fermented: carrots, and fruit-scrap vinegars

I hadn't fermented any veggies in a while. Inspired by my roommie, Austin, who was fermenting something nearly every time he went to the farmers' market there for a while (!), I did a veggie ferment in brine. This kind of ferment is so easy, because you don't even have to do any chopping. Simply fill the jar with whole veggies, then top off with seasalted water. For the half-gallon jar I filled, I used between 2-3 tablespoons of seasalt. More for hot weather, less for cold. My mix was mainly tiny carrots, with whole cloves of garlic, grated as well as sliced ginger, and then a large handful of sea veggies (they were called "sea crunchies", but were no longer crunchy, so I added them in; I don't know their official name. I love seaweeds and they are soooo nutrient-dense. A bonus. I covered the jar with a cloth and secured it with a tie to keep out bugs. It sat in a cool room (which would be any room in our house this "summer"!) for over a month. A thick, smelly, furry layer of mold developed on top that would have deterred a novice. I, being a seasoned veggie fermenter at this point ;-), pulled this layer off with a spoon very easily. Underneath, the garlicky brine smelled appetizing. A layer of carrots at the top was off-color and mushy. Below that, the carrots were crisp and pleasantly flavorful. The overarching flavor of this ferment is garlic, with not even a hint of ginger! Oh, well.

"Garlicky Sea Carrots" in pint and quart jars, ready to eat

A ferment I have been looking forward to all year is fruit-scrap vinegar ~ the recipe for which I read in Wild Fermentation (one of my favorite books of all time). I discovered it last year when we were gifted FIVE WHOLE GALLONS of tasty cherries, and I didn't want to waste a single one! It's so easy, and it utilizes bruised fruits, and pits. So it's a delicious way to savor every morsel of the ripe, luscious summer fruit bounty! This year the only thing I did with our backyard plums is make vinegar with them. The last two years I tried to make jam, ended up using way too much sugar to balance their bitter tang, and ended up not eating it because we just don't eat sweet stuff. So = a waste. This season I gathered a large mixing bowl of fruit off the ground, after the squirrels and birds had had their fill, and made vinegar. We all win! : )

I also bought a huge bag of nectarine "seconds" at our favorite nectarine vendor ~ Kashiwase Farms (We are so spoiled by nectarines around here!!! They are sweeter than candy, before they even get soft. Incredible!). I sliced up all the fruits to eat out of hand, while piling a mixing bowl high with the bruised pieces and pits. Then I made vinegar. Have I mentioned I love how easy fermenting can be? Well, all you need to do to make phenomenally flavorful, gift-worthy "gourmet" vinegar is to dissolve 1/4 cup sugar (I use organic Sucanat/Rapadura, which is dehydrated cane juice) per quart of filtered water and cover the fruit ~ any organic fruit scraps will do. Cover it with a secured napkin to keep away the fruit flies that will be tempted and pesterful. Give it a nudge to stir it up occasionally. Let it sit for a week or more, until the liquid gets thick with color. Then strain out the solids and let it turn for a few weeks. First it will smell sweet, then like alcohol, then like vinegar. This is an aerobic process, so a wide-mouth vessel is best ~ for big batches I like to use pyrex mixing bowls, or wide-mouth canning jars for smaller ones. It's also important to use glass because of the acidity of the vinegar (as opposed to metal). Once it smells and tastes sufficiently vinegar-y, pour it into the attractive vessels of your choice and enjoy any way you would a tasty sweet vinegar.

Coconut-Oat-Seed Crackers

Yay! I made a granola recipe recently that called for soaking rolled oats with yogurt for a couple nights. When I worked with what ended up being oat dough, it reminded me of one of my favorite natural foods store treats ~ dehydrated crackers. You can find them in the raw foods section, made from sprouted grains and nuts, sometimes sauerkraut and veggies and spices. They can be sweet ~ with raisins, banana or dates, or (my favorite) savory. But they're expensive. And so easy to make at home! I don't have a dehydrator, so the ones I make aren't raw. I bake them on parchment-lined baking stones in the oven on the lowest setting possible.

I tried to add as much nourishment as I could to them while still keeping them yummy (what's the point of making something nutritious if nobody eats it!) ~ seaweeds for minerals, flax seeds, lots of coconut flakes, and good fats ~ coconut oil, red palm oil (makes the crackers a lovely turmeric color), and butter. With all the fats, they are not greasy to the touch, have a satisfying crispness, and a fun cheesy taste. Everyone in the house loves them. Score!
I have tried two batches, and the second batch has a great texture and flavor. I didn't write down the amounts as I went because I was just winging it in experimental mode. But I'll try to recount what went into them.

In a large pyrex mixing bowl with filtered water, seasalt and yogurt whey, I soaked for two days:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flax seeds
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup raw almonds

Flax seeds, once wet, create a gel that acts very similarly to egg white, and, interestingly, has the same hold-things-together property as egg white! Convenient. : )
I drained these, and blended them well in a food processor (the flax seeds remained whole).
I added:
probably 1/3 cup dulse flakes
1/2 cup sesame seeds, ground in coffee grinder
2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes, ground in coffee grinder
2 + tsp seasalt
1 tsp kelp powder (I wanted them to be very nourishing, but not fishy tasting)
a splash of organic tamari soy sauce
about 1/2 cup plain whole yogurt
Melted and added:
1 tbsp red palm oil
2-3 tbsp coconut oil
up to a stick of butter

The consistency of the dough before I spread it was of a very workable bread dough ~ not hard to spread. I tried to spread it consistently and square off the edges so that it would bake uniformly, about..1/3 inch thick.
When the dough had baked long enough to evaporate a lot of the liquid ~ maybe an hour? ~ I scored it with a knife, in inch-plus sections, to make breaking it easier when the crackers were done. I let them get firm, but not browned, then turned the oven off and let it cool before taking them out and breaking them apart. If they sit out in the humidity they soften back up even in a matter of hours. You can just crisp them again in the oven. Or not; they're fine soft, too.

Nourishing Sea Veggie and Greens Soup with Coconut

When I need deep nourishment, my body calls out for sea vegetables and real, homemade broth.

Here's a Thai-inspired bowl I ate this evening.

Serves 1 big bowl.

real, homemade chicken broth (or, in my fortunate case, broth from Three Stone Hearth)

1/3 cup coconut milk

1-2 Tbs coconut oil (don't be afraid of this oil. so good for you.)

a small handful of arame, or whatever sea veggie you have or like

1 tsp kelp powder

fish sauce, to taste

grated fresh ginger, to taste

large handful chopped leafy greens ~ collard, kale.. dandelion.. whatever you like or is on hand

a sprinkling of powdered gelatin (Bernard Jensen is a good brand), to even greater soothe and encourage digestion

Measure out enough chicken broth to almost fill your favorite large soup bowl. Put this in a small pot (or my favorite tiny cast-iron skillet). Add the coconut milk and oil, and the arame. Once it warms close to a simmer, sprinkle in the kelp powder and gelatin and let them dissolve on top before stirring them in. Add the other seasonings ~ fish sauce and ginger ~ to taste. When the broth comes to a light boil, add the chopped greens and let these simmer till they are wilted and their color turns slightly. Adjust seasoning as necessary, and add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes if your tummy is up for it. Sit down, turn off the noise, and bring this bowl up to your face to let the steam warm you flushed. Drink and chew and be well.