purple kraut.

I have been reading the book Nourishing Traditions as well as a few branch off books over the past year or so. We keep trying different recipes for food preservation, fermentation, as well as just good things like bone broth for stock. We had a few cabbages come in with our CSA recently, so I have been trying sauerkraut - using whey. This batch I used purple cabbage. Yummy.


Basic Sauerkraut

2 pint glass canning jars with plastic lids
1 Medium Cabbage
1 Tbsp sea salt
4 Tbsp of whey (you may use already fermented sauerkraut as an inoculate or simply add another tablespoon of salt.)
Optional -- caraway seeds (1 Tbsp)

Grate cabbage with a hand grater or in a food processor. Put it into a big bowl with the salt and whey, and pound it a little bit with a potato masher or meat mallet.

Press the mixture into a clean glass jar using a wooden spoon. Press firmly until the juice rises to the top and covers the mixture, which it will do when it is pounded enough. Leave at least an inch or more of space at the top of the jar.

Cover the kraut and store the jar in a cupboard or dark place for 3-4 days before transferring to the refrigerator. The sauerkraut may be consumed after a couple of weeks, though if you allow the fermentation process to continue for a month or so in the refrigerator the flavor will be even better.

It tastes great - the purple cabbage seems to be a bit mild, and the kraut is almost sweet and tangy at the same time. YUM. And the color...crazy.

chewy ginger cookies

The boys made some yummy cookies yesterday. They are just chewy enough but don't stick together. Mmmm.

Ingredients::
¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
¼ cup molasses
2 tsp. baking soda
2½ cups flour
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. salt


Instructions::
Preheat oven to 350°F (200°C).
Cream the butter & sugar together.
Add the egg & stir in the molasses.
Combine the baking soda, flour, spices & salt in a separate bowl.
Combine the wet & dry mixtures.
Shape into small balls & roll in sugar (we used turbinado).
Place on greased cookie sheet. Don't flatten.
Bake for about 10 minutes.



And, using organic ingredients makes them just that much yummier. Try a version with a little bit of ground flax seed too - it doesn't hurt the recipe balance and adds a little more of that rich flavor and texture.

New blog ... getting it rolling.

Hello! This is a side blog to my main Mom in Madison blog. We have been doing so much to eat better - buying direct from the farm, visiting farmer's markets, joining a CSA, keeping a garden and so on. And, of course, all of that leads into our exploration of dehydrating, preserving, freezing, fermenting, baking and more. AND of course there is lots of cooking with kids. I hope to keep food a part of my main blog, but we have been doing so much, that I hope to be able to include more by having this here. I'll be duplicating some of my food posts here from my other blog, as well as adding to it as we go!

Fresh Udon.

After reading this issue of Saveur, I just had to try to make fresh udon noodles. I don't have udon flour, but I do have whole wheat. Hmmm.



The noodles turned out great. Very flavorful and just the right texture. Yummy.


I used pre-ground organic whole wheat flour for this batch to see how it went...now I am going to try to make some using some of our own freshly ground wheat berries!


The recipe is in the latest Saveur magazine issue - the recipe comes from the book "At Home With Japanese Cooking" by Elizabeth Andoh. There is also an easy to follow step by step recipe here, which has a more accurate water to flour ratio than in the magazine (I had to add a bit of water).

CSA Box This Week

Well, it is almost over. We have only one more CSA pick up after today. My seasons move with the CSA box, the outdoor Farmer's Market, and the U-Picks. We are very lucky to live where we can continue to visit the Farmer's Market throughout the winter and find much, much more than just soap and pickles well into the dark cold winter months. But it isn't the same as the feeling of abundance that comes into this area all summer. I am not a hot weather person at all, and really love the autumn coolness and cold nights and always look forward to the snow. But I do feel a bit of nostalgia at the end of each growing season.

Sure - I will have hints of summer flavor from my freezer and basement all winter. I will still get our dairy and meat from someone I can chit-chat with. And I'll still visit the winter Farmer's Market every week or two for those items I cannot find at the local coop. But for now, I'll enjoy these last few weeks of autumn and every bite that goes with it.

This week in our box:
Lettuce, arugula, spinach, hakuri turnips, red radishes, brussel sprout stalk, red cabbage, celeriac, acorn squash, parsley root.

Fresh Pasta.

Today we decided to make fresh pasta to go with the home made tomato sauce we cooked this morning. Think pasta from scratch is too hard? Hey - a two year old can make it! :) And boy did he have fun.


He helped measure and stir, but I did the kneading.

His big brother did come in to help with the pasta cranking, because what 4 year old could stay away? But this little guy did most of the work.

It turned out great - mmm. I'll post the recipe soon!

Pasta Sauce.

We decided to make some fresh pasta sauce today to use the last of our Roma Tomatoes. The boys rinsed them and then helped scoop out the gloop after I cut them into 1/2. We scattered diced leeks and whole fresh garlic on a baking pan, and then place the scooped halves skin up on the pan. We sprinkled over some of the dried herbs from our garden and some sea salt.


They baked for about 45 minutes on 325.


The smell was awesome. They came out when nice and roasted.


We put everything into the cuisinart for a whiz before going into a pot. We added just a little bit of red wine and some more of our dried garden herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary).


We let it just sit and simmer for a few hours and get nice and dark and thick. What is next? Well, we need some pasta to go with it!