yogurt success

the living community that it is, my yogurt keeps evolving. and it's gotten to a new level again this time!
i was pleased with the last batch, thinking i might not be able to get it any closer to that Straus heaven to which every yogurt secretly aspires (if you don't have the pleasure to taste it, you can read about it ~ and the dairy's methane digester ~ here: http://www.strausfamilycreamery.com/?title=Yogurt ). well, we got one step higher. this time i did a whole half-gallon container of Organic Pastures raw whole milk. i divided it into the Always Yogurt mason jar, and another one, with a tablespoon of my own yogurt in as the culture. in the cooler with a hot water bath surrounding them. and two days later = i thought they hadn't taken by looking at them, b/c there wasn't a blob of yogurt with watery whey as always before; it was all the same consistency. so i opened them up, and ! it's all thick! definitely a thicker blob in the center, but even the thinner stuff is thick and. . CREAMY!! doesn't pack the sour punch that the last batch did, and that's ok, too.
i realize this is not the most interesting post to read, but i'm excited!! this is good stuff.

ferment, chapter two

well, the verdict is out for my latest eXtReMe(!) Fermentation Adventure Week ~ that week ~ a couple ago, when i fermented anything and everything (except meat) i could have my whey with (ha. sorry that's a horrible pun. but i kept it!! it's making the cut!).
my taste-testing panel (the very brave Mr. Sealion) and i sampled the ferments today.
AND:
the beet kvass ~
which i'd never had it before, is cubed raw beets with some whey, sea salt, and 2 quarts of water. . and you drink the liquid as a tonic. was mild and beety, with perhaps a slight hint of seasalt. i suppose i might have been expecting the intensity of beet *juice*, which i love (in a concoction the Sac Nat Foods Co-op's deli calls Madame Curie ~ beet, garlic and ginger=YUM!). it was fine. Sealion called it "potent beet zing", i think.
the citrus preserves ~
a layered concoction of lemon, orange, and grapefruit, with whey, sucanat (evaporated cane juice), and sea salt, came out WOW! grapefruit x 1000 !!!! ( i don't like grapefruit. . ) my total experience of it was touching one little triangle of an orange slice to my tongue, and saying "NYAAAA!!!" i did this several times, for effect. kind of like those sour candy balls kids eat ~ i couldn't actually keep it in my mouth, but would just touch it to my tongue for the sensationalism of it all! Sealion said, "WHOA!!" and, "well, at least it's pretty [in the jar]!" HA!
win some, lose some. process is a beautiful and fun thing.
mango chutney ~
OOOO!! i like! i don't know how you could go wrong with mango, but i wasn't gonna hold my breath. this ended up having a smooth texture like applesauce, with spices, raisins, chopped almonds, grated ginger, and a lot of lemon zest (and whey to aid fermentation). the first thing i notice when i put it in my mouth is the zing of the fermentation, then the sour of the lemon. the spices come later, and linger (esp. the minced ancho!). i ate spoonfuls of this happily, noting different flavor discoveries with each bite.
i could imagine it going nicely on a burger. yum.
tiffie-kraut :) ~
i don't even remember what all i put in this now. . it was comprised of what i found on the overflowingly-piled produce shelf of the fridge: saved-and-forgotten cauliflower leaves (not florets), some purple cabbage, forgotten green onion, sliced strawberry radish, apples. . celery. and garlic slices.
this is Sealion's favorite. the overarching flavor is garlic, and has a nice fermentedness about it. and a lovely purple color has permeated everything, the juice and the veggies (as you can see in the photo of the first "ferment" post). i was happy that it simply tastes like kraut to me, and is not something i have to get up the nerve to taste every time ~ i am passionate about fermentation, but still new, after all..

now: what's next?

broth

more on the subject of Wasting Nothing ~ we've been making a lot of broths lately.

as we are preparing the evening meal, we collect all the useful scraps in a bowl ~ onion and garlic peels and nubs (there's a whole lot of those), leek parts, carrot nubs, green tops ~ such as carrots and leeks, ginger, peppers, celery and its leaves, herbs, and bones. we keep a few gallon-size freezer bags in the freezer, and just deposit the scraps in the bags.
when one of the bags is full, it's time to make broth.

we have a cast iron Dutch Oven (a soup pot with a tight-fitting lid) that i fill with scraps.
i usually include an extra onion, or any loose garlic cloves lying around,
and a few sticks of kombu seaweed~ extra dense with minerals.
depending on the flavor i'm after, i might add a sweet potato or carrots for sweetness, or extra ginger, or hot pepper, or even more garlic. you can tailor your recipe, with herbs and spices, too, or enjoy the pot-luck.
i fill the pot with filtered water so that it covers the scraps.
slowly bring it up to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer.
with an all-veggie broth, you can let it simmer for just a few hours till the veggies are soft, or you can let it long-simmer to get a dense, mineral-rich broth.
the kind of bones you include dictates how long they simmer. fish bones ~ heads and all if you have it ~ take just an hour or so, not longer.
chicken and beef bones are very nourishing. to get all the goodness out of these, keep the pot on a very low heat for up to two days.

add a couple tablespoons of vinegar to pull the nutrients out.
check the pot occasionally and add more water so that the ingredients are always covered with water.

when the broth is done to your liking, strain it. then: use it, or
let it cool ~ you can set the pot in a larger container with ice, or pour the strained broth into a shallow dish like a casserole and set it on ice (veggie broth needn't cool with as great haste).
transfer the broth to smaller containers. i like to pour it into glass jars, and set them (tightly sealed) on their side in the freezer for quicker thawing. lots of people like to use ziploc bags, and freeze them flat; this works well too.
label them so you remember what they are.

(things not to be included in the broth-pot: high-fat fish bones, such as salmon [the oil breaks down too quickly, and then is not good for you], and members of the cabbage family [these tend to add too strong a flavor]).


anytime i make a soup or sauce, i pull out some broth and use it for the liquid.
this adds so (!) much flavor (!), and so (!) much nourishment (!) to the meal.
if you eat meat, the gelatin in the broth helps your body assimilate the nutrients.
~ and any "real" cook (says _The_Joy_of_Cooking_) swares by broths and stocks in her soups and sauces!
you can also use the broth by itself ~ for a nourishing meal on its own. . with a little salt, you're good to go! . . and ~ a great supplement for furry companions.

in Nature, there is no waste. broth-making is gleaning more valuables before they end up in the landfill.
plus ~ why throw away all that nutrient-rich goodness? responsible for you, your loved-ones, and the Earth.

broth making is so easy. it's takes a little forethought until you're used to it, but the rewards will train your brain very quickly! :-D

yogurt and sourdough

while i'm on a roll ~
i've finally made yogurt i like a lot!!
i've been making it pretty regularly, using Organic Pastures raw whole milk, and Strauss whole milk yogurt as the culture.
i had been heating it only to the minimum temperature so as to keep the beneficial rawness in action, and wondering whether i was just not going to produce satisfactory yogurt that way.it was turning out . . passable..
but ~ the last time i was determined. i let that baby sit in its little cooler beside the radiator for days. i added more starter, warmed up the container again, and let it sit some more. what i got was *so* fermented, it was sparkling. i'd say ~ alcoholic to the nose. i tasted it. it had a bite, alright. but had a good texture, and i grew to like it.
well ~ this most recent batch i used *that* as my starter culture, and voila: i had a good textured, tasty yogurt in two days! the "curd" had filled up the whole of the jar, with whey just floating around it (others had been 1/3-1/2 full of curd ~ runny at that ~ and the rest whey). some pretty cream on top, the custardy-curd held up on my spoon, and was ... tasty!!
i am encouraging a yogurt culture that is tailored to our own specific yog-ing situation. :-D
at first i attempted to mask that flamboyant tartness with something sweet, but i've since embraced it.

it might help that i am growing accustomed to other sour flavors, as with the taste of homemade sourdough bread b/c
i have finally figured out how to keep a sourdough culture!!!
this process had been elusive to me. i followed the suggestions i'd read and heard, and either i a) didn't have faith, b) didn't know what i was supposed to be looking for, c) wasn't using fresh enough flour, or d) wasn't feeding it often enough or ~ e) any combination of the above.

i consulted Sourdough Home, at http://www.sourdoughhome.com/index.html , and found that the starting "recipe" i was using was alright:
1/4 cup filtered water
a little less than 1/4 cup fresh flour, rye works well to get it started, preferably freshly ground
mix it up, store it in a jar with a cloth over the top to protect from flies,
keep it in a warm place (in winter, i've been keeping it snuggled up near the radiator.. with the cats.).
every twelve hours, pour some of it out, and feed it some more flour and water. it should show little bubbles within a few days. you might not notice it as "active" but give it time, have faith, and be patient.

it worked. maybe i just believed, or maybe other factors were involved, but i have a lively starter that is fun to watch, sometimes like a lava lamp. it smells pleasant ~ not "rotten" or "off",
and it makes good bread!!


photo: successful yogurt. :)

the r(E)volution will not be microwaved

"If Evolution Is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Evolve"
-Jello Biafra

might i strongly recommend:

_The_Revolution_Will_Not_Be_Microwaved_, by Sandor Ellix Katz.
i was a fan of his as soon as i opened the cover of his first book, _wild_fermentation_.
i got to hear him speak at a small meeting in Nevada City. he was as personable and inclusive in person as his voice is in his writing. i had brought him some homemade ginger ale, and ginger-carrot-hiziki pickle in homage, but i got all red-faced and sheepish.. leaving the place i immediately felt GOOFY. but that's ok. he didn't know any different, and i was even more inspired!
this man's life is the inspirational light that shines through his writing. his book is at once handbook for eating and manifesto for living. by choosing to take an active roll in feeding yourself, you take a stand against the Powers That Be who would have you mindlessly agree to whatever they're shoving your way ~ whether it be multi-national corporate consumerism, genetically-modified mono-cropped anti-nutrition, or global political smokescreen and blatant lies.

here's the review i wrote on Amazon:

in a time when spinach could be deadly, and cloned animals might be ground into that next Big Sandwich,
there is an underground revolution happening, and it's happening all over the world. folks are making possibly-unnoticed-but-radical choices about food. they choose not to let corporations and government dictate what and how they must eat, because when food choices are taken out of the hands of the people, the people lose.
in this textbook for the revolution, Sandor Ellix Katz examines the intricately interwoven web that is our food supply. from water and land rights to bake sales, "free trade," and free food, he shows the damage done when big government (big brother) and big business make our food choices for us. the book uncovers a whole lot of the story that they would prefer we not know, and shows how tied together it all is ~ history, ecology, economy, ethics, civil rights, big vs. small, corporate vs. community, seed laws and plant prohibitions, down to even the most basic right of putting in your mouth something you feel like eating, and maybe sharing it with a friend. the picture seems mighty bleak. but that's where the revolution comes in; people everywhere continue to join around the table ~ the very basis of culture itself ~ not to let the powers-that-be separate them from their food supply. for survival, for nutrition, for connection, for charity, for protest ~ for pleasure (!), folks are keeping food traditions alive, or exploring them for the first time. they're holding onto age-old agricultural practices (like seed saving), and creating new solutions to food waste (like dumpster diving and road-kill salvage!). but Katz doesn't stop there; each section (as well as including extensive resources for further study and connection) extends a personable and encouraging, do-it-yourself helping hand to guide the reader to take steps to becoming a revolutionary herself. because choosing to be aware about food at all has become an act of rebellion.
The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved is concentrated, intelligent research as well as compelling, passionate storytelling. it is manifesto, cultural catalyst and cookbook, promising a place for each of us at the revolutionary table.
a fan of Katz as soon as i opened Wild Fermentation, i highly recommend this book. if you are interested in food politics at all, or even just love to eat good food, this is a must-read textbook and reference tool for our time.


photo: Sandor Katz with some cheesy red-faced chick as he toured CA to promote his new book.

ferment

well, i must say ~ i've been quite the fermentation fanatic lately. ~not a fermentation "fetishist", as Sandor Katz calls himself, but quite crazy. watch out Plant Kingdom: if you don't seem as if you've a Career Goal prior to the compost pile... you might just get FER-mented.

this week i made: some version of sauerkraut/fermented veggies (Gyrlene says, "TiffieKraut".), beet kvass (a tonic from which you use the liquid and discard the solid), mango chutney, and lemon-orange-grapefruit marmalade. OH YEAH!!
this is not even counting the raw milk yogurt and sourdough breads i made (ok ~ now it is!!)...

after reading (and loving) _The_Revolution_Will_Not_Be_Microwaved_, and reading just the first chunk of _Food_Not_Lawns_ [how to turn your yard into a garden and your neighborhood into a community], by Sandor Katz, and H.C. Flores, respectively, i am even more enthused to WASTE NOTHING!!
and fermentation is another layer of utility you can tastily easily enjoyably employ.

one of the many ways i appreciate Sandor's writing is that he finds a way to encourage me not to be afraid to experiment and try something new ~ with style and confidence. another is that he insists that, at least with fermentation (different from, say, cake-baking), "recipes" are just ideas and guidelines; mix and match, use what you have, do what you like and what works for you. i hope to try every single recipe/idea in his _wild_fermentation_ book. it inspires me.

with what falls under his term for "sauerkraut," almost anything in the kitchen can go, it seems.
this time around i used: red cabbage, the outer *leaves* of cauliflower heads, green onions, garlic, celery, strawberry daikon radish, and apple ( i think that's it. . ), a bunch of stuff in our kitchen that didn't seem to have a plan.
i varied the cuts and shapes for interest.
i collected it all in a bowl and pounded it with a coffee cup to get the juices flowing ( i think i left the apple out of this.. for integrity of shape. .).
then i packed it tight into jars, layering it with light sprinklings of sea salt as i crammed with my fist.
i fit jar lids from slightly smaller-sized jars in on top, and weighted them with full beer bottles. this is because the stuffs tend to float in the salt water brine, and you need them to be covered by the liquid in order to ferment correctly.
after a day or so the juice was not flowing amply enough to cover the lot of it, so i added some filtered water and a sprinkling of salt. in another day, they were bubbling ~ one was frothing, and looking and smelling goo-ood!!
i'll wait about a week, then put it in the fridge.

the beet kvass recipe i used from _Nourishing_Traditions_, by Sally Fallon.
i used a few clean beets,
chopped them up, and put them in a 2-quart jar.
then mixed about 1/4 cup whey (from my yogurt and cheese-making endeavors) with
a ..tablespoon sea salt, and added it in with the beets.
i filled the jar with filtered water, and closed it tight.
it'll be ready in a few days.

i cleaned out the fridge one day, and found a half-full (not half-empty!!) jar of mango quarters that someone had left in there since.. summer.
i opened the jar and ! whew! that's alcohol! then i thought: what a perfect candidate for fermentation!!
so i used the _Nourishing_Traditions_ recipe for "fruit chutney" as a guide. it has raisins, chopped almonds, lots of lemon rind, and spices, plus whey and sea salt.
we'll see . ..

and today: i used a grapefruit that seemed sad and neglected, a rind-less lemon, and an orange i borrowed from a neighbor's sidewalk (yup ~ i live in california!) to make marmalade. :)
i scrubbed and sliced those babies real thin.
then i attractively layered them in a quart jar.
i mixed: whey, sucanat (evaporated cane juice), and sea salt with some filtered water, and poured it in.
(this, from _Nourishing_Traditions_, once again)
it is so lovely to behold!

things already have the necessary fermentative bacteria and yeasties to go on their own. however, whey gives them a boost. sea salt helps control the action (and gives flavor and minerals)..

what can we ferment next??

photos:
the kraut makin's,
tampin' it down,
weighting.
beet kvass (with my lovely new set of measuring cups and spoons in the background [thanks, Mom!!]),
mango chutney,
citrus marmalahd,
the family portrait

flax crackers

for our "raw foods" class at Bauman College, we made these with a dehydrator, but i don't own a dehydrator.
in _The_Revolution_Will_Not_Be_Microwaved, Sandor Ellix Katz's new book (the one he was promoting the night i got to meet him), i read that he makes flax crackers by simply using the pilot light in a gas oven, or leaving the light on in an electric oven.
so simple and so tasty!
mix equal parts flax seeds and water ~ my batch is 1 cup-to-1 cup. you can add all kinds of flavorings; the first batch i kept it simple by substituting just a fourth-cup tamari for part of the water.
in a few hours, the flax seeds and water will form a gel-ly goo ~ the special germination magic of flax seeds, and they're ready to spread.
lightly grease a cookie sheet, and spread the flax goo on evenly, and as thinly as possible (or perhaps 2-flax-deep), making sure to avoid holes as much as possible. using your hands is fun. keep a bowl of water nearby so that you can wet your hands as you go.
slide the cookie sheet into the oven, with pilot light, or lightbulb.
in the next day, you will be able to pull the sheet of cracker off the cookiesheet and turn it over. you'll be able to tell when it's time; you don't have to force it.
in another day or so, the cracker will be ready to eat!

this second batch i added tamari, brown miso paste, a dash of cayenne, and dulse flakes.
the sheet of it is a gorgeous warm speckly brown.

be advised to chew well and drink water with these yummies. tasty and so good for you!

photos: spreading the goo,
in the oven,
ready for eating!

cheese

i'm making a batch of cheese. this is my second batch; my first batch has been aging for a month now. i'm following the recipe in _wild_fermentation_, which is simple, user-friendly, and straightforward.
i'm using a half-gallon of Organic Pastures raw whole milk, and culturing it with 1/2 cup of whole milk yogurt for two hours at around 100 degrees.
then i'll add a few drops of vegetable-based rennet (traditionally, rennet is an enzyme derived from the lining of an animal's stomach) which will cause the milk to form a layer of custard-like coagulate-curd (interestingly enough, the word "coagulate" comes from the Latin word "coagulum", which *means* rennet! purdy cool.) floating in a pot of whey. then i'll cut the curds into relatively uniform 1-inch pieces, and this sits at 100 degrees ~ for a shorter time if you want softer cheese, and a longer time if you want harder cheese. i'll let it sit for about an hour.
then to gently scoop out the curds into a collander lined with cheesecloth (or in my case, linen), and layer it with sea salt.
and that's all but the draining! tie it up, with a bowl underneath to catch the salty whey.

for the first batch i was kind of half-assedly flying by the seat of my pants. this involved beer (not in the milk, but in my bloodstream, and behind my eyeballs and cheeks), and the giddy anticipation of going to meet and listen to Sandor Ellix Katz, the author of the very book i was using as reference! (more on that later. .. )
i made that classic mistake of not reading the instructions beforehand, and instead, *as* i was doing the action (for the first time) that i was reading about. dis no good. .. all the same, i felt adventurous and excited.
i imagine it will be edible but not yummy.. we'll see.

so: five days later, i'm making another batch of cheese, with the same starting ingredients.
tonight with a mediterranean feast, we will eat the cheese from a few days ago.
i shaped it a little bit (as i did not with the first batch) by flattening the mostly-drained sac-o-curds between two cutting boards (with a cast iron skillet for weight). a little bit more liquid dribbled out, as i turned it and flipped it throughout the days.
just now i unwrapped it from its happy linen lining and took my first nibble of my homemade cheese. the piece that i nibbled reminded me of when cream cheese gets a little bit dry around the edges (not *too* dry: not crunchy), and it was salty. but it tasted wholesome and good. cheese.
we'll see what the fam think of it tonight, and we might be adding less salt in this next batch. . . also thinking of adding: herbs. :)

photos from that first day ~
it's curded! the spoon is resting on TOP!!
cutting the curd,
scooping out the curd,
the cheesecloth bag,
me and my first bag-o-cheese

another hot cake

what's a ho-cake anyway? (that's what i almost typed. .i think i like this as a nickname..) i think it is a corn hotcake of olden days.

because, you know, i love pancakes. i might even call myself a *connoisseur* of pancakes. i love me some breakfast, and i love me some pancakes. they need to be crispy around the edge, and not too cakey and dense in the center.

my favorite pancakes ever at a restaurant are: Alfalfa's Blueberry Buckwheat (more than a meal ~ in lovely downtown Lexington, KY), and
Cafe Bernardo's Cornmeal Pancakes (in tree-lined Midtown Sac). with their seasonal menu variations, i've not had these in awhile. they *rule*. they have inspired my personal quest to make the perfect pancake (as with the previous entry).
my mama when i was a kid would manage to magically fry smiley-faces or heartshapes into my pancakes. that always made me happy.
and Brooke makes a killer pancake with whatever happens to be in the kitchen, including bananas.
which reminds me that i have a third pancake to add to the Top list: banana pancakes from latin american countries. yum.

so here's my latest:

Winter Squash Cakes.
this was created to use up leftover or extra squash (or sweet potatoes), and eaten with a Greek Egg-Kale Scramble
(also stellar), for a dinner-time breakfast to honor our nightshift boy, mr. Sealion.

4 freerange eggs
about 1/3 cup buttermilk (from my recent butter session), or yogurt-and-water will do
the flesh of 1 (or so) roasted winter squash, very soft. (or one large roasted sweet potato; you get the idea. )
1/3 cup organic cornmeal ( i would have used polenta if i'd had it.. for that perfect texture.. ) ~ just a third-cup!
about 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

beat plenty of air into the eggs ~ separate out the whites and fluff 'em up if you have the time/inclination.
add the buttermilk/yogurt and squash.
stir till well combined, and large lumps are smooshed.
stir together the dry ingredients and add them to the wet.
combine till all lumps of flour are incorporated, but not much more.

fry on a medium-hot skillet in butter.
serve with cottage cheese, yogurt, or applesauce. but i venture you'll eat a few just plain!!
my family of taste-testers voted this a winner, for sure. and i have to agree.
great for any time of day. with so many eggs and so little flour, these cakes are filling and marvelous. with two bottomless-hungry boys, and me, at the table, we had only a couple leftover. i think they were just being polite..

yum!!

cottage cheese

in other raw milk news,
i made cottage cheese:
one with raw whole milk, and
one with raw skim.
i put the two jars of raw milk in the oven with the light on (right next to the sourdough starter i'm still sweet-talking.. ),
and waited two days.
today i will cut the curds, drain off the whey, and wash the curds with filtered water.
then we'll have a taste test to see which we like best: whole milk cottage cheese, or skim. as yummy as whole milk products are, i can't imagine the skim would be tastier, but we'll see. .

alright, well. the results are in.
this was a positive experiment, but i really needed more milk to do it up right.
my main complaint was that the milk in the pan was so shallow that i had to babysit each batch intensively (i had to consult the Christmas Ale for support) to keep it at the recommended 110 degrees for 30 mins. i'd let it get up to temp (or a couple over) and then take it off the stove. . over and over. and it turns out that the skim was really the proper choice for cottage cheese (as my recipe further recommended). it curdled and firmed up in the expected amount of time. very pretty. the whole milk, on the other hand, was a creamy mess (gorgeous yellow cream, but all the same) that took forever (3 times as long as the skim.. ) to firm up. i washed the skim milk curds as per directions, but couldn't bare to wash away all that beautiful cream from the whole milk batch, so .. . after hours of draining it, i ended up simply mixing the two batches together for a small bowlful of creamy loveliness. it was more tangy than the kind you get at the store, with a luscious creamy sauce.

what i did:
heat each batch to 110 on the stove.
i cut the curds into relatively uniform pieces,
and stirred everyonce in a while to keep them from "matting".
once they became firm between my fingers, as opposed to their original custard-ish texture,
i drained off the whey,
and washed the curds (of the skim) in cold, filtered water.
then i left them in their cotton baggy to drain for a while.

the cookbook i consulted is _Home_Cheese_Making_, by Ricki Carroll, purportedly the american Guru of home cheese making, and a seminal agent in the recent american *craft cheese revival*.

one of the products of my natural chef education was learning about, and being directed to resources about: the whole body benefits of raw, grass-fed milk. pasteurized milk protects us from the ill effects of *industrialization*, not milk. cows that have the opportunity to live as they were created to live ~ browsing fields of grass ~ produce milk that is wholly good.
for more information on this, i highly recommend
www.realmilk.com
to learn more about Organic Pastures (the milk we use), you can visit their site at
http://www.organicpastures.com/index.html

photos, in blogger-random: incubating. can you tell which is whole milk and which is skim?
cutting the curd,
comparing the jars: one with a thick layer of yellow cream, the other with just a skim,
side-view,
the curds a-stewin',
draining the whey,
the jar of whey (from the skim),
the finished skim cottage cheese,
the whole curds, with their cream soup, draining.

bread and butter

or, rather: butter and bread.

i made butter for the first time! how surprisingly easy!
i put a pint of raw Organic Pastures cream in the food processor, and no more than a couple minutes later:
BUTTER!
and real buttermilk.
i washed it with cold, filtered water, and, with the back of a spoon, squeezed out the remaining buttermilk, until the water ran clear when i pressed.

i had to make some bread for butter-to-mouth transport, so i made one from Bernard Clayton's bread cookbook. i used the recipe for "Max's Loaf," and made a few Tiffanie changes. i used 2 cups hard wheat, 1 cup soft wheat, and 2 cups spelt (all whole-grain, ground in the blender) for my flour mixture. i used the buttermilk from my first butter foray, and substituted 1/8 cup of agave nectar in with 1/8 cup raw honey (it called for all-honey). i used pumpkin seeds for the sunflower seeds.
it turned out to be a gorgeous loaf. it was made with packaged yeast, instead of sourdough, with which i'm still finding challenges (it's wild!).

photos:
i know ~ my photos are cheesey. i can't help it!
the pumpkin-crusted bread with butter,
the butter in-process, with its companion-bowl ~ the buttermilk.
presentation is "everything" ~ the product in the fridge.

please porridge hot

we've been experiencing some blessedly cooler mornings, and this makes me wanna snuggle up to a warm breakfast that soothes me from the inside. ahhhhh. :)
our fabulous instructor at Bauman College ~ Lizette, shared with us the idea to make porridge with hot water and ground flax seeds.
i've been tinkering, and this is a recipe i like a lot:

Please Porridge Hot (why not)

In the coffee/spice/nut Grinder:
2 tbsp flax seeds
1 tbsp chia seeds
1/4 tsp cinnamon
a dash cayenne (warm it up!)
a dash powdered stevia (or use the liquid dropper later)
a dash sea salt

In the Toasting Pan, on low heat:
chopped nuts and/or seeds of your choice
dried shredded coconut

In the Blender:

all of the above: the ground seed-spice mixture,
the toasted seeds/nuts & coconut
a bowlful of boiling water (you know: more if you like it soupy, less if you like it thicker.
obviously this will depend on the bowls in your kitchen. . )
3-4 dried Mission Figs, chopped

Blend till well combined.

In the Bowl:
adjust seasoning, sweetness and soupiness.
add just a tiny bit of butter (this *makes* it!!)
a dash of cinnamon for presentation

possible mix-ins (endless):
add a little ripe banana in the blender
cocoa powder
dates
dried apple, chopped
vanilla
agave instead of, or in addition to, the stevia

it is top priority for me to keep meals as low on the glycemic index as possible. that makes this a nice satisfying alternative to grains such as oatmeal for breakfast. and that's why i use figs as opposed to bananas, and stevia instead of other sweeteners. this recipe also gives the great benefits of flax and chia: omega 3's and fiber. with the nuts and butter, this meal will sustain you longer into your morning than sugar-rush cereal or granola (and, of course, all the other sugary "food" you could have for breakfast.. )

it's also just-plain yummy!! and this is the best reason to make this for breakfast. :-D

(one last note is that i always use and recommend organic ingredients.
and i use raw, organic butter from happy grass-fed cows. it's alive! and transmits that vitality to you. :) it also still has the enzymes that help in the digestion of dairy, which can be a challenge for a lot of us! ;) ~me included! grass-fed = very important. i could go on and on about this. not only are the cows happy (which travels in their milk), they eat the diet they were *designed* to eat, which makes them healthy, and their milk SO GOOD FOR YOU!! it is sunshine, and green grass. so beautiful. for facts, figures, graphs and charts, and listings of where you can find grass-fed dairy in your area, check this out: http://www.eatwild.com/nutrition.html
ok. that's all. ;-D)

The Best-I've-Ever-Made Pancakes

whoa. from the very first "testcake" i was pancake-O-ing .. for hours.
ok: i admit it. i ate these pancakes, one at a time, hot off the skillet, for hours.
lucky my companion-in-brunch had to scoot off to work, or there woulda beena fight over those last pancakes.
woulda been ugly.




OK!! on to the recipe! so you may pancake-O in your own kitchen.


i used _The_All_New_Joy_of_Cooking_'s Basic Buttermilk Pancakes recipe as my guide. then i played:

The Best-I've-Ever-Made Pancakes
(_Joy_ says, "about twelve 5-inchers"
.. only the skillet knows how many 3-inchers...)

Dry Ingredients:
in 1/2 cup: an eyeball-mixture of less regular oats (not quick-cook), to (*key!!*) uncooked polenta,
in second 1/2 cup: stoneground cornmeal (might i stress the importance of Organic ingredients here)
in third 1/2 cup: a mix of the same cornmeal with whole grain spelt, and whole wheat flours

(i was just using what i found in the freezer. it worked!!)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder (non aluminum)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
a light sprinkle of powdered Stevia (essential? unsure. .)
a sprinkling of chia seeds (pretty.)

Wet Ingredients:
3/4 cup organic whole milk yogurt
1/2 cup homemade kefir (unsweetened = very important)
1/4 cup filtered water
about 3 tbsp unsalted organic butter, melted
2 large free range eggs

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients.
In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
Pour the wet into the dry, and gently whisk, just until combined.
(the batter was relatively thick, and full of big-ish air bubbles.)
On a medium-hot skillet (cast iron is great!) melt some organic butter (or coconut oil.. !) and fry those babies up!
till they bubble on the first side, then flip them only once.
silver-dollar-size worked well for me.

crispy, very moist, and light, with a magical crunch! they can be prepared savory, or sweet.
my Official Taste Tester said the winning combo of toppings on a hot-off-the-skillet cake was:
a little more butter, of course :-P
a dollop of unsweetened whole milk yogurt
chunks of in-season ripe organic strawberries
freshly toasted walnut pieces
just a dot or two of agave nectar !
but, he said, you don't want to put *too much* of the toppings on there, because the cake is so good itself!
or ~(he said) eat 'em plain!! delectable.

i enjoyed them with unsweetened apple sauce and walnut pieces, too.

play around and lemme know what you think!
pancakes = the ingredient options are endless; but you know a good one as soon as you put the first bite in your mouth.

photo: a fabric ode to fried-cake affection

kombucha diary II: one month later

it's that time again, friends!
what time, you say??
time to procrastinate homework by posting a blog entry! geez, i'm behind, but the stories and photos are still there, just waiting to be click-clacked to you.
so how are the boocha babies?
babies, you say? weren't we just talking about a single boocha? do they multiply?
like micro-bunnies.
that first boocha mommie took no time at all to reproduce. by the next morning, the top of her tea was frothy. in 3 days, a gooey-looking cover had formed over the top, which in five days had matured into a gelatinous, brain-oid layer that i was kinda scared a little alien was going to erupt out of if i got too close! ! we were absolutely FASCINATED with this, and i peeked in on that little boocha as often as i could walk by!

do we dare try the resulting sweet-smelling liquid??

Sealion and i celebrated our first successful boocha-batch on the fourth of july.
clink!!
fireworks exploded before our eyes as we realized the refreshing beverage potential!

that day i started my second batch in the faithful-first punch bowl. and now i had two mommies ~ the first one that Joanne gave me, and the baby that it created. so we needed another container, right? cuz we coulda easily drunk that punch-bowl's worth in a matter of days (i think it was two), with restraint.
with Sealion's usual zeal, he set to searching at our now-favorite downtown-sac thrifstore, the SPCA (for adopt-a-kitties!), and came up with boocha vessels galore! a ceramic "POPCORN" container, a glass cookie jar with wooden lid, a lid-less gallon Mason jar, and ~ his prize ~ a HUGE (huge!!) cowboy-coffee pot with that blue-with-white-speckled enamel like those classic camping cups and plates have. we were in Boocha Business!
i made gallons and gallons of that sugary tea. then, tentatively at first, i sliced up the original mommie, saying, "thank you! you're a good mommie! we appreciate your work!!" so that she wouldn't feel abused. .. !
ger sploosh, ger sploosh! each new batch got a segment of the original mommie, and some original Kombucha to get the chewin' started.
now we had a veritable nursery in the downstairs cupboard (right across from Sealion's succulent plant nursery!! ~ so many gro-lights; it must be illegal!! ;-D ), and in not too long, the towels and sheets that shared that cabinet space ~ heck ~ the whole downstairs!! smelled of brewin' boocha. tangy nectar.

well, it's been almost a month now, and about a week ago, i checked the batches and ~ they were bubbly! this means they're coming along to tang-maturity. it's working!!! mwAHAHAHAHA!!!
in that time, my boocha mommie has become quite the gal-to-know (if ya know what i mean); she's made babies for THREE of my friends already!! Hollis, Kristin, and Dorothy, all are proud new parents of boocha bubblers!! i'm so psyched to share the love! who will join the refreshing-cleansing bandwagon next? ?

photos:
admiring the boocha: the brain-oid top layer ~ from above, and an illuminated (cuz we're that wacky!!) side-view,
the first glass: Sealion and i waive our rights, and sip with delight!
the boocha nursery: shhh! boochas sleeping!

high vibrating smoothie

remember the supergreen that i started drinking some time ago?
still drinking it. we're using a brand called Green Vibrance that i like a lot. such good stuff in there. and thanks to my recent nutrition training, i understand a lot more of the label! probiotics ~ the microbeasties that enliven your gut ~ chock full of those, sea veggies, land veggies, fiber, selenium, vitamin E, antioxidants, and stuff that helps you deal with stressors, enzymes and minerals.
what i'm drinking now is:
about a pint glass and a quarter of filtered water, with:
a bloop of homemade (organic raw whole milk) kefir,
a couple handfuls of frozen berries and frozen bananas,
a good drizzle of raw unfiltered honey,
flax and chia seeds freshly ground,
a knob of fresh ginger, grated,
about a quarter avocado,
half a capful of fish oil (no more than that!!),
a dash of stevia powder,
lime or lemon juice,
and a large rounded scoop of Green Vibrance.

it's not totally frozen; more of a thick cool liquid.
the fish oil is a bit obnoxious ~ i'll give you that.. i'm wondering if the lemon variety would be less offensive. but i think a half-capful is not bad ~ i wouldn't try to feed it to someone else (tried that!! only once.. ), but it's palatable for me, cuz i know how good it is for me!!
high-vibratin'! so nourishing! my body says, thank you!

update: january 2007 ~ welcome Vitamineral Green
i stopped using Green Vibrance. as i studied more about it, i found that it was composed in large part of non-organic soy. in our country these days, most soy is genetically engineered. i am interested in having as little soy in my diet as possible, except for fermented soy sauce and miso (Goddess knows i ate more than my share during my vegetarian years!!). i have been led to believe that soy in its unfermented form is highly undigestible, and chemically wreaks havoc on our systems. in cultures that have traditionally eaten soy, it is taken in much smaller quantities, and is usually fermented, as with soy sauces (shoyu and tamari), miso, and tempeh. and considering this product didn't even label their soy as organic, i certainly didn't want to have anything to do with it, or support their company any longer. we now use Vitamineral Green. this is made by a company which seems sincerely dedicated to super-health and sustainable practices. it's very blue-green and vibrating.
i'm also using Nordic Naturals orange-flavored fish oil, which to my taste, is very nice, and no fishy taste at all. i use about a teaspoon.

sourdough

i baked my first batch of my very own sourdough today!
first, i created the starter:
in a clean glass jar, i made a soupy mixture of whole wheat flour and filtered water, whisking it energetically to aereate. i walked around outside, midday, as i did this~~to invite floating yeast-beasties that were passing by.
then: i tossed in a couple of fresh organic grapes *unwashed* to add a little sugar and boost the yeast production process. (i learned this from Sandor Ellix Katz's _wild_fermentation_. i rubber-banded a square of linen cloth over the top for breathability, and left the jar of dough out in the sacramento summer sun to warm up.
by AFTERNOON the frothing bubbling dough had overtaken its linen covering. i removed the grapes and stirred down my starter. for the next two days i added a little more flour and water, whisking and aereating, and set it outside again.
the stuff sure smells sour, alright!

i used this starter to make Bernard Clayton's California Whole Wheat Sourdough. the recipe called for adding molasses to the starter, but i didn't have any, so i substituted an equal amount agave nectar with sucanat mixed in. i think honey would have worked well, too. i used a combination of organic whole wheat and whole spelt flours, a few tablespoons of organic butter (in place of vegetable shortening) and added a cup of wheat berries that i soaked overnight. (do i need to specify that i use all organic products, or can it be assumed?)
i kneaded it vigorously for ten minutes.
i set it out to proof, covered, in the sun for several hours. molded into rounds and placed in a greased loaf pan (mine was a stoneware baking dish), and let proof for another couple hours.
i baked it until it was brown and crusty on the outside, and it made a nice hollow-sounding "thump" when i knocked my finger on it.
the never-used (but thrift store-bought!) stoneware baking dish soaked up the oil i smeared on it, so that the bread stuck, and fell apart before i could get it out of the dish. it was a cosmetically-imperfect loaf that came out well in other regards, especially for a first try.
it produced a brown, moist, hearty loaf with a crust, crunchy berries, and a touch of brown-sweetness. although it was hearty, it was not too dense. the sour aspect especially came through in the aftertaste. of the many samplings i tasted (and tasted and tasted!), i thought it was best accompanied by the hard, robust sheep cheese we had in the fridge, and a touch of salt.

photos: the sourdough starter.
finished loaf.

diary of a kombucha baby

i made about a gallon of tea using:
filtered water,
loose Frontier brand black tea,
organic white sugar.

i poured it into my clean, tempered glass punch-bowl-kombucha-house. i let it cool.
then i poured most of a 32 ounce bottle of live Kombucha by The Rejuvenation Company.

next day i added the kombucha mother i adopted from Joanne.
then i covered it with a linen cloth that i tied close so that floating dust and interested bugs cannot investigate.
by morning it was bubbling with effervescence. and smelled great.

illustrated