Miso! Our favorite wintery ferment!

Winter is here and it's time to get in the kitchen to make one of our favorite ferments...MISO! Traditionally, started in the winter months miso is a ferment that take some time if you want a nice mature miso but, we promise you it's so worth it! Here's our basic Red Miso recipe, perfect to start fermenting at this time of year, and even better for eating! We love mugs of miso for breakfast in the winter months.

RED MISO

1 cup Dry blackbeans                                                                                                1 cup Koji                                                                                                                  4 Teaspoons Sea salt                                                                                               

1. Soak beans overnight. (you could swap out black beans for adzuki beans)

2. Cook using a pressure cooker (~20 minutes) or in a pot until soft. If you don't have a pressure cooker, just cook in a regular stock pot until soft.

3. Drain the beans, but save the liquid!!! (do not forget this step!)

4. Make a brine using 1/2 cup of the bean liquid and dissolve half the salt into it.

5. While waiting for the liquid to cool, mash the beans into a smooth paste. Make sure to fully get the hulls broken up.

6. When brine is below 105 degrees, mix in seed miso from a previous made batch of miso or store bought miso. If you don't have any seed miso, no worries! You can still make a perfectly great miso without it!

7. Take the mixture and mix into the koji. * note to make sure the temp is below 100 degrees so that you don't kill the mold spores from the koji.

8. Add the mashed beans and stir well.

9. Create a consistency of regular miso by adding as much mixing liquid as needed.

10. “Grease” the sides of the miso crock with a bit of sea salt. We like to shake a little bean juice around the jar and empty it and then sprinkle salt around the entire jar. (1/2 - 1 tsp of salt)

11. Add the miso to the crock or jar taking care to smash it in fully to the container so that no air bubbles remain. Lightly tapping the jar on a towel on top of a table helps with this too.

12. Sprinkle salt on top of the miso and cover with seaweed and wax paper.

15. Cover the miso with a cloth bag, cheesecloth in multiple layers, or a thin hand towel and rubberband to keep the flies out. It will be sitting for months (or years if you want.)

16. Label and date your miso.  We like to ferment ours for a year or longer. One year in miso fermentation is actually 9 months! The summer months are considered double months.

17. When your ready to harvest your miso, scrape off the top funky layer until you hit a nice colored miso. It will smells yeasty and a lot like hops.                      

18. At this point you can chose to eat the miso in the more chunky state or you can throw it into a food processor so that it's more like a miso paste that you might by in the store from a commercial miso company. Either way works so do what you prefer.

19. Store it in the fridge and eat / enjoy!

DIY : Sauerkraut 101

We've recently had a lot of inquiries about how to make Sauerkraut. So here is a basic DIY on making Sauerkraut from our Chief Fermentationist, Cheryl Paswater in conjunction with CoreNeeds NYC. They are an amazing organization that brings resources and awareness to families dealing with Autism. They are huge fans of the fermentation community and we are of them as well! 

http://coreneedsnyc.com/episode/sauerkraut-part-1/

Click the link above to check it out! They have other amazing resources on there as well, including some great food demos by our friend Jessica Van Kipp!

The Human Microbiome: How to keep your gut happy!

Contraband Ferments is excited to be hosting a new series of blogs this year! We will keep posting recipes and DIY fermentation for you, but we are also adding a series of blogs dedicated to the Human Microbiome, Gut Health, Herbal Medicine, and more!

Our first blog of 2016 is by the amazing Karen Puyleart. Karen and her husband started their cooking blog, Purely Primal, in 2010 after changing their diet in 2009.  She is currently working toward her Masters in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine. And is based in Vancouver, Washington.

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The Human Microbiome: How to keep your gut happy!

A major key to great health is keeping our guts happy!  Did you know that over 70% of our immune system is in the gut? Our gut is home to trillions of bacteria who help us to digest food, produce energy, and support our immune system, just to name a few of the important jobs they do. However, there are many things that can damage our gut flora and this in turn keeps our bodies from functioning at an optimal level.  

Besides a poor diet, many other effects can hinder our guts. These include, medications, chronic stress, chronic infections, lack of sleep, toxins in products we use, and toxins in the air we breathe.  When gut health is compromised then nutrients cannot be properly synthesized, too much oxidative stress is created, and enzyme activity can become impaired.  Basically, our cells become unhealthy and in turn we get issues such as autoimmune diseases, chronic infections, allergies, brain dysfunction, acne, and hormone dysregulation. This is a very short list of problems that can occur.  There is so much more.  This is why attention to our guts cannot be overlooked.  

As a nation, we are not getting better. The U.S. has one of the highest cancer rates in the world. Over 65% of American’s are overweight or obese with 1/3 of all diabetes diagnoses being in teens.  Junk food is everywhere, is easily accessible, and the quality is poor.  However, I feel with attention to just these five areas below, our health can improve tremendously.  Below are a few simple ideas in each of these categories that can help get you started on a journey to better health.  This is my own personal take on what has helped me and others who have sought my help and here I share it with you. I hope you can learn a few things from it to gain a better understanding of your own health.   

Food – Eat anti-inflammatory, nutrient-dense foods. This means lots of vegetables, fruit, lean protein, good fats, herbs, spices, lactofermented sauerkraut, and drinking lots of water.  Avoid junk food, food that comes in a box, sugar, gluten, dairy, and GMO foods.  Plan meals for the week. Keep a food diary to watch for patterns.

Sleep – 8 hours is recommended for recovery for our brain, recovery from exercises, more energy, and strengthening of immune system. A few tips for better sleep are avoiding both electronics and eating right before bed.

Stress- To reduce stress, a few tips are to schedule some personal time for yourself each week, consider meditation, and perform random acts of kindness!

Exercise – Exercise keeps us healthy and feeling younger.  To get more, schedule workouts like anappointment, find a friend to exercise with you, and if you have a sedentary job try to move each hour.

Environment – Toxins are all around in the beauty products we use, the air we breathe, and the foods and medication we put into our body. A few ways to reduce toxins are to stop smoking, avoid drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, research ingredients in the products you buy, know where your food comes from, recycling, and reusing.

Here’s to a more healthful you!

Cheryl's Kimichi

KIMCHI

1 medium sided napa cabbage
1/4 cups daikon chopped                                                                                                         1/4 cup Radish chopped
1 carrot chopped
1/4 cup onion chopped
1 cloves garlic chopped
1/3 cup chili paste (I like to use Mazi's Piri Piri Sauce)
1 tablespoon grated turmeric                                                                                                    1/4 cup chopped scallions                                                                                                              1/2 cup fish sauce (optional)                                                                                                                                      1 tablespoons grated ginger                                                                                                     1-2 tablespoons sea salt

In a large bowl take the napa cabbage and cut it into 1" pieces (you can variate this on your personal preference). Chop the daikon, radishes, carrots, onions, and scallions...again chop how you prefer (circles, half circles, match sticks, grated)...the key is to try to keep things around the same size. Add the scallions, ginger, turmeric, garlic, and sea salt and mix it all together. Try to make sure that all the the vegetables have come in contact with salt. You'll see the veggies start to sweat and then add the chili paste. Mix everything together well and pack it in into a jar / crock. Make sure to really pack it in. Put a lid on it and let it ferment for two weeks or up to 3 months.

Notes:  You can also variate this kimichi. I recently added broccoli to my kimchi, a friend of mine at Cultures Group recently did a cauliflower kimchi which was nice. Play with it. I also like to taste my kimchi to make sure it has enough salt so, taste test as you go along. It should taste salty like a potato chip.

Thanksgiving and Cheryl's Miso Gravy

I have to give a shout out to Summer Bock because I stole this recipe from her and then changed it make it my own.

Thanksgiving.

This year I was playing part of a Friendsgiving in the neighborhood and I was thinking about what I wanted to make and the list was lengthy; bacon dijion brussel sprouts, braised greens with ume plum vinegar, cranberry apple sauce, and GRAVY! Since I don't eat gluten and I don't eat much dairy and I wasn't sure if there would be any vegetarians I figured this was a sure fire way to meet the needs of everyone, squeeze in another ferment, and throw a little wow factor into the mix. The gravy turned out amazing...everyone loved it and my roommate said he would do anything I want if I would make biscuits from scratch that we could have the gravy with it. I plan on testing that out this week. Here's the recipe...

Cheryl's Miso Gravy (adapted from Summer Bock's recipe)

3 TBSP Brown Rice Flour
2.5 C water
2 TBSP miso paste (Sweet Brown Rice Miso)                                                                                                              3 TBSP coconut oil

Dissolve miso in a little water in a saucepan. Add the remainder of the water and keep on low heat. In a separate frying pan heat oil over medium heat and stir in brown rice flour. Cook while stirring constantly with a flat spoon or whisk for about 5 minutes. Watch as the flour starts to golden brown. Add the broth and stir until gravy reaches desired consistency. Add salt & pepper. For an additional twist throw in a pinch of rosemary.

NOTE: Summer recommends using a red, brown or hatcho miso to get the desired flavor. I tried it three different ways and the Sweet Brown Rice miso was my favorite.

Boston Fermentation Festival 2015

I'll be quick to admit off the bat that I am very delayed in my blogging. It's been an amazing fall so far and I've gotten to spend A LOT of time with fellow fermenters...which is something I am very grateful for. Back in October my friend and NYC Ferments partner in crime Zack Schulman and I took off from Brooklyn to Boston to attend the Boston Fermentation Festival spear headed by the super awesome Jeremy Ogusky.

This years event was held at the new Public Market and we spent the day making new friends, talking fermentation, sitting in on workshops, and eating...lots of eating! We met up with our friends Angela Davis (Just Food & NYC Ferments) and Michaela Hayes (also of NYC Ferments & Crock & Jar) and attended the workshops of Karen Solomon (http://ksolomon.com/), Kirsten Shockey (http://www.fermentista.us/), Amanda Feifer (http://phickle.com/), and the amazing Chef Geoffrey Lucas (http://boston.eater.com/2015/10/6/9467029/geoff-lukas-rip) who sadly passed away just a couple weeks after the festival. It was a honor to get to spend time amoungst these amazing people and to learn from them.

Some of my favorite inspirations of the day were the fermented butternut squash, the hops kombucha, loads of kimchi, brine shots with Hosta Hills, a fermented and dehydrated yogurt pellet soup by Geoff Lucas, and then the people. Nothing like a massive Kraut Mob to get your morning! Can't wait for next year!

Pumpkin Kombucha

It's one of my favorite times of yeah, fall in New York. I live across the street from a beautiful park and botanic gardens and I've been spending a lot of time sitting on my fire escape taking in the beautiful colors and smells of the season. Nostalgic, peaceful, and also inspiring and as I was sitting on my fire escape the other day I was thinking about beer and all the pumpkin ales and brews coming out and I was reminded that it was time to bring back on of my personal favorites...my pumpkin kombucha. Contraband did this last year for our Fermentation CSA and it was a hit for our customers as well. So here is our basic kombucha recipe and how we make our pumpkin kombucha. Especially perfect if you can't drink beer.

KOMBUCHA

Recipe makes 1 gallon

Bring 1 gallon (+ 1 Quart) of water to a boil. Once boiling add 6 teabags (green, black or oolong tea). Add 1.5 cups of sugar. Stir well. Cover with a lid and let steep for 8 hours or overnight.  Strain the contents and make sure the liquid is luke warm to cool. Add 1 cup of kombucha liquid from a previous batch, store bought kombucha, or if you don't have these things it's ok it will still ferment. Pour into a large jar (glass is always best) and add the scoby. Cover with a cloth and rubberband. Write the date on your jar. Let ferments for 10-14 days.

SECOND FERMENT: PUMPKIN

Once your kombucha is to your desired taste you can move on to your second ferment. Remove your scoby and store in a Scoby Motel (seperate jar with liquid) and add 1.5 cups of pumpkin (roasted whole and scraped out, canned pumpkin works too). We then add 5 cloves, 2 star anise, 2 cinnamon sticks to the jar. Stir it all up well and then put a lid on and lock it tight. You're gonna let it sit and ferment another 2-3 days. This will also the kombucha to take on the flavors of the pumpkin and spices but, also will allow for the kombucha to carbonate. You'll want to be sure to release the carbonation build up from the jar once daily so you don't end up with a kombucha bomb. Once you like the taste you can filter everything through a mess strainer, bottle, and put in the fridge to enjoy.

Pickles!!!

PICKLES!

One of my favorite foods in the world! I love them. Vinegar, no vinegar, spicy, half sours, I love them all. But, I my ultimate favorite are my probiotic half sours. I could eat them for days...okay...I do eat them for days. So good. Here is my personal recipe for making perfect half sour pickles and some secret tricks of the trade because I've had many pickle flops.

1) Cucumbers: my preferred choice is Kirby Cucumbers...any kind of pickling cucumber is best.

2) Large jars: Ball jars, glass jars, crock

3) Spices: peppercorns, red chili flakes, garlic cloves, corriander seeds, mustard seeds, pink peppercorns, fresh dill, whatever you choose!

4) Soak the cucumbers in a bath of ice waters for a couple hours.

5) Trim the stem edge of the cucumber and prick one small hole in the side of the cucumber.

6) Put the spices in the bottom of the jar. Push the pickles into the jar, attempting to allow them to hold each other in the jar. Make sure to leave some space (2-3 inches) at the top of the jar for activity from the bacteria.

7) Make a salt water brine solution to cover the pickles. For 1 gallon of pickles you will want a 4% brine solution which = 8 Tablespoons of salt per gallon of water. Then add four tablespoons of white vinegar. This helps to balance out the PH.

8) Pour solution over the pickles. Cover with a lid. And put in a cool, dark space to ferment.

9) Pickles can take anywhere from 2 days to two weeks. Sandor Katz taught me that the minute the brine solution turns foggy the pickles are done and it's time to put them in the fridge.

10) Enjoy!

Fermented Tart Cherries

FERMENTED TART CHERRIES

1) Wash the cherries and then pit and remove all stems from the sour cherries. (a cherry pitter really is the best way to do this)

2) Weigh the sour cherries. Add an equal amount, by weight, of sugar. Stir well. Let sit 2 hours. The sugar will begin to dissolve and combine with the cherry juices to form a syrup. Stir one more time.

3) Put the cherries into a jar, crock, or other non-metal vessel. Pack them in and try to get the air bubbles out and then weight the cherries down. I like to use traditional crock weights, glass ash trays, river rocks, a plate or other.

Also, sometimes I like to add other spices into this mix. Cinnamon sticks, bay leaf, ginger root, orange zest...all nice compliments to these fermented cherries.

4) Let it ferment for 2 - 4 weeks. In the hotter summer months it might be less time. (Mine took a week this last time around!) Once they are bubbly and smell amazing they are ready. Scrape off the top layer of cherries, throw in the fridge and enjoy! I like to eat these over homemade coconut ice cream, as a raw tart dessert, or in a kefir smoothie. Yum!

Fermented Garlic Scape & Almond Pesto

This is one of my favorite ferments to make in the summer! The minute scapes come out I start hoarding them like they are candy. I absolutely love them. Here's my Garlic Scape and Almond Pesto Recipe. Perfect for those who are dairy free / vegan and perfect for pasta, rice dishes, and as a marinade / meat run. I rub this stuff all over a nice steak the other day and it was amazing!

2 cups raw almonds (soaked)

2 pounds garlic scapes

1 bunch Italian parsley

(optional) 1 bunch Basil

Sea Salt (4 tsp)

Start off by trimming the dense hard ends off the scapes. I then like to cut them up into 2 inch pieces in a bowl. Next I add all the scapes into a food processor and strain most of the water off the almonds and pour them into the food processor. I add the parsley, basil (optional), sea salt, and process it until it's a paste. If it's looking a little dry you can add a little water at a time. It's going to be a dense paste (sorta like toothpaste). Fill your jar making sure to push down the paste and get out any air bubbles. Throw a lid on top and store in a cool dark place. I find my pesto is ready generally between 5 and 14 days pending on the heat and humidity. Then I put it in the fridge and have it eat for months. I made a half gallon jar last summer and it lasted me all winter Yum!

Sourdough Crackers

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup unfed starter from the refrigerator
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil (or butter or olive oil, but I prefer coconut oil for the flavor and aroma)
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• olive oil for topping
• extra coarse salt for topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Combine starter and coconut oil in a glass bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking soda.

3. Add dry ingredients to bowl with wet ingredients. Combine. If necessary, knead the dough a few times to incorporate the last bit of flour. Cover bowl with a plate or towel and let rest overnight or for at least eight hours to develop flavor.

4. After the dough has rested for 8 hours, divide it into two halves on a generously floured surface.

5. Roll the dough out two to three millimeters thick. Sprinkle with flour between rollings to prevent dough from sticking to surface.

6. Transfer the dough to Silpat-lined cookie sheets or lightly greased cookie sheets. Using a pastry brush, brush sheet of dough with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt.

7. Cut into rectangles with a pizza cutter. Do cut with sharp objects if using a Silpat.

8. Bake for 8 minutes, turn trays and bake 8 minutes longer. Crackers are done when crispy and slightly browned.

9. Transfer crackers to a rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Fermented Dandelion Stems

I love spring. The sun is out more, people are out on their bikes, walking with their loved ones, and all the plants are starting to come up. And for me I get pretty excited about dandelion! Sometimes I forage for the flowers and I use them to make Dandelion Mead, other times I forage some of the greens in Prospect Park, and other times I buy a nice fresh bunch from the Food Coop and when I do, I have lots of thick fiberous stems to deal with. Do I cook them? Do I put them in the compost? Nope. I ferment them! So, here is my quick and easy probiotic rich Fermented Dandelion Stem recipe!

- Dandelion Stems

- 1 quart jar

- Red chili flakes

- Garlic cloves

- Lemon

- Sea Salt

First, I chop off the big stems at the bottom of the leaves. I like my stems like big chunks...sorta like eating pickles. In the bottom of a quart jar I put 1 garlic clove, a pinch of red chili flakes, and then take 1/2 a lemon and squeeze the juice in and plop the entire 1/2 in the jar. Next I line the stems up inside the jar until I can't fit anymore. I then dissolve 2 tbs of sea salt in a small shot of hot water. And then add that to a jar of cold water and then I pour it over the stems into the jars until the stems are covered. You can then cover it with a cloth and rubber band, a lid, or in my case I used an airlock.

I let mine ferment for about two weeks and waited for the brine to get foggy. You could let yours go longer it you like. I find the best way to know if you want to stop a ferment is to open the jar and taste it every few days while it ferments. This way you can see the flavor develop and make it how you like it best.

Smoked Sauerkraut

I don't know about you, but I LOVE sauerkraut! Not only do I love sauerkraut, I love that smokey, salty, tangy thing you get when you eat barbeque. So, this is my smoked sauerkraut recipe. Just in time for spring and summer BBQ's! Pair it with sausage or hot dogs, or in my case I like to eat it with a nice bit of brisket! Mmmmm...

You can purchase smoked salt from various sources. (I buy mine direct from a woman in Brooklyn who grows the salt and smokes it herself. )

Ingredients:

- 2 heads of cabbage (I love Dutchman Cabbage!)

- 1 yellow onion

- Sea salt & smoked salt

First you are going to chop or shred (if you have a food processor) all of your cabbage. I like to cut my cabbages in half, and then make a big V where the core is so that I can cut it out. Then I usually cut each half of cabbage in half again and then slice it into thin strips. Try to keep your strips around the same size, then I like to pick through it and get out any really fibrous bits, and then make sure the layers of cabbage are pulling apart. This is important so that when we go to add our salt, we are sure to get salt on all parts of the shredded cabbage.

I then chop my onion so the slices are a similar size to my cabbage. I add it all together into a large bowl.

Next, I add about 1/2 tsp of the smoked salt (it's very strong!) and 1 tbs of regular sea salt.

Mix it all into the cabbage and onion mixture. I like to really dig into the bottom of the bowl and get it mixed well. I also crunch and massage the cabbage as I mix things. You will start to see the vegetables sweat and this is a good sign because you are allowing the naturally occurring brine to develop. Give it a taste test and see if you like the taste. If it tastes like a salty potato chip then you are good on the salt factor.

Take a quart jar or larger jar if you have it and put a couple handfuls of the cabbage into the jar. Take your hand and make a fist and press the cabbage down into the jar. Add some more cabbage and press it down. You are going to repeat this process until you are about two inches from the top of the jar. You should see the brine start to rise up. We want enough brine to cover the entirety of the cabbage. No cabbage should be exposed to air. I like to find a jar that fits inside the quart jar and fill that with water and a lid and use it as a weight to keep the cabbage submerged below the brine. Then I cover the jar with a thin towel, old t-shirt, or anything to keep critters / bugs out. With some tape I put the date on the jar and then we wait. Alternative options to the towel method would be to ferment with a lid on the jar or to use a airlock. All these methods are fine and I don't believe one is better than the other.

You're going to want to wait 2-6 weeks for your sauerkraut to be ready to eat. Check on it every few days, give it a taste, when you like it then you can eat it. I like my krauts around 4-6 weeks and then I generally put them in the fridge. You can ferment them longer if you like. Fermentation is not an exact science. And that's why we love it!

Scoby Jerky

I'm always looking for ways to reinvent the wheel or for ways to utilize as many of components of something...like buying a whole chicken and using ALL of the chicken from the meat, to the bones...you get the idea.

As I have been preparing for a kombucha workshop this week I've been thinking about what new things I might present to the students. Normally, I give out a recipe for making Kombucha Soap, I talk about using pieces of scoby as a live bandage, but I wanted something new. I have a million scoby mamas hanging around my Brooklyn apartment. Some get saved as backups, or sold, most end up in the compost bin. Waste. I don't care for waste. Which led me to doing some research and coming up with this Scoby Jerky recipe. (Note: for those of you coming to the workshop at Pels Pie Co. this Thursday you are in for a treat!)

Here's my recipe:

- Take your scoby(s) and cut it up in to jerky sized strips. (Remember they will shrink when you go to dehydrate them)

- Marinade (adjust according to how many scobys you use) :  I used a combination of Gluten Free Tamari (appx 1/4 cup), 1/2 cup of kombucha, 1/2 tsp red chili flakes, 1/2 tsp grated ginger root, 2 garlic cloves (minced), 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 

- Put the cut up scobys in a plastic bag with the marinade. Zip shut and leave out on the counter for 24 hours.

- Take your dehydrator trays and line with parchment paper, or alternatively if you have removable liners you can use those. Give plenty to space between the jerky pieces so the air can circulate when dehydrating. 

- Dehydrate on 90 degrees for 8-12 hours (pending on your brand of dehydrator some are more efficient than others)

- Once it's the consistency of real jerky you can pull it from the dehydrator and enjoy!

Amazake

Amazake is an amazing asian sort of a fermented shake made using the mold infused rice called Koji. Drink it for breakfast, as a snack, or as a dessert. Here's how I make amazake!

- Boil 1 cup of white or brown rice in a pot with 2 cups of water. Turn down the heat and simmer for 50 minutes until cooked through.

- You'll want cool the rice down  so you don't kill the mold spores. It's very important to follow this step. I use any kind of meat thermometer or kitchen thermometer and wait for the rice to cool down to 140º F.

- At this point you'll mix in 2 cups of koji (I keep my koji in the fridge) and then you'll mix all the cooked rice and koji together and put into a glass jar. I like quart sized ball jars but, any kind of jar with a lid will work.

- Now we get to INCUBATE the amazke mixture for 10 to 14 hours. You want to keep your temperature around 131º and there are a couple ways to do this. The first is that you can place the jar in a small cooler filled with water heated to 140º and every few hours we check the temp and add more hot water as necessary. The second way you can do this is similar to how I make yogurt. You can take the freshly mixed jars, wrap them in a hand towel and rubberband the town in place. Turn on your oven light and put the jars in the oven for 10-20 hours and also it to stay warm this way. I also have a touch lamp I like to put inside the oven to help keep the temps up. I just wire a thermometer inside the oven and keep the digital box outside the oven so I can control the temp as necessary. My preferred method is to use a piece of bent cardboard to crack the oven open.

- At the 10 hour mark you'll want to check for sweetness. (this is a great ferment to incubate overnight when you're not using your stove) At this point crack open your jar and give it a smell and a taste. (Be smart. If it smells funky and looks funky...it might be funky. Put a small amount in your mouth and be prepared to spit it out if it tastes bad.) You want the amazake to taste sorta sweet. If it seems not very sweet, let it incubate for a few more hours. Taste it a couple more hours later. Make it to your desired taste!

- You're final step is to stop the fermentation process. Typically we do this by refrigeration, but in this case we will boil the mixture. If we chose not to boil it and let it hang out for a few weeks to months we would basically end up making the Japanese alcoholic drink sake. If that makes you swoon then you should do it!

- I read online that a tip from the guru of fermentation Sandor Ellix Katz, that if you first boil 2 cups of water and add it to the amazake it prevents burning. Mix well and as soon as the amazake begins to boil remove from the heat and refrigerate.

- I like to make shakes with my amazke...adding water or coconut milk and fresh berries. But, you can also eat it as a porridge, add other fun things to it and make it whatever you like!

Jalapeno's with Lemon

Sometimes I think the simplest ferments are the best ferments! I've been working on goodies for our Fermentation CSA pickup this coming week and this recipe made it in this time around! There was no shortage of amazing looking organic jalapenos at the Food Coop last week and with the weather warming up I am thinking what better than fermented jalapeno and lemon brine for cocktails?! Eat it straight or mix it with some gin or vodka for a fantastic cocktail! Here's my recipe...

Cheryl's Jalapeno's with Lemon

1 quart jar

1 lemon

6-7 jalapenos (pending on size)

Take the jalapeno's and slice them up at about 1/8" to 1/4" in size. Peel the skin/rhine of a lemon and put that with the jalapeno's in a jar. Make a salt water brine of 2 tbs of salt to 1 quart of water. Pour over the jalapeno's. Add a lid or airlock and let ferment from 7 days to 3 weeks.

Too simple? Consider adding turmeric root, garlic cloves, black peppercorns, or red chilis. Additionally this is a great way to make fermented hot sauce! Check back for that recipe soon!

Dosas

I personally love dosas, the fermented South Indian pancake crepe made from rice and lentils. What a great vessel for eating any and all things! These are not just for Indian food folks...I like to use mine as a fermented breakfast taco filling it will eggs, cilantro, sauerkraut or kimchi, amongst other yummy things. I recently taught a couple workshops on dosa making and here is my recipe below. Enjoy!

Dosa Recipe

Fermenting:

1/4 cup mung beans  +   1/4 cup brown rice

Soak for 18-24 hours

Drain, rinse, and let set in a strainer covered with a wet towel for a day, or until the mung beans have grown a 1/4 inch sprout.

Make sure to keep the towel damp and rinse the beans once or twice over the 24 hours.

When the mung beans have sprouted place the rice and beans in a blender with 1/2 cup filtered water (non-chlorinated) and blend until smooth.

Pour into a glass jar twice the volume of the batter to give it room to rise, and let sit in a slightly warm spot covered with a damp towel for 8 hours, or until bubbly. Refrigerate, or use right away - will keep in the fridge for a few days.

To use the batter add:

1/4 - 1/2 tsp herb salt, or sea salt

Optional: 1 tsp maple or agave syrup, or coconut crystals - this will give them a more golden brown color when they are cooked.

Tips:

Heat a small cast iron skillet, or a crepe pan, brush or spray the pan with grapeseed or coconut oil.

Place one or two tablespoons of batter in the pan and spread out with the back of the spoon.

It will have lots of little holes in it and when it is done the edges will be slightly brown and curled up.

Flip and cook briefly on the other sideremove the dosa from the pan, place it on a paper towel, and repeat the process.

The batter may seem thick at first but try one or two before thinning make sure to heat the pan up well before adding the batter so it doesn’t stick.

You can add chopped cilantro, toasted cumin, coriander, mustard seed, or pickled veggies to the batter to spice it up.

Fuhmentaboudit!

Our Chief Fermenter and brain child Cheryl Paswater was recently on the awesome radio show Fuhmentaboudit! on the Heritage Food Radio Network. If you don't know the show you check it out because Mary Izett and Chris Cuzme are amazing and they always have great guests on! You can check out Cheryl's interview talking on idli, dosas, and more at the link below.

http://www.heritageradionetwork.org/episodes/7914-Fuhmentaboudit-Episode-115-Dosa-do-Don-t-Mind-If-I-Do-with-Contraband-Ferments

Fermented Elderberry Soda

I've been playing around with fermented sodas more recently as it's starting to get warmer and after being super inspired after a friend was bringing me her fermented sodas while I had a nasty week long case of strep throat. Here's my recipe for my Elderberry Syrup & Soda.

1 cup dried elderberries

4 cups water

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or 1 Tablespoon cinnamon bark

1 teaspoon whole cloves

1 teaspoon star anise

1 teaspoon ground ginger or 1 Tablespoon ginger root

1/4 cup wild cherry bark (also, burdock root can make a interesting spin on this drink.)

1 Tablespoon dried orange peel

Put all these ingredients into a sauce pan and bring to a boil on medium high heat. Once the mixture boils, turn the heat down and let the mixture simmer for 30-40 minutes. Using a strainer, pour the mixture into a large glass or Pyrex bowl (compost the herbs and berries). I like to press down with a wooden spoon to make sure I get all the juice and flavor I can! Let the mixture cool a bit and add 2 cups raw, organic honey to the mixture while it is warm, but not hot. This helps the honey to incorporate into the juice without the need to heat.

This makes about 5 cups of a rather thick syrup (thick enough to use on pancakes or waffles).

For the Soda

In a half-gallon pitcher or jar, add 2 cups of Elderberry Syrup and fill almost to the top with cold, filtered water. To this, add 1/2 cup of the Ginger Bug. Stir to combine with a wooden spoon. Cover with cheesecloth and a rubber band and allow to sit at room temperature for 3-5 days while it ferments. Depending on the weather, season, ambient temperature, and other variables, it may ferment quickly or take a little longer. Taste it after 2 days and see how it tastes to you and then decide if you’d like to let it go a little longer.

You can bottle your soda at this point, if you’d like. Use bottles with a screw top or bottle as you would homemade beer. I prefer to make small batches and drink it rather quickly as they do continue to ferment, even if stored in sealed bottles in the fridge.