Thursday, February 24, 2011

Fermenting & Gardening On My Mind

Cookbooks and Gardening books are always on my night table

Because there is a lot of snow still on the ground and the skies are gray, I NEED something to bring a ray of hope.
Gardening books and cookbooks are just the ticket.
I have a plethora of them!!!
SO many ideas, so little time.

Organic Figs

I have made fermented apricot butter in the past and I love it!
When I saw the organic figs at Costco a couple of weeks ago, I knew I wanted to swap out the apricots for figs.

Fermented fig butter...YUM!

So I did!
All you need is a food processor, a bit of honey, some salt, and some whey.
I have all 4....so I jumped right in.
I like to use about 1 TBL or so of the fermented fruit spread in a kefir smoothie.
Gives it just a bit of sweetness, and mellows out the tangy flavor of the kefir.

Fermented fruit butter

4 cups unsulphured dried apricots or figs
1 TBL sea salt
1/4 cup liquid whey
1/4 to 1/2 cup raw, unfiltered honey (I use 1/4)

Cook fruit in filtered (I use my well water, straight from the tap) water to cover until fruit is soft. This typically takes about 15 min. Watch carefully and add more water if necessary. I always have to add more water.
Let cool and place all ingredients in food processor and process till fairly smooth.
Place in a 1 QT mason jar and close lid tightly.
Leave on the counter for 2 days then refrigerate.
I like to take about 1 cup of this and put it in a separate jar and keep it in the fridge. I freeze the remainder in a jar and refill my small jar when necessary.

We have been using up the ferments from this fall at a rather rapid rate.
I think the kimchi is my favorite, with sauerkraut with caraway a close second.
Also the escabeche (fermented jalapenos, carrots, peppers...) is wonderful alongside any type of Mexican food. Mmm...good on a sourdough style sandwich too.
I have been doing a bit of research this winter on other kinds of ferments and hope to have some new ones to share as summer comes upon us and the fresh ingredients are once again available.
Meanwhile, I am happy knowing the spare fridge still has a few gallons of sauerkraut, kimchi, etc.

xoxo,
Cindy

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7 comments:

Heather's Blog-o-rama said...

I don't think I've ever had fermented foods, nt that I'm aware of...unless yogurt and kefir milk coun t...I lofe kefir milk!!! I've also had kombucha tea, which is a fermented mushroom tea, but I always have to buy a flavored one, otherwise, I could never drink it ;) :) I loved the photo of all your books. It's fun learning from books ;) :) Have a good day. Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather :)

Cedar Hill Chronicles said...

Books, books, books!! Cindy you should see the stack I have out from the library, fermenting, artisan breads, furniture refinishing, upholstering,knitting. Always nice to have stacks around to flop down with and read.
Your fermented fruit sounds yummy.
No garden work today here...man did the weather change overnight. Went from no coats, hats, mitts, sunshine and warmth to wearing coats, hats, mitts, boots and rain, sleet and snow!!!

Farmchick said...

I start looking through all my seed catalogs in February...even those we have FEET of snow on the ground!! Come say hi!! :)

Renata said...

I am intrigued by fermented food - I really hadn't heard much about it until I read nourishing traditions. Thank you for the recipe!
Have a lovely weekend
Renata:)

Rachel said...

You have used some words that I never heard of! This all sounds very interesting and I'll have to research it some.

Have a blessed wonderful weekend!

Anonymous said...

This looks really easy to make, thanks for sharing!

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