Tonight I started a new jar of sauerkraut with 2 heads of cabbage. I could not find my recipe and the Internet was down,  so I guessed.  I had read an account on Sunny Raw website, where she said to chop the cabbage in the food processor.  I did that, but I am not really happy about it… the cabbage pieces came out as small as when I make “no chew” cole slaw, i.e. very fine.

Oh well… then I added two T sea salt to the first head of cabbage — it juiced up really fast, and I added one heaping T sea salt to the second head of cabbage which came out so fine I did not even massage it — I just mashed it into the jar.  I also added about a T of acidophilus to this batch.    I am curious to see how it turns out in 7 days.

Stay tuned.

I’ve just picked up my CSA share. Yum!

Here is what we got, vs was they said would come.

Sweet Potatoes – 2 lbs………..Sweet potatoes – 3 med.size
Rutabaga – 2 pieces
Romaine Lettuce – 1 head
Leeks – 2 pieces………………… Leeks – 3 small
Spinach – 1/2 lb. bag………….. Romaine lettuce – 1 hd
Japanese Salad Turnips – 1 bun
Red Kale – 1 bunch
Green Cabbage – 1 head

There was also a bag of orange cherry tomatoes in the box.

I traded the Romaine for 1 bunch of kale and 1 head of cabbage.

I am glad to have the cabbage since the sauerkraut I made is already about half- gone.  Yum!  I need to lay in some more mason jars because while I’ve been making the sauerkraut and storing it, I haven’t been able to make any sprouts or rejuvelac.

I was blogging, and Ellen DeGeneris was on over top of the   computer screen, and she had a guest on who has authored a book called “Eating Animals
Eating Animals”.   The author calmly explained why he did not think he wanted his family (and his young child) eating meat.  Wow. You might want to check out this book.

Here is the sauerkraut recipe that I used.  It is based on a recipe  from Truly Cultured by Nancy Lee Bentley.

1 med size head cabbage

2 T sea salt

Spring water or purified water

• Shred cabbage in food processor (or with mandoline, or by finely slicing with a sharp knife).
• Place cabbage and salt in a large bowl.
• With hands, massage cabbage until “juice” flows freely (about 2-5 minutes – the longer you massage, the softer the sauerkraut will be).  Alternatively, beat cabbage with a wooden mallet until thoroughly bruised.
• Place massaged/bruised cabbage and juice in a 1-quart mason jar. Pack cabbage down until juices flow.
• Add spring water, or purified water, to fully cover cabbage, leaving 1 inch space between top of liquid and top of jar
• Tightly screw on mason jar lid.
• Place jar in a room temperature place away from sunlight.  Allow to sit 3-7 days. (Taste test after 3 days, until desired taste is reached.
• Refrigerate sauerkraut up to 6 mos.

I filled one 2 – qt jar made with this recipe (actually, I cut a 10-lb cabbage in half and then in fourths).

I covered the jar with the mason jar lid screwed on tight.

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I mixed 1/4 of the remaining cabbage with 1 T ancho chile powder and 1 T garlic powder.

I covered this jar with with a piece of plastic and the mason jar lid ring.

After  6 days, I opened the jars to get the sauerkraut.

I

Here is what they say we will get:

VEGETABLE SHARE

Sweet Potatoes – 2 lbs
Rutabaga – 2 pieces
Romaine Lettuce – 1 head
Leeks – 2 pieces
Spinach – 1/2 lb. bag
Japanese Salad Turnips – 1 bunch  
Red Kale – 1 bunch
Green Cabbage – 1 head

I had been wanting to experiment with making sauerkraut for a while, and then I found that huge cabbage at the green market last Monday.  I bought some sea salt on Tuesday (the pound of sea salt that I had bought in 2000 had finally run out), and I set about making the sauerkraut on Tuesday night.  I was very excited.  I filled one 2-quart jar with plain cabbage, and half-way filled a second 2-quart jar with cabbage mixed with ancho pepper powder and garlic powder.

Then, on Thursday evening, my spirits were dampened a bit when a woman at the CSA pick-up told me that sauerkraut usually gets moldy and fails.  She also told me that the three days my recipe had recommended was not enough.

I ended up leaving the sauerkraut until tonight– I guess that is 6 days.  I opened it and !!!!there was no mold!!!!!  Interestingly, the plain sauerkraut is rather crunchy, while the pepper sauerkraut is more like the sauerkraut you can buy.  I like the pepper one better, but I guess I will have to eat the other one, too.  The recipe says it will keep for 3 months in the refrigerator.  It sounds like I am going to have to eat sauerkraut every day for a while.  Right now, I am thinking that, the next time, I will just use a small cabbage.

Everyone seemed to be giving up their kale.  The trade box was full of beautiful green leafy bunches!  Some people even dropped their kale in the box without taking a trade!  Turnips were also unpopular.  Happy with my second bunch, I only saw one other person take turnips; a Japanese fellow waxed ecstatic over the idea of turnips in miso soup.

WHAT TO DO WITH THIS FOOD

GREEN TOMATOES: I have no clue yet what I am going to do with those green tomatoes.  Maybe some sort of chow chow?

CARROTS: Juice is the only way I like carrots.

TURNIPS: I expect I will make my usual marinated turnip recipe, but I think I will take one bunch of these pretty  turnips to experiment with making pickled turnips.

KALE: More kale chips – yum!  I will probably also make one dose of marinated kale.

CILANTRO: I  love cilantro fresh, but I will probably dehydrate most of it so I can love it longer.

LEEKS: I usually just thinly slice leeks and use them like onions.

KOHLRABI: This will become ravioli with the smokey jalapeno cheez I made earlier in the week.

APPLES & PEARS: I made apple juice and a big bowl of apple sauce  (the pulp from the juice) for dinner last night.

I’m aging a cheez!  Don’t gasp! It is not like what is happening to the corners of your eyes! Aging is the same as fermenting, and it only takes a day or so!  You can do it in the privacy of your own home!

I’ve just tried out the Dr. Cow Aged Cashew Cheeze with Brazil Nuts, and I KNOW I can do better! (yea!!!! I won’t have to pay so much money, and I can control all the variables, including attitude and care).

Last night I made a quickie cheez – I call it smoked jalapeno cashew cheez.   Tonight, I added some Zukay salad dressing (it is made with live cultures, and it is raw, so it is my “lazy” way to culture things — got the idea from the horse’s mouth, actually, when I was talking with the people behind Zukay — I mean, I could use acidophilus, and I have some in my kitchen, but… I have this wonderful live cultured salad dressing with a good taste, and, so, well…)

The instant cheez is really good, but its shelf life (refrigerator life is only about 3 days. No way I could eat that much in that short a time.  Adding the acidophilus culture dressing gives an added flavor, but makes my original cheez a bit gooey, so, I am draining it , in the same way you do with many cheezes, wrapped in cheesecloth and draining through a wire mesh basket.

It will be yummy!  Tune in tomorrow for more news!

I’ve been slicing cabbage for the past two hours! That 10 lb. cabbage?  Done for!  I filled two 2-qt. Mason jars with sliver-slices of cabbage.  One jar is to be standard sauerkraut, and the other has ancho pepper powder and garlic.  This is my first experiment with sauerkraut.  If it works, I will write the recipe here.

Back to work!I am very excited again! (I was on vacation last week, and my room-mate decided not to pick up  my share, so I have a sort-of empty refrigerator, and anything that comes in my box will be super special, as a result) I am always excited every week anyway, because the farm posts what they think they will put in our boxes, but… farms are farms, and everything ultimately depends on God.  I grew up around farms, and I think you can really really tune in to God when you are working on a farm.  (I have had an interesting experience this year, because I have been sending Reiki to the farm.  I told the farmers I would do it, and they were open to it… I looked for others to join me, but found none, so I just did it on my own. Interestingly, every time something terrible for farms was reported in the news, our farm managed to come through anyway. Even with the tomato fungus, our farmers found a way around it — and maybe learned something new in the bargain. Could be just good luck, I know.  Nevertheless, I have heard from people who have their CSAs with other farms… our farm sounds pretty lucky. Luck is good. Reiki Reiki Reiki!!!!  By me, the vegetables we have gotten this year have been especially tasty – and that includes that I had forgotten about that I had
the farm on my prayer list)

Anyway:

Here is what they say we will get

VEGETABLE SHARE

Lettuce Mix – 1/4 lb. bag
Carrots – 1 bun.
Daikon Radish or Kohlrabi – 1-3 pcs.
Leeks – 2 pcs.
Cilantro – 1 bun.
Green Kale – 1 bun.
Baby Salad Turnips – 1 bun.
Baby Bok Choi – 1 bun.
Green Tomatoes – 2-3 pcs .

After my visit to the doctor today, I found myself traveling through Manhattan, and decided to hop off the train and go to Integral Yoga Foods, which was “sort of” just one block away from the station (I say it that way because, although  the street numbers add up, I found myself wandering around on streets with very lovely, very expensive stuff – how to get back there on purpose?  Ah! The joys of trying to go a new way in New York City! Always an adventure!) It ended up taking me about 15 minutes in the rain to find my true destination, but… oh! the beautiful things I saw in the shop windows! )

Anyway, I wanted to get salt to make sauerkraut (I am not a salt person, so I barely noticed two months ago when I ran out of the original 1-lb. supply of sea salt I had bought 9 years ago. Knowing that I wanted to make sauerkraut, I had to buy some salt. Interestingly, the “no-name” Celtic sea salt was more expensive than the “French” Celtic sea salt which had a brand name. Hmn! So, DUH! I bought the chic French stuff. How do you say sauerkraut in Francais?  I will make chic designer expensive-sounding sauerkraut. (if my sauerkraut doesn’t turn out, you can bet I will blame the French! )

Unfortunately, this girl, in a natural foods store, cannot come away with just one item! A quick survey of the cash I had to my name showed me that I actually had $20, so, of course, I went on a spending spree. The salt was $4.00.  But then I found that Dr. Cow seems to have lowered the price on their cashew cheez , so I decided I could afford a $6.99 (down from the $8.99 I paid once to check the stuff out!) cashew/Brazil nut cheez. (YUM!), and I decided that this was the time to try the PARMA raw “parmesan” cheez powder (I am not really sure about this stuff, to tell you the truth.    .  I came away with $4.00 in change, $2 of which I spent on spring water for the sauerkraut.

Such a good experience! Even in my nearly broke condition, I came out with what I went in for, and two exciting treasures as well!