Fresh rhubarb, chopped and fermented in a 3% salt water solution for about two weeks.
The soft, slightly salty vegetable would be great on summer salads. The pretty red ‘juice’ would be a nice addition to mocktails.
Video Reference:
Three key ingredients for Kimchi are Napa cabbage, rice flour gravy, and red pepper powder (Gochugaru).
Different from the methods in the videos below, I start Kimchi with a standard 5 or 6 day ferment.
Layer the vessel with the small chopped items on the bottom and larger ones on top.
This batch includes; shredded carrots, green onions, thin sliced Korean radish, and apples. Next are quartered (or halved if the heads are small) bitter radicchio and Napa cabbage with stem cores removed.
Completely cover vegetables with filtered water, then pour the liquid into another container on a scale. Add 3% mineral salt (by water weight) and return it to the original vessel. Put a weight on top to keep everything submerged. Cover with a breathable top such as a folded paper towel with a rubber band.
Bubbles are the bacteria getting busy and cloudy water means yeast is present. Watch for the vegetable color to shift from bright to dull.
Drain, then chop. (The vegetables will retain some of the fermentation liquid. This helps thin the sauce.)
Prepare one cup of rice flour gravy (according to box directions). Allow to cool.
Tips: If you use left-over Red Chinese Chili Oil spices, finely grind the szechuan peppercorns before the oil soak. Taste test this mixture for heat level to decide how much to mix with the rice gravy.
In a blender, add at least 1 tablespoon of fish sauce (or other salty brown sauce you like, such as Bragg Liquid Aminos). Add rice gravy and red spices. Blend till smooth.
Mix and store!
If you are enjoying the Korean recipes and have a taste for more, the following videos will guide you deeper. The first is a documentary with farmers, home cooks, and families. The second is a pointer to an entertaining Korean TV series. (Recommended by Peggy.)
Visit the Fermentation page for more details.
I’ve become a fan of this flavorful cooking oil and of Wil Yeung, the YouTuber whose videos taught me to make it!
Dry toast spices over medium heat.
*Szechuan peppercorns may be an unfamiliar item. (They smell like juniper berries.)
In Lisa-style, I no longer measure ingredients for this.
Below are links to Wil Yeung’s detailed instructions, along with precise ingredient measurements, and links to special-order spices.
Simmer garlic, chives, and fresh ginger with 24 oz. of avocado oil.
To a large jar, combine toasted spices, avocado oil, and gochugaru (red pepper powder). Let everything soak at room temperature until you are ready to strain it.
Since I LOVE this flavor combination, I start fermenting kimchi at the same time. Once the spices are strained and I pick out some of the larger items, I blend them with rice flour gravy for the kimchi sauce. (Tip: The szechuan peppercorns should be finely ground before placing them in the oil. They’re too small to pick out later and can be chewy in the kimchi.)
In one of his videos, Wil mentions that he uses this chili oil so frequently he doesn’t refrigerate it. It goes fast at my house as well!
Next, I invite you to spend plenty of time checking out Wil Yeung’s YouTube Channel and website. His vegetarian recipes are fantastic, plus his camera work and voice are a pleasure to watch and listen to.
Click on the videos or image below to engage links.
Tests with dried legumes were mostly successful. If you like the crunch of sprouts and the slight pickle flavor that comes with fermentation, it’s a win.
Smaller legumes such as lentils, mung beans, and split peas work best.
When the fermentation process is complete between 3 – 5 days (taste test every day after the first 24 hours), I put them in the refrigerator in the water. To serve, I spoon the desired amount into a strainer and give it a rinse to cut the salt.
I top salads with them or use them as a rice substitute. (Read to the end for how to make a cracker dip.)
The first fermentation test was with split peas. On the left are yellow spit peas, rinsed, but straight out of the bag. On the right, is a mixture of green and yellow split peas that I partially pre-cooked, al dente-style.
Dry legumes require a lot of water.
The pinto bean images show that the total water must be what the legumes will absorb, plus extra to keep them submerged once they’re waterlogged. (My salt ratio is 3% of the total weight of the water.)
Fermented legumes smaller than pinto beans are similar to sprouts.
Pintos never get soft enough to eat comfortably. They’re too chewy for my taste. (However, I’d like to hear from you if you figure out a recipe that works well for them.)
The split peas that I precooked had a mushy texture after fermentation. It reminded me of hummus, so I tried mashing them, then rolled them into balls. They were still a bit bland, so topped them with a red spicy chili oil .
Legume fermenting was fun! My favorite end products were mung beans and lentils.
Lentils fermenting.
For more resources – books, equipment, links, and an extensive playlist – visit the Fermentation page.
Wild yeast spores are in every breath you take.
To capture some for bread-making, here’s what you’ll need.
Place fruit in a jar. Cover it with filtered water. Add a weight to keep the material under the surface (prevents mold).
Wait until the water turns cloudy! That’s it!!
The first batch of wild yeast I captured was made with Jubube fruits purchased at the Grass Valley Briar Patch.
*Click on images to visit web page.
BOOKS
WEBSITES
Glass Fermentation Weights (Amazon)
For more resources – books, equipment, links, and an extensive playlist – visit the Fermentation page.
3 Jujube fruits cut into chunks
1 Cinnamon stick
4 Cardamom pods
Lemon Zest
Ginger – dried or fresh
½ tsp. Black Strap Molasses \ sweetener if desired.
Put all ingredients in a large cup. Fill the cup with hot water. Let steep. Drink when cooled to taste.
How to Cook with Jujubes | https://www.wikihow.com/Cook-with-Jujubes
Mug: EarthGiftsCreations.etsy.com
For a complete list of plant research resources, visit the video YouTube page and view the information provided in the video description.
Ingredients:
Padron or Shisito peppers (as many as you wish to eat)
Cooking oil
Salt
Instructions:
In a pan with a lid, cover the bottom with cooking oil.
Heat at medium-high until hot, add fresh peppers, cover, and let cook.
Gently stir peppers, keeping an eye on them for browning. Continue cooking with the cover on the pan.
Once desired brownness is achieved, turn off the heat and let sit for about ten minutes.
Gently scoop cooked peppers onto paper towels to drain the oil.
Sprinkle with salt and serve at room temperature.
1 full stick of butter, softened to room temperature, then whipped till light
to the butter add;
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
zest from one lemon or 3 drops of food-grade lemon oil
In a separate bowl, comine;
1¼ cups flour
1¼ cups oats
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons each, of dried fruit
For this recipe, I used raisins, cherries, and mangos (chopped)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Blend wet and dry ingredients until smooth.
Drop heaping tablespoons of batter onto cookie sheets – smooth into balls if desired – place cookie sheets in the refrigerator for 1 hour before baking.
Bake for 15 minutes & enjoy!
This recipe collection is a thought experiment.
There is “no more important time than now for each and every American to redouble our efforts to watch our distance, wash our hands and, most importantly, wear a mask.” – Dr. Henry Walke, CDC COVID-19 Incident Manager
For Thanksgiving 2021, my family is going with the Zoom version. No masks are required with this plan!
Masks with flaps and liquified … everything. Below is a combination of suck-worthy recipes along with edible straw pairings.
Make edible straws to match your meal course. Example: Beacon straw with soup, cookie straw for desserts or candy straw with Loaded Punch.
*Modification for the cookie straw (to serve with vegetable courses) – leave out sugar and vanilla.
Once your meal course is complete as the directions indicate, add the last step of throwing everything in a blender. Blend until it’s smooth enough to make it through a straw.
Edible Straw Pairing Recommendation: Candy or Cookie
Loaded Cranberry Citrus Punch
1/4 cup cranberry juice
Juice & zest of one lime or lemon
4 oz lt. rum
2 oz. vodka
1/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
2 cups ice cubes (if using frozen cranberries) or 1 cup water (if using fresh cranberries)
Optional
1 tsp. white sugar, if you wish to rim your edible straw with it. (Dip straw tip into water, then into sugar.)
Edible Straw Pairing Recommendation: Cookie, without the sugar or vanilla
Baked Sweet Potato with Lemon Roux
Tangy Rosemary Butternut Squash Soup
Edible Straw Pairing Recommendation: Cookie, without the sugar or vanilla or Beacon
Any Culture Shredded Chicken Soup
Black Bean & Tomato Sauce – Rewilding Chili
Raw Asparagus Salad with Goat Cheese
Sauteed Onions and Chia Seeds over Butternut Squash
Three-Meat Giant Meatball Soup
Edible Straw Pairing Recommendation: Cookie, Candy, or Chocolate with sprinkles
Kiwi Fruit Pie Modify this recipe by leaving out corn starch, cooked kiwis, and pie shell.
Pumpkin Pudding (don’t refrigerate, so it is straw suck-upable)
Rose Peach Soup or Pudding (don’t refrigerate so it stays liquid)
Get your blender motor running! If you have blender recipes you’d like to share, send it along with a creative straw photo (if you have one) and I’ll add them here (through November 30th, 2020).
A meal that sucks says it all. Twenty-twenty was a sucky year!
While it was entertaining to re-imagine how a traditional shared Thanksgiving meal might look during COVID times, I’m already cringing at the headlines that will begin around December 12th. For the COVID spread, the suffering caused by a medical system unable to care for the sick, and for the friends and family members who will be lost, my heart is constricting with sadness, and tissues are filling with tears.
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” – Philip Dick, from Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire
NBC – Crowds Seen at O’Hare as Travelers Depart Chicago Ahead of Thanksgiving Holiday
Social Distance Podcast – Katherine Wells podcaster for The Atlantic & James Hamblin Preventative Medicine Physician and journalist – How to Cancel Thanksgiving (Because You Should)
Risk Assessment Map, updated regularly, calculates the odds of encountering infectious people. Enter your group size and location.
Example: In Nevada County today, for a group of 10 there’s a 1 in 7 chance of an infectious person being part of my group. If I lived in South Dakota, there’s a 7 out of 10 chance of an infectious person being part of my group. (The safest way to think about group interactions is to assume everyone is infected, including yourself, even though people aren’t acting sick.)
Back in spring 2020, for a work function, I organized a gathering of ten people from four households. Once we’d gone beyond selecting the date and equipment needs, I realized COVID community responsibility was a factor that needed its own detailed plan.
As the hostess, it was my responsibility to keep everyone safe, informed, and ensure that we didn’t increase the community caseload.
Our activity was outside, with greater than six feet distance between families. Masks were on consistently, except for when we were drinking water, and we did not share food. Back then, active cases in my county were low. Hospital ICU bed capacity wasn’t a concern and we weren’t worried about sick people, exposed from our event, being unable to access emergency medical care three weeks in the future.
The following section and the PDF you can print-out and fill-in for your event are what I created to reduce gathering risks. It includes contact tracing elements that are part of the John Hopkins Contact Tracing online course.
Before people come together, outline a detailed movement and behavior plan. Send it to each household. Request a response so you, and everyone else can verify universal understanding and agreement.
Include a contingency for the unknown. If there’s a major change, if an attendee isn’t behaving as agreed, or something unexpected happens, create a word or hand signal anyone can use to pause the action.
Assess what needs to happen next, ask attendees if they are comfortable with the change. Make an easy, guilt-free out if someone becomes uncomfortable or feels unsafe.
SARS-CoV-2 Gathering Plan Outline PDF
The host or hostess should remain in contact with attendees, checking for symptoms for fourteen days after the gathering. If anyone becomes sick, the host or hostess should notify other bubble contacts of an exposure and make gathering information available to County Health Department contact tracers.
This is a Ch’ing Dynasty (1636 – 1912) court recipe.
3 tblsp. Sugar
2 tblsp corn starch
1 cup water
1 tblsp. Butter
10 oz. Bag of frozen peaches (thawed) or ½ lb.. fresh, peeled, seeded and mashed
½ to 1 tsp. Rose water
In a pot, combine dry ingredients and water. Whisk while stirring and bringing to a boil.
Remove from heat thoroughly blend peaches into thick mixture. Add ½ tsp. then taste. Stop there if you like the flavor. Incrementally add more until satisfied.
Serve warm or cold.
Background:
A Japanese Princess related by marriage to the imperial Chinese family compiled a collection of court recipes during a time of great sorrow and grief. (Death of a daughter and her husband and brother being held in China as political prisoners.) Peach Soup is one recipe from the collection in the book Court Dishes of China, Su Ching (Lucille Davis).
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