined to my 600 square foot house due to stairs at each door!)

Bean salad along with open faced BLT on my tiny pieces of Teff sourdough toast!

I followed this recipe pretty closely, except the following: I did not want to turn on the oven, so rather than roast the red peppers I sauteed them on the stove top; I used my garden peppers, which were 2 banana peppers and 1 mini red pepper that was a bit spicy; I did not have green onions and instead dug up green onion too-big bulbs from the garden and chopped those up. :)

Serves 4

• 10 oz yellow beans, trimmed (if unavailable, double the green bean amt)
• 10 oz green beans, trimmed
• 2 red peppers cut into 1/4" strips
• 3 T olive oil, plus 1 tsp for the peppers
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
• 6 T capers, rinsed and patted dry
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/3 c tarragon, coarsely chopped
• 2/3 c chervil leaves, or a mix of dill and parsley (I had the latter)
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pan with plenty of water to a boil and add the yellow beans. After 1 minute add the green beans and cook another 4 minutes, until cooked through but still crunchy. Refresh under ice-cold water, drain, pat dry, and place in a large mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, toss the peppers in 1 tsp olive oil and saute on a cast iron skillet until tender, about 5 minutes. Add to the bowl with the cooked beans.

Heat the 3 T olive oil in the skillet, or a small saucepan. Add the garlic and cook for 20 seconds; add the capers and fry another 15 seconds. Add the cumin and coriander seeds and fry another 15 seconds. The garlic should have turned golden by now. (If, like me, you used a cast iron, these times are too short and the garlic is not yet golden. That took a lot longer.) Remove from the heat and pour contents over the beans. Toss and add the onions, herbs, lemon zest, a 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper. Serve, or keep refrigerated for up to a day. Bring back to room temp before serving.