Wildness, Freshness, and other Culinary Adventures

I'm reading and adventuring, so that you don't have to. You can just read about my experiments and then decide whether you want to embark on similar ventures. It's a service I'm offering you. Really. It's kind of like Fear Factor. Dare me! I'll try it! I have no fear.
Unlike Fear Factor, however, I haven't been drinking rancid meat cocktails or diving into piranah invested waters. Instead, I've been trying out new stuff in the kitchen. Culinary adventures.
Here's an update of sorts:

Since I started making my own yogurt, I've been looking for something to do with all of the leftover WHEY. Homeade yogurt is a bit runnier than store-bought, so I like to strain my runny yogurt, which results in the awesomest, thick, rich, Greek-style yogurt. You can make your own Greek-style yogurt or even yogurt cheese by just plopping it in a strainer lined with coffee filters. A bowl underneath catches all the whey as it drips out. The longer you leave it straining, the thicker the yogurt gets until- VOILA- you have CHEESE! 

Anyways, I think it's a shame to just toss the remaining whey puddle. So I checked out a few books on Lacto-fermentation. That's where you use whey to ferment food- change it radically- and wonderfully.

Just think of all you love that relies on fermentation: WINE, BEER, CHEESE, BREAD!!!! But I wasn't familiar with Lacto-fermentation, so I decided to get me some edumacationz on the subject. If you're interested, check these books out (or don't, because I already did it for you, remember!):

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. This book really opened my eyes. It's partially a very thorough textbook on nutrition, at times delving into biology. It's also a cookbook, with simple recipes on making your own mayonnaise and salad dressing, to more advanced stuff like pickling (with WHEY!). In the picture above, you can see jars of my own Lacto-fermented cukes and carrots. I'd like to report that they are as delicious as they look. But that'd be a bald-faced lie. Sadly, these were not what I'd hoped for. But I'll totally try, try again. The subtitle of Fallon's book is, The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. So it's partially a critique of low-fat, low-carb, vegetarian, and vegan diet know-it-alls. But honestly, I found Sally's tone to be a bit preachy and dictocratic herself. It bugs me when people speak with such aggressive certitude. But, le sigh, we all have our flaws, ironies, contradictions... With that said, I'll probably still invest in a gently used copy of this book because it is so chock full of information. And she quotes the Little House books! I will have to do a seperate post on my undying love for all things Laura Ingalls Wilder. Love you, Half-pint! Blowing you kisses, Michael Landon!

Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz was right up my alley! Katz, an HIV/AIDS survivor who lives in a commune in the woods, began healing himself by incorporating wildness (in the form of live-culture food) into his body. From his website he explains what is so wild about fermentation, "Wild fermentation is a way of incorporating the wild into your body, becoming one with the natural world. Wild foods, microbial cultures included, possess a great, unmediated life force, which can help us adapt to shifting conditions and lower our susceptibility to disease. These microorganisms are everywhere, and the techniques for fermenting with them are simple and flexible." There are recipes for saurkraut, kimchi, miso, tempeh, and plenty o' brews. A common theme between Wild Fermentation and Nourishing Traditions, is the connection to the past that we can rediscover through food by using these 'primitive' techniques. Nothing much more old-school than the slow-food movement.  

Canning and Preserving with Ashley English. Beautiful book! I mean it. If you like looking at fantastically ripe, gorgeous, seasonal vegetables and fruit, this book could very well be your new porn. She seperates the book by seasons and encourages you to can and preserve according to what is currently in season in your area. She explains and illustrates canning techniques thoroughly for the newbie. She has basic recipes for pickling and such, but she goes way beyond with recipes for exotic chutneys, marmalades, and sauces. Lip-smacking! She also has a great blog, another book on keeping chickens, and one about tending bees coming out soon too. In other words, I want to be Ashley when I grow up. Don't be misled, Ashley doesn't do Lacto-fermentation.

For Mother's Day, it snowed here in Syracuse. All. Day. Long. But on the bright side, my dear husband gifted me two wonderful books. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg, which I've previously mentioned on this here blog. And Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll (this is the Bible for cheese makers!). Needless to say, I'll be busy in the kitchen.       

 

Make Yogurt Yourself

I mentioned in my last post that I made the yogurt that I used for Noah's delicious smoothie.
Yogurt making is just another one of those adventures that I've just discovered. I am a total novice.
I've only made 3 batches so far. But I love it! It's easy. It's frugal. And I know what's in there. Plus, I can feel the satisfaction of doing it myself. Really, acquiring new skills like that is very empowering.

If you would like to try your hand at making your own yogurt, you can google 'make your own yogurt,' which is what I did. Or you can use the site I used.  The only equipment that I had to invest in was a candy thermometer...which I found for about 4 bucks at the farmer's market/flea market. You'll need a heating pad or hot plate to keep the yogurt warm. But I have seen recipes for slow cooker yogurt, so look around and find instructions appropriate to you.

I make plain non-fat yogurt and use it in smoothies, parfaits, mix it in biscuit batter, enjoy it as a sauce with falafel, etc. Be aware, homeade yogurt tends to be of a runnier consistency. Yogurt companies add pectin to thicken it. And because my yogurt is a bit runnier than what Noah is used to, he won't eat it! But he will drink it in a smoothie without complaint.
There are also tons of recipes for flavored yogurt out there too. In fact, The Crunchy Chicken has a Coffee Yogurt recipe that I am excited to try...if I can ever find it in the archives of her blog.
Like I said before, I'm a yogurt-making novice. If you have any tips, suggestions, recipes, yogurt tales...
I'd love to hear them!

Meatless Monday: Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

For those not in the loop, Meatless Monday is a movement that encourages
people to give up meat once a week to 'promote personal health and the health of the planet'.
They have great recipes on their website and tons of information there too.

I go meatless pretty often.
For oh so many reasons:
1) My health- I just don't digest meat as well. I get all acid-refluxy and heart-burny. Especially if I eat fried meat. All those years of eating my grandma's southern fried chicken must have caught up with me.
Plus, while meat is high in protein, it is usually high in fat that I can do without (with the exception of seafood).
2) Animal Ethics- I don't like how the critters are treated in order for me to get a mass produced hamburger. It disturbs and saddens me. And I don't know what sort of hormones and crazy chemicals are in that there meat either.
3) Meat is expensive.
4) I enjoy so many other foods!

With that said, you should know that I am not a vegetarian. I do still eat meat ocassionally. But I try to give myself and my family satisfying and healthy alternatives.

I'm not posting a recipe for Meatless Monday today. I saw a delicious looking Cheese Souffle recipe that I'd love to try out. But, for now, I just wanted to show you Noah's lunch.

Well, obviously it was made with love, as you can plainly see by the heart-shaped sandwich.

But I'm particularly happy with this lunch because:

I made the bread myself...I know what he's eating...I know what's in that bread. (I have been so thrilled that I can make my own bread! I want to shout it from the rooftops!) Maybe I'll share my recipe soon...and some close-up bread pictures to make you ohhh and ahhh.

I made the Grape Jelly. You can read about that in my Food Waste post from a few days ago, and get the recipe and instructions from The Frugal Girl's blog.  

The smoothie there on the upper left is made with yogurt that I made and blueberries we picked over the summer (oh, the summer seems like lifetimes ago!). Plus, I snuck in a handful of fresh spinach leaves into that smoothie. They disappear completely, and you can't taste it at all. However, if I use frozen spinach- I do notice a slight spinachy flavor- I recommend fresh spinach if you want to be super sneaky like me.

Of course, I didn't make the peanut butter or grow those baby carrots...but I could have. And I would've loved to have made that yogurt from the milk of my own cow...that I lovingly milked myself. Maybe one day...a girl can dream, can't she?