Lacto-Fermented Apples

Another great recipe for the bounty of summer's and fall's harvest!

Ingredients:
3+ cups peeled, cored and cubed apples
1 Tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 Tablespoons whey
Filtered water

Method:
Fill a quart jar with the apples, making sure there is at least an inch of space between them and the top of the jar.

Mix remaining ingredients, minus the water, and pour over the apples.
Add enough filtered water to cover the fruit, still keeping the level an inch below the top of the jar.

Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 2 days.
Transfer to the fridge.

**Fermentation instructions say that these will keep for two months in the fridge.  I have had them keep for 6 months with no difficulty.  Just give them a sniff before eating.  If they smell bad, they are bad, and toss them out.  If they smell fruity-fizzy-sharpish, they're good to go.

Lacto-Fermented Peaches aka "Fizzy Peaches"

Turning summer's bounty into glorious sunny-tasting fermented fruit for the grey days of early winter is such a good idea!

Ingredients:
3+ cups peaches, peeled and cubed
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/4 cup whey
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Filtered water

Method:
Fill a quart jar with the peaches, making sure there is at least an inch of space between them and the top of the jar.

Mix remaining ingredients, minus the water, and pour over the peaches.
Add enough filtered water to cover the fruit, still keeping the level an inch below the top of the jar.

Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 2 days.
Transfer to the fridge.

**Fermentation instructions say that these will keep for two months in the fridge.  I have had them keep for 6 months with no difficulty.  Just give them a sniff before eating.  If they smell bad, they are bad, and toss them out.  If they smell fruity-fizzy-sharpish, they're good to go.

***This recipe works with pears, also!

Easy Lacto Fermented Sauerkraut

I used to shy away from making this, but it's just not that hard!

The formula for this is really simple.  You can make as much or as little as you like based on this ratio:

1 pound of cabbage
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 Tablespoons whey

Method:

Shred the cabbage and place in a large bowl.  I use my biggest stainless steel one.
Add the salt and the whey.

Mash and pound the cabbage with a meat mallet or potato masher until there is enough juice in the bottom of the bowl that you can pick up a handful of cabbage and squeeze it out.

Pack the cabbage into quart or half-gallon jars within an inch of the top of the jar.  Push it down so the liquid comes up over the cabbage.

Put on a tight fitting lid and let sit on your counter for about 3 days.

There are lots of ways people do kraut.  This is the one that works for me.  Here are some links to a variety of methods and books:

The Nourishing Gourmet

The Healthy Home Economist

Great Book!
Real Food Fermentation

Fermented Salsa

This has great flavor and is wonderful for your gut, as well.  As a probiotic food, it adds good bacteria to your intestinal tract and helps battle gut flora imbalances.  Using produce from your own garden or a local
organic farmer's market is ideal.

8 Roma tomatoes
1 large green pepper (if you like hot salsa, feel free to use hot peppers instead)
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup lemon/lime juice
1/4 cup whey
2 teaspoons sea salt

Peel the tomatoes by dipping them in boiling water and slipping the skins off.
Dice the tomatoes.
Mix the tomatoes, onions and garlic together and put into a quart jar.   Press down gently with a wooden meat hammer, or tap gently on a towel folded on the counter top to get the contents condensed in the jar. Fill only to within an inch of the top.
Add the salt to the top of the jar, then pour the whey and lemon/lime juice over the mixture.
If necessary, add enough filtered or well water to cover the tomato mixture.

Cover tightly with a canning lid and keep at room temperature for about 2 days before transferring to the fridge.

Dilly Carrots

This is the easiest ferment I've made.  So very simple and they taste great.  Sort of like pickles, only they're carrots!  They stay crisp and give the benefit of a probiotic food.  I use them in salads as well as eating them right out of the jar!

To make 1 quart of fermented carrots:

1 wide-mouth quart canning jar
1 pound of organic carrots
1 T whey
1 t dried dill weed or 1 T fresh
1 T sea salt
Filtered water

Slice the carrots into julienne strips.  I usually make them about 1/4-3/8 inch wide and a little thinner than that.

Pack them into the jar as you go, filling to an inch below the rim of the jar, and then add the whey, salt and dill weed.

Fill the jar with filtered water to cover the carrots, still within 1 inch of the top.  There needs to be room for the expansion of fermentation. DO NOT USE UNFILTERED CITY WATER!!!!  The junk in it will kill the fermentation process.  Best possible water choice, in my estimation, is untreated well water.

Cover tightly with a wide mouth canning lid, tip the jar back and forth to mix the liquid around.  Label the jar with the date and then set on your kitchen counter for 4 days or so.  The lid should get "tight" and dome up a bit as the fermentation progresses.

If you are worried about whether the fermentation actually worked or not, you'll be able to tell instantly if there was a problem.  If it didn't ferment properly, the smell will be nasty and nothing could convince you to eat it.  Simple rules of eating!  Smells bad?  Don't eat it!

Store in the fridge after the 4 days.  They'll keep for months, but mine get eaten far sooner than that!

Whey & "Cream Cheese"

In traditional cooking, whey has a huge role.  I use it all the time for soaking grains and legumes, and making fruit and vegetable ferments.

It's easy-peasy!

Using your home-made yogurt, or store bought plain with live cultures, scoop out about 2 cups and put in either a nut milk bag or several layers of cheesecloth.  Suspend the whole bundle over a jar and let it drip for several hours.  Voila!

The whey can be stored in the fridge for weeks, sometimes months.

The leftover milk solids are basically cream cheese, only better because it's cultured.  It can be used for spreads or dips, desserts, etc.  Herbs, chopped up fermented fruits or veggies, or dried fruit can be added to spice it up, or serve it with fresh berries!