Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

Pounding the cabbage

Jon and Janelle recently purchased a copy of Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions, which includes many recipes for fermented foods (i.e. pickled vegetables, fermented dairy products, etc).

Jon, in particular, has been interested in fermented foods for awhile and has been making yogurt from milk from a neighbor for several years.  But as we learn more about the benefits of eating foods with live cultures, our interest has grown.

We also recently bought a kraut crock from our good friend and potter Nathan Ferree, which he has been developing over the past year, at the request of friends and family.  It’s just a basic crock, but it also includes some weights, which you put on top of the cabbage (or whatever you’re fermenting), so that the veggies will stay at the bottom and can be completely covered by the juices which form over time.  In addition, the lid fits neatly into a moat-like rim, which gets filled with the juices and/or water that you put in it.  This forms an air-tight seal.

Crock made by Nathan Ferree

The recipe in Fallon’s book just says to mix your cabbage with salt, caraway seeds and whey (or more salt if you don’t have the whey, which is what we did).

Then you pound the mixture for 10 minutes with a wooden pounder (Jon just grabbed and cleaned off a scrap of cedar from our stair railing project), to help release the juices.

The book says put the cabbage in a quart jar, which is a good alternative, if you don’t have a nice crock like ours.  Then wait at least 3 days for fermentation.

Remember, the longer it ferments, the more beneficial it is for your health.

We’ll let you know how it turns out!

Lettuce and green onions straight from the garden.

We’ve had quite a few guests on the farm over the past month and unfortunately, our lettuce has suffered the consequences. Lettuce waits for no one. So, we’ve been working on interesting ways to use lots of lettuce.

Here’s a recipe that Carolyn found in her cookbook from Orange City, Iowa. It’s called “Dutch Lettuce”, which is not surprising, considering Orange City is in the heart of Dutch country.

Dutch Lettuce

8-9 potatoes, crumbled small or mashed

Yu-hummmm!!

1 lb. bacon, fried and crumbled
6 eggs, scrambled in bacon grease (we sometimes leave this out)
3 quarts garden lettuce, chopped
Combine all, add a few diced green onions and drizzle with bacon grease.

We LOVE it!