Fermenting Fantastic Food

Monthly Archives: April 2012

Mac and Kimcheese

April 4, 2012 – 5:50 pm

If this post were audio, I would groan with pleasure.  As a 3rd generation American Pole, I love both the fatty, carby, bland food and pickled things.  It’s in my genes (and let’s be honest, my jeans)!  I rarely give in to the temptation of eating mac and cheese, but sometimes, it’s worth it!

Here’s my recipe, and yes, you basically make a mac and cheese and then mix some kimchi in before you eat it.  It’s all those Polish things I love, plus, the tang of a delicious ferment! Oh, wait, ferments are Polish, too.  Guess I’m my father’s daughter through and through.

Mac and Kimchis

This recipe is easiest and less mess in a French oven that can go right from your stovetop into your oven.  If you don’t have one, just start in a large saucepan and transfer to a large, greased casserole after mixing in cheese and pasta.

MAC AND KIMCHEESE

Serves 8-10 as entree.

4-6 onions, caramelized

16 oz brown rice (or regular) pasta, cooked 5 minutes and immediately drained

5 cups milk

4 T cornstarch

1 T prepared, whole-grain mustard

1 t ground mustard seeds (optional)

2 t salt

ground pepper to taste

4 T butter

16 oz. of shredded cheese, divided (your preferred!  We like to change it up, but cheddar and gruyere always make a great combo)

1/2 cup seasoned, homemade breadcrumbs

Jar of homemade kimchi

Preheat oven to 375°.  Pour milk into your 5 quart or larger French oven.  Thoroughly stir in cornstarch, mustards and salt and pepper.  Once combined, add butter, stirring constantly until butter is melted and the mixture has come to a boil.  Let it boil for 1 minute.   Remove from heat and stir in 3/4 of cheese.  Keep stirring until it’s melted.  Stir in your partially pre-cooked pasta and caramelized onions.  Top with remaining cheese and bake for 40 minutes.  Remove from oven and top with bread crumbs.  Stick it under the broiler for 5 minutes to get it good and crispy brown.

You can serve it fresh from the oven, but I think it’s tasty after it has had a few minutes to sit.  It’s even good then next day.  For serving, just put the jar of kimchi next to the bubbly vat of cheesy love, and let your guests top it off to taste!

Red onions, caramelized

Caramelize your Onions

Butter Melting

Melt in your butter

Pasta

Pre-cooked Brown Rice Pasta

Add onions to thickened liquid

Add onions to thickened liquid

Add pasta

Add pasta and 3/4 cheese

Top with remaining cheese

Top with remaining cheese

Bread Crumbs Baked On

 

mmmmmmm

 

By Amanda | Posted in uncategorized | Comments (1)

Flavoring Water Kefir

April 2, 2012 – 10:26 pm

When I make water kefir I like to try a different flavor every time.  Mixing up your sugar source is a great way to impact the flavor of your water kefir.

Some sugar sources I like:

  • Molasses
  • Rapadura
  • Succanat
  • Cane sugar
  • Black Cherry (or other organic) fruit concentrate
It’s probably a good idea to think of the flavor your sugar source imparts when deciding what your finished product should be flavored with, but here are a few of my favorites:
  • Vanilla Bean
  • Sassafrass Root
  • Lemon/Lime
  • Shiso/Stone Fruit (plum works great!)
  • Basil
  • Strawberry Basil
  • Any seasonal fruit
  • Lemon Thyme/Lemon
  • Parsley Lemon
  • Lemon Mint
  • Ginger
  • Earl Grey Tea
  • Dried cherries

Basil and ginger make for a tasty drink

I use one of two ways to flavor my kefir.  If I want to use a really acidic flavor, I wait until bottling (or even drinking) and just mix in my desired quantity.  So for instance, I would toss a tablespoon of lime juice and a tablespoon of lemon juice into a finished and strained quart of water kefir.  Adjust quantity to your taste.  A little more and you’ve got healthy Sprite!  You can use this method with any juice. (I do sometimes put a lemon slice or apple slice in during primary fermentation.  Dom suggested a lemon slice and it makes for a delicious and refreshing finished product!)
If it’s something less acidic, dried fruit, herbs, vanilla beans or ginger for example, just toss them into your strained kefir and let another round of fermentation take place on the counter.  A few days should do the trick.  As always, I recommend tasting along the way to see where your preferred flavor strength lies.
If you want to use fresh fruit it’s a little bit more of a pain in the ass.  You don’t want to let your fruit ferment for much longer than 24 hours, and that might not give you a strong enough flavor.  I like it. It’s subtle.  But if you want bold fruit flavor, strain out your fruit after a day or two, and then add new, fresh fruit in and repeat everyday until you get the flavor you want.  See why it’s a bit easier to use dried fruit?  If you do go this route, a good starting point, quantity-wise is one chopped peach, pear, apple or plum or a large handful of slightly mashed berries per quart of kefir.

3 melon kefir might be a pain in the ass, but it tastes like summer

If you’re doing something like parsley lemon, you’ll want to do a secondary fermentation with the parsley and then add the lemon juice once you’ve strained out the parsley.  Yes, I like weird flavors!  Parsley lemon is great in a gin and tonic!  Note that all probiotic benefit is likely killed the second this touches booze.  But that doesn’t mean the tasty flavor is destroyed!
Have fun and tell me which flavors you’ve added to your water kefir!
 PS – Cultures for Health has a great video that lays this all out very clearly!

 

By Amanda | Posted in Ferment, Probiotic, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)