I was amazed that my chard stayed green for most of the winter. I swear I could have gone out, knocked the ice off, and harvest enough for a few meals.
I am fermenting a batch of pickles based on the req from my MiL. I've been pretty lazy with my pickling. It's mostly fridge pickles and now these fermented ones. I dread getting all the canning equipment out and ready. https://www.feastingathome.com/fermented-pickles/#tasty-recipes-30365-jump-target With all the garlic and herbs in there, there's no way these don't turn out delicious.
That's a very cool jar.. .is it actually called a pickling jar? I usually just use a big/monstrous mason jar.
I see on AliExpress it's a take on a Kimchi jar... looks interesting. Have you used it for pickling before? How do you like it?
I do like them. I've had my set for about a year, they were given away by my neighbor. I didn't realize they were for kimchi, I only knew them as "fermenting jars." The only thing I've used them for so far was for a ginger bug and it worked perfectly. The lip on top is to hold water for a seal. They are able to burp themselves and have gas escape from the rim without ever having to manually do it yourself or risk dust getting in. My jars aren't super huge. They are holding about 2lbs of pickles plus herbs. I don't have a weight on top of the brine but kind of don't need one, the shoulders of the jar are keeping the pickles tight and low. I will definitely have to make some kimchi in them.
I have a Korean co-worker who married someone from my home town... and she is known in our company as Mrs Kimchi. She actually has monthly Zoom sessions, company wide, hundreds of people showing up, where she makes kimchi and teaches others how to do so. She's in a new direction with mango and other fruit kimchi... she says it's a game changer. She shows up in 5 days with all sorts of treats for me. Can't wait!
That is awesome. I would 100% be tuning in to see how she does it. I have never heard of a mango or fruit kimchi but it sounds incredible. I've made kimchi a couple times. Back home we had a good Asian market but I have to travel to get those ingredients now. I stocked up on my last visit and could make some basic kimchi now but nothing super special.
She's bringing me a bunch of recipes... I'll be sure to share. Unfortunately we have one huge Asian market near me, but I went in there once, and all you could smell for 20k square feet was rotting fish.... just never went back. I miss living in Vancouver... best Chinatown ever. You'd walk down the street and see ducks hanging in the front windows, unrefrigerated, and nothing you bought had English on the labels.
She is so excited about it... it's like having a really tangy chutney or something. Lots of options with fish, etc. She's normally living in San Fransisco, but has been working out of our Korean office for the last couple of months, so she says her kimchi game has been really energized as a result. It really does have me intrigued.
I look forward to some recipes! I hope it doesn't end up like after I watched the ramen documentary and felt like I could never attempt ramen again because of feelings of inadequacy.
I tested the pickles and they aren't quiiiiite ready yet. It's fun to see how active the fermentation is, bubbles and fizz everywhere. But my god. MY BREATH. The garlic flavor certainly comes through.
She's going to send me some in the next couple of days. She's in town visiting her brand new niece... when I asked her about the recipes she said she was going to bring, she said, "damn... I got peed on 3 times already this morning, the recipes slipped my mind." I consider that a solid reason, so wasn't going to push it.
Yes, it is. Add just a little bit of pineapple, and it's the best bbq pork addition I can ever imagine. Imagine sweet and sour pork taken to a whole new level.
That sounds like the perfect use for that mango kimchi. That has me thinking up some fun new recipes to try. Over the last several days I dehydrated a 2lb block of Tillamook aged white cheddar. I got it on sale for $6 so I thought why not. I bought some big daddy mac n cheese powder recently, and it's fine. But I really wanted some aged white cheddar powder and didn't find quite what I was looking for. The commercial powders have a lot of other stuff in them, too, to make them creamier and non caking. I figured for the sale price I got the cheese on, I could give it a go. I learned some lessons on technique but overall it's a success. It tastes great and pretty cheap to make.
I'm not sure if it was @binx bolling or @Popped Cherries , one of you guys recently roasted eggplant for baba ganouj. I have a couple I want to roast, do you have any specific tips or instructions? How long did it take?
Sourdough English muffins. Gave it a try, was not disappointed. These turned out maybe less uniform than commercial, but WAY better flavor and texture. I will definitely be making these in batches for breakfast. I'm sure now that I've done them once, I'll get better at making them prettier. https://littlespoonfarm.com/sourdough-english-muffins-recipe/ I doubled the recipe and did as a comment suggested, replacing 60g whole wheat flour per recipe. If you keep sourdough starter, this is one to use it on