Follow me on Twitter Lacto-fermented Asparagus
This is my first try at lacto-fermenting asparagus. I used the general lacto-fermenting recipe from the Nourishing Traditions book.
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Someone asked the question – “can I make sweet pickles wihout refined white sugar?”
In the book “Eat Fat, Lose Fat” by Sally Fallon, she has a recipe for Lacto-Fermented Sweet Pickles that calls for honey or maple syrup.
Lacto-Fermented Sweet Pickles
7 cups thinly sliced pickling cucumbers
1 cup thinly sliced mild onion
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup Homemade Whey
1 cup honey or maple syrup
3 T. sea salt
1-2 T. celery seeds
2 tsp. turmeric
1 T. yellow mustard seeds
In a lg. bowl, mix cucumbers with onions and place in a 2 qt – sized wide-mouthed mason jars, pressing down lightly with a pounder or meat hammer. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over cucumbers, adding more water if necessary to cover. Keep the top of the liquid 1 inch below the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature 2 days then refrigerate.
This year we tried all kinds of cucumbers soaked overnight in pickling lime. The pickles were very nice and crispy, crunchy. This seemed to work well with the lacto-fermenting.
Has anyone else tried soaking cucumbers in lime then lacto-fermenting?
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Jul 212010
One Jar at a Time.
Recipe for 1 pint jar of lacto-fermented dill relish.
1 cucumber, about 7 inches
1/4 cup onion, organic
1/4 cup green pepper, organic
1/2 tsp Real Salt
1/4 tsp mustard seed
1/4 tsp dill seed
1/4 tsp dill weed
1 Tblsp whey
1/8 tsp tumeric
Coarsely grate the cucumber, (for 1 jar I seeded it, the other jar I did not) chop the onion and the green pepper into tiny pieces. Stir in remaining ingredients, mix together. Spoon into a pint canning jar leaving 1/2 inch head room. This mixture will bubble up slightly (some more than others) meaning that the lacto-fermentation process is working. Put the lid on lightly. Leave out in the counter for 24 hours. Tighten lid to store in cool place (the fridge or celler)
I have found that the rubber seal on the canning lids keeps the air out of my lacto-fermented foods. When I store them with a non-airtight lid, they turn a darker color on top. With my saurkraut I just took a fork and romoved the top layer of kraut and ate the rest. Not at one sitting. Lacto-fermented foods are made to eat in small quantities.
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Jul 062010
Goal: Lacto-Ferment Zucchini
This July my kitchen will be busy with the harvest from my garden. I have exchanged my old heat canning methods with lacto-fermentation. I like it better because I can preserve my veggies one jar at a time instead of a huge batch. When I would wait to get enough cucumbers to make a heat canned pickle batch, the first cucumber would start to go bad (a problem with a small garden).
Sauerkraut and Kraut slaw with peppers
Pickled Cucumbers dill or spicy
Now I looking for a recipe to lacto-ferment zucchini. Can anyone help? Have you lacto-fermented zucchini before? What other lacto-fermenting have you tried?
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.
Feb 272010
Here it is a winter snow storm. I am anxiously awaiting spring and getting into my garden. And I am enjoying the taste of my garden lacto-fermented. I have just a little left in this jar, the last one with peppers.
Lacto-Fermented Sauerkraut
One head of organic cabbage shredded
2 large organic carrots shredded
1 organic pepper chopped into small pieces
1 Tablespoon Real salt
3 Tablespoons whey (I use the kefir whey from making cottage cheese, it is stronger than cream cheese whey)
Pound the cabbage in a bowl for 10 mins until the jucies release. Mix in the remaining ingredients. Spoon into quart jars pressing all the vegetables down below the liquid. Add more liquid if necessary. Leave an inch head room. Cover tightly and allow to sit at room temperature for 3 days then place in cold storage. I let them sit in a container because they have overflowed. When the jars sit the liquid may bubble.
My grandmother made this when my mother was young. My mother enjoyed eating again.
We eat this on Rueben Sandwiches, as a side dish with beef or sausage, and on salads. I make a special salad in the summer with my fresh garden veggies. We eat this with German Potato Soup. I never cook the saurkraut because I want to keep all the nutrients. Kraut Salad
I harvested two buckets of tomato’s from my garden that needed to be used. I froze as many containers of tomato sauce as would fit into my freezer. Now what?
I decided to try lacto-fermented ketchup. That is a stretch for me. I have never made ketchup before and I didn’t have a recipe using fresh ingredients. I adapted one from Nourishing Traditions and my grandmothers old recipes.
I boiled a pot of water to remove the tomato skins. I put the skinless tomatoes in the blender and poured them into a large pot. They cooked all day and reduced to about 1/3 of the original amount. I added 1 cup of maple syrup, onion powder, and salt. After it cooled to room temperature, I added 1/4 cup of whey, poured into glass jars, and let them sit at room temperature for 48 hours before transferring to the refrigerator.
My kids actually ate it. Whew! They dipped their chicken in it, ate it with hamburgers, and put it on their fried potatoes. I also made Sloppy Joe’s with it and they loved it. I didn’t tell them it was ketchup. I called it Tomato Dipping Sauce. I didn’t want them to have ketchup in their mind when they tried it because this is not like our bottled ketchup. It reminded me of the ketchup in Europe. It actually tastes like tomatoes.
I also use this ketchup in Hamburger Rice and Beans.
Jun 292009
Lacto-fermented Pickles
This is my first jar of pickles for this year. Yea! I actually have cucumbers and dill ready in my garden at the same time. Lacto-fermenting is great for pickling just one jar at a time. When I heat canned pickles I had to wait until I have 3 lbs of cucumbers ready at the same time. Plus I have to set aside a large span of time for processing. And have all the other necessary ingredients ready, including jars and new lids.
With lacto-fermentation I am able to pick a few cucumbers, slice into a jar, add the other ingredients, and let sit on my counter for 2 days. The lids are not sealed.
These pickles are a healthy snack packed full of nutrients ready for the winter months.
