Lacto-fermentation Recipes

Posted on Monday, July 07, 2014 | By Alycia Lang |

More recipes coming soon but here's a little something to get you started.

Sparkly Carrots with Ginger

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 wide mouth pint mason jar
  • 1¼ cups (about 3 large) organic carrots cut into ¼ “ coins
  • 1” fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into super thin coins
  • 1 TB kosher salt dissolved in 1 cup water

Instructions:

  1. Layer carrots and ginger in the jar however you like.
  2. Combine salt with water, stirring to dissolve, then pour it over the carrot combination.
  3. Leave 1” space between the top of the brine and the rim of the jar.
  4. Insert the narrow end of the airlock into the rubber stopper and then insert the rubber stopper into the hold in the ReCAP lid. Screw the FARMcurious Fermenting Set onto the mason jar.
  5. Store out of direct sunlight in a relatively cool spot (your counter is fine but not on top of the refrigerator) and wait 4-6 weeks.
  6. Store in the refrigerator once opened. Will keep for a year or more!

Tangy Giardiniera

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 wide mouth
  • ½ gallon mason jar
  • 1 small head broccoli broken into smaller finger-food-sized heads
  • 1 small head cauliflower broken into smaller pieces as above
  • 1 red bell pepper cut into strips about ¾” wide
  • 15 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole ¼ sweet red onion chopped into 1” cubes
  • 4 carrots peeled and sliced into ¼” coins 1 bunch (about 1 cup whole leaves) fresh basil
  • 3 TB kosher salt dissolved in 3 cups water Instructions:

Instructions:

  1. Add basil to bottom of jar then layer remaining ingredients in an attractive manner.
  2. Pour saltwater over the veggies, leaving 1” space between the top of the brine and the rim of the jar.
  3. Insert the narrow end of the airlock into the rubber stopper and then insert the rubber stopper into the hold in the ReCAP lid. Screw the FARMcurious Fermenting Set onto the mason jar.
  4. Store out of direct sunlight in a relatively cool spot (your counter is fine but not on top of the refrigerator) and wait 4-6 weeks.
  5. Taste then store in the refrigerator once opened. Will keep for a year or more!
  6. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil.

Fermented Red Onions

 

Ingredients:

  • 1- 8 oz mason jar
  • 1 large red onion
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 1 Sprig of fresh rosemary (3-4" long)
  • 1 Sprig of fresh thyme 2-4 Black peppercorns
  • 1 TB kosher salt dissolved in 1 cup water to make a brine Instructions:

Instructions:

  1. Add peppercorns to the bottom of the jar.
  2. Slice the onion into 1/8" rings and pack tightly into the jar
  3. Slip bay leaf, rosemary and thyme sprigs in along the side of the jar so you can see them through the glass
  4. Pour the brine over the onions leaving about a 1/2" of headspace between the top of the brine and the rim of the jar.
  5. Insert the narrow end of the airlock into the rubber stopper and then insert the rubber stopper into the hold in the ReCAP lid.
  6. Screw the FARMcurious Fermenting Set onto the mason jar.
  7. Store out of direct sunlight in a relatively cool spot (your counter is fine but not on top of the refrigerator) and wait 4-6 weeks.
  8. Taste then store in the refrigerator once opened. Will keep for a year or more!

Traditional Kimchi (This recipe borrows heavily from one found on www.maangchi.com)

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 large size napa cabbages
  • 1 ½ cups Kosher salt
  • ½ cup sweet rice flour (Mochiko)
  • ¼ cup sugar 4 cups of hot Korean red pepper flakes
  • 1 cup fish sauce
  • 1 medium sized onion, minced (about 1 cup)
  • 1 cup fresh garlic, minced
  • 1 TB fresh ginger, minced
  • 7 stalks of green onions, chopped diagonally into 1-inch segments
  • 2 cups matchstick-cut radish or rinsed mung bean sprouts

Instructions:

  1. Rub salt on the cabbage leaves and let drain four hours; rinse. Making Kimchi paste:
  2. Put ½ cup of sweet rice flour into a pot and slowly whisk in 3 cups of water to form a paste. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
  3. When bubbles start to rise, pour 1/4 cup of sugar into the porridge and stir one more minute. Then cool it down.
  4. Place the cold porridge into a big bowl.
  5. Combine fish sauce, crushed garlic, ginger, and onion in a food processor.
  6. Add fish sauce mixture and red pepper to the cold porridge and stir to combine.
  7. Add green onions and radish or mung beans and mix well.
  8. Wearing gloves, spread the kimchi paste onto each leaf of the cabbage, starting on the outer edges.
  9. Pack the kimchi tightly into a mason jar (or several of them).
  10. Insert the narrow end of the airlock into the rubber stopper and then insert the rubber stopper into the hold in the ReCAP lid. Apply the FARMcurious Fermenting Set to the mason jar.
  11. Store out of direct sunlight in a relatively cool spot (your counter is fine but not on top of the refrigerator) and wait.
  12. Leave at room temperature for 3 days then transfer to the refrigerator. Kimchi does not typically ferment as long as sauerkraut or pickles do.
  13. Store in the refrigerator once opened. Will keep for a year or more!

Making Classic Sauerkraut with the FARMcurious Fermenting Set

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 lbs cabbage or other produce
  • 2 1/4 tsp sea salt, kosher salt or pickling salt
  • Optional: Add any mix of the tasty additions we recommend below

Instructions:

  1. Slice cabbage to the thickness you prefer (thin is traditional)
  2. Sprinkle salt in layers as you go
  3. Pack into a quart size mason jar and press down to extract juices
  4. Apply a weight to keep produce submerged under the brine as best you can*
  5. Add additional salt water (1TB salt to 1 cup water) if the juice doesn’t fully cover the produce, leaving one inch of headspace between the top of the jar and the top of the brine. Reapply the weight to keep everything under brine.
  6. Insert the narrow end of the airlock into the rubber stopper and then insert the rubber stopper into the hold in the ReCAP lid. Screw the FARMcurious Fermenting Set onto the mason jar.
  7. Store out of direct sunlight in a relatively cool spot (your counter is fine but not on top of the refrigerator) and wait.
  8. You might want to taste after about three weeks. You might prefer the acidity after 6 weeks or more! Cooler temperatures ferment more slowly than warmer temperatures and many fermenters believe a long, slow ferment is the key to excellent sauerkraut. Keep in mind that opening the fermenting set lid exposes the sauerkraut to oxygen and mold spores so if you want to be extra careful you may consider refrigerating the kraut after it's been opened and fermenting longer next time if it's not as sour as you'd like.
  9. Eat or refrigerate once the kraut has reached your preferred level of sourness
  10. * It's best to weight any fermentations you make from shredded vegetables. Please read more here.

Some tasty additions to kraut:

  • Mixed red with green cabbage
  • Apples
  • Beets (these will color your sauerkraut red!)
  • Fresh Ginger
  • Fresh ginger or garlic
  • Onions or leeks
  • Caraway seeds
  • Seaweed (cut up small and soaked in warm water at least 30 min)
  • Turnips
  • Almost any vegetables you can imagine!

More recipes coming soon!