Yummmm
 |
| From 2011-04-11 |
Monday, April 11, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Experiments with Food
Perusing the Nourishing Traditions book, by Sally Fallon, I'm feeling inspired these days. I have so many things fermenting and processing, and separating, and rising on my counter.. I can see I'm going to need a new system.
A few months ago, I decided to take a stab at kefir. I ordered some water kefir grains and some milk kefir grains, followed the directions, and set them out of the way. Unfortunately, that also meant out of mind. I managed to salvage the milk kefir, put it in the fridge with some milk, and hoped they'd survive until I was ready to pay attention to them. The poor water kefir was not so lucky. By the time, I checked in on them, the grains themselves were totally gone, and there was a scoby half an inch thick on the top. It didn't smell bad or anything, but the grains were definitely toast. I'll have to give that a go at another time. See more about my kefir adventures in my last post
A few weeks ago, I put together a jar of beet kvass and a jar of ginger carrots. They bubbled along just like they were supposed to. I haven't had the nerve to actually try the beet kvass yet, but it is in my fridge. Maybe today. The ginger carrots though, just keep getting better and better.
This week, I started sourdough starters, two of them. One I used a starter starter from Culturesforhealth.com. The other I used the recipe in Nourishing traditions. We made the first bread from the scratch starter this week.
We also did another batch of those pastry cookies from Nourishing Traditions which uses some of that wonderful cream cheese you get from your sour milk separating. This batch turned out a little more sour (the cream cheese was a little more sour this time) than the first batch, and I experimented with a few other fillings like chocolate chips. The first batch was better I think. Will keep experimenting.
I have pineapple vinegar brewing away, and will strain that out and put it in jars this afternoon.
I then went off the deep end, and late at night mixed up some homemade ketchup. It too is lactofermenting on the counter as we speak.
Today, I had big plans for more ginger carrots, something with the bag of cherries I defrosted (thought they were marion berries -- label your bags, people!), potato leek soup for dinner with our super awesome baked bread, and I wanted to get some vegetable starts going. The day, and therefore the weekend itself, is getting away from me already however. Perhaps I can get to the vegetable starts this evening.
A few months ago, I decided to take a stab at kefir. I ordered some water kefir grains and some milk kefir grains, followed the directions, and set them out of the way. Unfortunately, that also meant out of mind. I managed to salvage the milk kefir, put it in the fridge with some milk, and hoped they'd survive until I was ready to pay attention to them. The poor water kefir was not so lucky. By the time, I checked in on them, the grains themselves were totally gone, and there was a scoby half an inch thick on the top. It didn't smell bad or anything, but the grains were definitely toast. I'll have to give that a go at another time. See more about my kefir adventures in my last post
A few weeks ago, I put together a jar of beet kvass and a jar of ginger carrots. They bubbled along just like they were supposed to. I haven't had the nerve to actually try the beet kvass yet, but it is in my fridge. Maybe today. The ginger carrots though, just keep getting better and better.
This week, I started sourdough starters, two of them. One I used a starter starter from Culturesforhealth.com. The other I used the recipe in Nourishing traditions. We made the first bread from the scratch starter this week.
 |
| From 2011-04-07 |
 |
| From 2011-04-07 |
We also did another batch of those pastry cookies from Nourishing Traditions which uses some of that wonderful cream cheese you get from your sour milk separating. This batch turned out a little more sour (the cream cheese was a little more sour this time) than the first batch, and I experimented with a few other fillings like chocolate chips. The first batch was better I think. Will keep experimenting.
 |
| From 2011-04-07 |
I have pineapple vinegar brewing away, and will strain that out and put it in jars this afternoon.
 |
| From 2011-04-07 |
I then went off the deep end, and late at night mixed up some homemade ketchup. It too is lactofermenting on the counter as we speak.
 |
| From 2011-04-07 |
Today, I had big plans for more ginger carrots, something with the bag of cherries I defrosted (thought they were marion berries -- label your bags, people!), potato leek soup for dinner with our super awesome baked bread, and I wanted to get some vegetable starts going. The day, and therefore the weekend itself, is getting away from me already however. Perhaps I can get to the vegetable starts this evening.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
what am i doing wrong?
My first batch looked basically like milk, not thickened at all, smelled super yeasty and tasted kind of salty. but the kefir grains were right there, and easy to put back in the container, cover with milk and start again.
This batch, which I let go longer, is all curdy and whey. I'm not sure how to separate what is curd and what is kefir grains. Heyelp?
Also, my water kefir is brown. Should it be brown?
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)