The Kraut Craft Continues

Well, Adrian and I have decided that my newest attempt at making sauerkraut was a success - hitting the two week mark in the process was the key to taking the bitter edge off, and the flavour has continued to mellow.  We've enjoyed a bit on the side of most of our recent dinners, especially anything meat-heavy, as the kraut is supposed to aid digestion.  Yesterday I packed two more jars of kraut with a twist - one is flavoured with julienned apple and celery seed, and the other is a nod to kimchi with none of the pre-soaking normally involved in the kimchi-making process (and no fish sauce either).  Krautchi?  I've flavoured that jar with garlic and shallots from the garden, and red pepper flakes from the store. The water-filled jars on top are sitting on whole cabbage leaves, holding the vegetables under the cover of the brine, and both jars are draped with a clean dishcloth when I'm not taking pictures.  The casserole dish is there to catch any spills as the fermenting process takes over.  The original kraut is currently residing in the fridge, to slow fermentation.

 

The new krauts should be ready to try by the time we finish our purple cabbage kraut.

 

Krautchi on the left, and you can see the apple peel and flecks of celery seed in the jar on the right.

 

We'll experiment with additions and vegetable combinations, and find what works best and tastes best for us.  I have some mustard greens in the garden that I would like to add to a ferment - if they survive our current drop below zero under their floating row cover. Horseradish leaves would add some interesting heat as well, and I've already promised to use some daikon in the next batch. 

 

Fermentation is a traditional way of storing food where canning and refrigeration are not available. Traditionally, many cultures have fermented vegetables, dairy and meats in all kinds of interesting ways. Cheese, miso, coffee, tea, and chocolate are all products of fermentation.  Recent studies show that sauerkraut contains a greater number of anti-carcinogenic nutrients than cabbage (and other brassicas) which are eaten raw or cooked.  What's important to me, is that I know that it tastes good and I feel good about preparing and eating it.

As I did all of this cutting and mixing and crushing, I had water boiling on the stove to prepare a new batch of kombucha.  We're on and off again with our morning consumption of a swig of this vinegary-tasting 'healthful' brew, but the kombucha mother keeps working, so I keep making it, and we keep trying to remember to drink it in the rush to get ready in the morning. 

I like the kraut better :)

A Quick Look

It's hard to believe it's almost Friday evening as I sit at the computer.  Work has been grinding by this week, and I've been under the weather for a lot of it.  Right now I'm full of Vitamin C, Sinutab, Ginger Gravol tablets, and my forehead is slathered with Tiger Balm.  Feelin' awesome.

We're heading to Vancouver Island tomorrow, for a 2-day romp 'round the Cowichan Valley, looking at properties that might fit the bill for our future.  In all likelihood, these properties won't wait for us to get our ducks in line, but the time spent learning about the area's communities, services, roads, possibilities and drawbacks will help us make some decisions.  Looking at real properties and asking questions about heating oil (?!?), woodstoves, water quality, recycling and garbage services and the like will help to focus our search and refine our list of needs and wants.  We'll be visiting the Farmer's Market in Duncan to see what the locals produce and sell - the list of vendors is impressive.  They have fudge.

I've been trying to make this happen for a while, so I'm going no matter what.  Pray for Adrian's sake that I get a restorative night's sleep.

Last weekend was a 3-day affair because of Remembrance Day, and while some people spent time with family or got in some extra rest and relaxation, Adrian took a vacation day from work, and we made things happen. We also kicked back and played a video game, and played with bunnies. Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have him as a partner?

 

We spent Friday completing most of this year's jam, with a little extra work on Saturday morning.  We now have about 95 half-pints of homemade preserves with only 3 failed seals (refrigerator jam!).  From left to right: Black Currant Jam and Strawberry Jam - both crops grown here in our yard, Cherry Jam, from BC cherries (I don't want to talk about our 3 trees in the back yard which provided not a single edible cherry this year), Huckleberry Jam from berries picked locally (if I say 'wildcrafted' I sound like a hipster), and Blueberry Jam, from the lovely bushes that came with the property (Adrian would like to dig them up and take them with us when we move....)

We got all of the jam made and canned, and left it to cool on the dining table (where it still sits, waiting to be labelled and boxed for the pantry - shhh!)

The time had come to butcher some of our crossbred rabbits at just over 12 weeks old, so we spent time over the rest of the weekend processing, freezing, and cooking meat, chopping vegetables, and making Rabbit Pot Pie for the freezer.  Then, since while taking all of the berries out of the freezer to thaw, I managed to turn off the power bar and hence both of our chest freezers (doh!), we made a huge batch of what I'm calling Chicken and Sausage Cacciatore.  It was coincidentally well-timed, in that I was able to use the last of my tomatillo harvest while it was still at it's best. Delicious.
 

Tomatillos from saved seed - we've been growing these for several years now, and I used to say they are more dependable than tomatoes for production.  This year, they bloomed early and failed to set fruit, just like the tomatoes - but they soldiered on as the temperature dropped, and I got a decent harvest long after the tomato plants were cleared away.  No tomatillo salsa this year, but we did have small harvests through the season that went into our casseroles and soups.  They also dehydrate wonderfully.

Good news is that the freezers are now very organized and clear of ice - Bad news is that we lost some prepared food.  Good news is that some of that food had been in there a little too long anyway. How does it happen that you never actually remember what you have in a chest freezer (despite your best intentions), and who is supposed to be able to physically reach the bottom?

A couple of weeks ago on a Costco run, Adrian tried sauerkraut and declared it good.  I glared at him and reminded he had eschewed my home made sauerkraut previously, and decided it was time to give it another try.

 

This is about 4 pounds of cabbage, with 3 generous tablespoons of salt mixed in, pounded together to release 'juice,' and left to sit on the counter.  I like that the red cabbage makes for a pretty colour.  I wasn't about to make a huge batch until we had decided if we would work it into our routine, and local cabbage is generally available through a large part of the winter.

Sauerkraut can be left to mature for between 1 and 4 weeks. I have a large intact leaf weighed down at the top of the jar to keep everything submerged under the brine.  At 1 week, it tasted like salty, crunchy cabbage, so we left it to do its thing for a little longer. Time will tell.