How about a fermented veggies thread? - Page 9

[PapayaVagina]

subbing!

[saratc]

Originally Posted by cohsmama

So, I made my first sauerkraut and it was yummy! It made me want more and I was eagerly anticipating a long loving relationship with all things fermented. BUT Now, I'm self-diagnosing myself with thyroid/adrenal issue and the main dietary thing is to avoid cabbage, kale, kohlrabi and other 'goiterific'??? veggies. Wait! Those were the veggies I was looking most forward to culturing and finally adding massive doses of those veggies to my diet.

The problems don't apply to cultured cabbage. Rather than retyping and looking up the link on the WAPF site again, I dug up this thread: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...hlight=cabbage

Originally Posted by cohsmama

To make a short story long, I am wondering if I can culture spring mix lettus? I'm doing carrots and ginger. I'll look through for other recipes, but I thought the spring mix sounded like an easy way to get more green veggies in...maybe throw a little cabbage in for flavor.

Spring mix is probably not firm enough to survive culturing. It think it may end up a sludge. Look for veggies that will still have some crunch to it if you lightly cook it. If you need ideas for veggies to ferment, look up Korean kimchi. Mostly known as a spicy pickled Asian cabbage, kimchi is basically the term Koreans used for pickled/lacto-fermented veggies. In addition to cabbage, they have bok choi, radish, cucumber, watercress, green onions, mustard leaves, etc.

[spughy]

Subbing. I just finished a successful batch of sauerkraut! yay me!

Question though: a friend at work who is Russian and eats pretty NT it seems sent me a recipe for schi, traditional Russian beef & sour cabbage soup. It's supposed to be very healthy and best if eaten the day after it's made. Will cooking the sauerkraut kill all the good stuff though?

Here's the recipe. Any thoughts?

[saratc]

Originally Posted by spughy

Question though: a friend at work who is Russian and eats pretty NT it seems sent me a recipe for schi, traditional Russian beef & sour cabbage soup. It's supposed to be very healthy and best if eaten the day after it's made. Will cooking the sauerkraut kill all the good stuff though?

It will kill the enzymes and probiotics but most of the vitamins and nutrients will remain. Vegetables that are lacto-fermented will end up with more vitamins and nutrients, so I think it would still be very healthy even cooked. The WAPF site and NT book mentions many traditional cultures that use fermented foods in recipes, so I would think it's healthful, especially if you already eat at least a little non cooked fermented foods daily.

[jayayenay]

Originally Posted by spughy

Question though: a friend at work who is Russian and eats pretty NT it seems sent me a recipe for schi, traditional Russian beef & sour cabbage soup. It's supposed to be very healthy and best if eaten the day after it's made. Will cooking the sauerkraut kill all the good stuff though?

There's a recipe for shchi in "Full Moon Feast," and she cooks it with plain fresh cabbage and then serves the finished soup *over* sauerkraut....as in, put some sauerkraut into a bowl and ladle the soup on top of that.

[425lisamarie]

Subbing....never saw this thread! We are saurkraut junkies

[krankedyann]

Does the vessel have to have straight sides?

I'm wanting to get away fron doing it in mason jars and use a crock so I can make large amounts, but the problem is that I don't have one. I have a glass bowl, though, and I'm wondering if that would work if I weighted the veggies down with a ziplock bag. Any thoughts? i've got three heads of cabbage begging to be turned into sauerkraut.

I had made the garlic recipe in NT a long time back, and had made it with whey. It was too garlicky the last time I tried it, so it had gotten shuffled to the back of the fridge and forgotten. When I went GFCF, I had to give away all of my ferments made with whey. The garlic went to my best friend's house, and thy passed it around at a co-op meeting. Everyone RAVED about it. So I think I'm going to try it again without whey, forget about it for at least 6 months, and see what happens. That jar was about a year old or so when everyone dug in and raved about it.

[krankedyann]

I was looking at the link posted above, http://www.healingcrow.com/ferfun/ferfun.html, and it mentions fermenting things with kefir grains. Anyone tried it and can tell us how it did?

[CeciMami]

:

[Theloose]

I'm brand new to the idea of fermenting my own veggies, but today I went and bought a bunch of stuff to try from the farmer's market, yay! I'm so excited!

So here's my question: has anyone/is it possible to make something like bread and butter pickles? Do you just add sugar with the salt? Is sugar bad for the fermentation process? should it be added at the end?

[anonymous4_20]

Originally Posted by whoMe

So here's my question: has anyone/is it possible to make something like bread and butter pickles? Do you just add sugar with the salt? Is sugar bad for the fermentation process? should it be added at the end?

I think it would be possible to add it at the end. My grandmother used to take store-bought dills and turn them into bread and butter pickles all the time. I never tasted it because I don't like bread and butter, but here's her recipe:

1 46oz jar dill pickles
1 T celery seed
1 T mustard seed
1 stick cinnamon
1/2 C raisins (yuck! She liked them, though )
3 C sugar

Soak overnight before eating.


So, you'd just have to adjust for your amount. I've never tried it, but I think it would work. You could always pull a small amount of your dills out and try it first. I don't know what effect it would have on the fermentation, though.

[stilllearning85]

Wow, This is a GREAT thread! Learning SO much!!!
I know it is kind of old though! Is it still ok to post here? I literally JUST started fermenting... have a btch of not-working-so-well-kefir on the counter, half a batch of ginger carrots and some sour dough starter... all my first!
I have no idea what anything is supposed to look/smell/taste like!
I only use cheesecloth as a cover for all of these... and I didn't use whey in the carrots... Should I cover them with a lid after a certain amount of time, or is cheesecloth ok?
PS: YOU MAMA'S ROCK!!!

[tanyalynn]

I'm subbing too, I'm finally really getting into this and I need tips and help along the way.

Stilllearning--I'm obviously new at this, but based on some earlier discussion in this thread, everything I've fermented has been just draped with cheesecloth for the room temp fermenting time and then when it went into the frig for longer storage, I put the lid of the mason jar on, but sorta loose because I don't want to have an explosive situation. It's worked for me (so far), but I don't know what everyone else does. I don't use whey either, our family can't have any dairy.

Isn't this fun? At times I feel like my kitchen is starting to resemble a weird science experiment, but the food is working out, so I'm going with it for now.

ETA--I just realized I already said basically the same thing to you in another thread. That's not helpful for you, now is it? Sorry. But I'm glad you resurrected this thread, I want to see what everyone is doing and learn more. Thanks!

[stilllearning85]

Thank you!
Yeah, sorry I realize that I have started another thread about this same thing, but this one was soooooo much better, so I am trying to resurrect it!
I LOVE the fact that my Kitchen looks like an experiment! SOOO FUN!!! I live with my husband and his friend (can't afford a house alone as of yet), and they think I am CRAZY! I love it! It is going to be fun trying to get them to sample anything! I also can't wait to hear what other people are doing, got my pen and paper ready to go!

[stilllearning85]

Does Anybody know if you can substitute cranberries for the cherries in the cherry chutney recipe in NT?
It is nearing Thanksgiving time and we have all these cranberries in the stores... so I am curious!
Maybe it would be WAY to tart?

[Thystle]

What brand/type of grape leaves are you using?

Fresh or out of the jar in brine?


Any brand?

[Arduinna]

bumping so that when I come back I can read the whole thread

[saratc]

Originally Posted by stilllearning85

Does Anybody know if you can substitute cranberries for the cherries in the cherry chutney recipe in NT?
It is nearing Thanksgiving time and we have all these cranberries in the stores... so I am curious!
Maybe it would be WAY to tart?

It would be too tart, but you can add a bit of sucanat or honey to compensate. Plain cranberries are scrunch-up-face-pucker-lips tart and a bit bitter.

[suzukiaustin]

WOWZA!

This is a great thread, thank you! I am new to TF and fermenting, so it would probably be in my best interest to read this entire thread one day. You ladies are phenomenal.

I do have a quick question before Thanksgiving arrives...

I made gingered carrots with sea salt (no whey) and they turned out awful. Normally, I buy lacto-fermented gingered carrots from the farmer's market, but I have moved to another country and I cannot get those anymore. Is there really a huge difference between lacto-fermented carrots and all sea salt carrots? How do I make mine sweet and gingery like the ones at the farmer's market? Should I use a combination of whey and salt, or just whey?

One more question...

Has anyone made the ginger ale from NT? If so, how is it?

THANK YOU!!!!!

[stilllearning85]

I made the ginger ale and I DID NOT LIKE IT!!! But that is just me...