Junque Food: MATERS!

We are heavily in the midst of canning season here at the micro-mini ranch.

So many things to can, so little time!

If you have the canning bug, than this scenario is very familiar to you:

I had between 7-10 gallon sized freezer bags of tomatoes in the freezer. Since tomatoes don't ripen all at the same time, it's necessary for me to freeze them for awhile until I have enough to do a canning session.  The hubster and I had planned on doing up the tomatoes this past Sunday.

And then I went to the Saturday morning Farmer's Market.

And bought another bushel of tomatoes.


!!!


I couldn't help it!! They were extremely affordable, and we were gonna be canning anyway!!!

BTW, if anyone wants to know how much a bushel of tomatoes is, it's about the equivalent of a paper grocery bag filled to the top.

With a zillion tomatoes.

And it's heavy.

When it was all said an done, By the end of Sunday night, we had canned 17 quarts of tomatoes That's QUARTS. not pints. it's a lot. See here:

I googled this image, and it came off kitchn.com's website, but the URL is from apartmenttherapy.com. I hope I've given all credit where it's due here.

In addition, I also processed and canned 4 quarts of pickled banana peppers.

I was pretty chuffed by the end of Sunday.

And sore.

And tired

More pics later.  LOL

Junque Yard: Wanna see my Pumpkins?

Last year's pumpkins were a smaller variety, and I had great success with growing them and making pumpkin puree for pies. They also produced the best seeds for roasting and eating.

My only complaint about them was that the rind was sooooo tough, I needed a chain saw to cut through them.

Ok, that might have been a slight exageration.  However, I did have to call upon DaHubster to use his massive bulging biceps to help out his wife....

....ok, I'm back. Sorry, got lost in a fantasy for a minute there.  Heh.

This year I tried a different variety of pumpkin.  It was a variety I got from my "Seeds of the Month" club from Mike the Gardner Enterprises.

Don't judge me.

Anywhoo, I didn't realize that this variety of pumpkin grows to HUMONGOUS sizes.  I have a pumpkin that's too large for me to lift. It has to weigh over 40lbs.

Where's DaHubster? (drool)

This shot doesn't really show how massive it really is.  Those leaves could be worn as hats!

This dude is about 10lbs, and was hiding in a bunch of weeds.

this little dude is about 5 lbs.

this one is the smallest of the bunch, but it's a really pretty shape.

Junque Food: Lacto-Fermented Pickles

Hey Folks!

I've been on a quest to make REALLY GOOD dill pickles.

I've done the canning thing, and I don't care what recipe you bring me, any pickle that is water-bath canned (meaning heated up to process) SUCKS.

Don't give me that "alum" and "grape leaves" bull-crappy...if they get heated, they get soggy.

I hate soggy pickles.

Do you remember those old fashioned deli style pickles?  The ones that were in a crock on the top of a deli counter? I do.  Big, fat pickles that crunched, and were sour and garlicky, and your mouth would water just by looking at them?

Dang, I need a napkin.

Well, folks, the secret is out. Those really good, and CRUNCHY deli-style sour pickles were "lacto-fermented."  This means they are made the same way sauerkraut is made - but putting them into a brine of salt water and spices, covered and left to ferment for about a week.

I've made one successful batch, and before that a not so successful batch.This was partly because the recipe I used had the salt to water ratio too high, so I adjusted it the second time to much better results.

The other reason is because I, um, sort of forgot about them, and they sat in the brine for 3 weeks before I tasted them. So they were infinitely salty, and basically inedible.

Live and learn!

I printed out the recipe I used, but I didn't save the URL, so I can't give the author credit. I'm sorry.  If you happen on this recipe, and it's yours, please tell me and I will give you all the credit you deserve.

Sour Pickles

These are a favorite of many and a lot of people miss them when going on a Paleo diet, but the naturally lacto-fermented kind is perfectly healthy, curncy and sour. This version is flavoried with garlic and dill. Your garlic will too lacto-ferment and can be enjoyed afterwards as it will be packed with flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 gallon (16 cups) picking cucumbers, unwaxed ( I didn't have a gallon of pickles, I just used what I had, which was probably 5-6 cups)
• 2 bunches of fresh dill (I didn't have any fresh, so I used dried, and way more, about 5-6 heads)
• 16 cloves garlic (I used about 8)
• 3T pickling spices (peppercorns, mustard seeds, bay leaves, cloves) (I used all but the cloves)
• 5 or 6 T of sea salt (I used 5)
•  12 cups of water (distilled if possible, but it's not necessary. I have city water, and they came out just fine)

Preparation

1. Soak the cucumbers in cold water for a few hours, then scrub them thoroughly to prevent any mold from forming during the fermentation process. (I also cut the tips off the cukes so that they wouldn't be bitter)
2. Place the cucumbers,  dill, garlic and spices in your fermentation jar and sprinkle a bit of sea salt as you go a long (I did not add any extra salt, only what was in the brine).
3. Prepare the brine of 5T of sea salt to 8 cups (I raised that to 12) of water, making sure to stir well to dissolve the salt and fill the fermentation jar with the brine so it covers the cucumbers.
4. cover the jar and place it in a warm spot in your kitchen and allow the cukes to ferment for 5 to 10 days.
5. A good way to know when it's ready is to taste it during the fermentation process. It's ready when you are satisfied with the taste.

Ok, so let's talk about a few things:

1. it's best to use a glass container or an old fashioned crock. Metal will interfere with the fermentation process. I did see (and will reference below) a YouTube video where the author used plastic containers, and he said his results were just fine. I'm not gonna get all up in your business about it. The important thing about the container you use is that you have to have a lid that covers well and makes the pickles stay under the water. In the olden days, hypothetical Grandma would put her pickles in a crock and cover it with a plate held down with a stone. I put mine in an old crock-pot crock and inverted the dome lid it came with to hold everything under the water. Worked like a charm.
2. Once the pickles taste the way you want them to taste ( and mine did after 3 days, so please test early and often), you can move them from your fermenting container to a smaller one with just enough brine to cover, and then refrigerate them.  This will slow the fermenting process, and keep your pickles from getting moooooooshy.
3. You cannot can these pickles. Well, I mean, you can, but that means heating them up, and they will get moooooooshy.  Just eat them.  And then make more.  Seriously. They are easy, healthy, and best of all TASTY! I took some into work with me last week, and got some pretty darn good reviews.
4. In my picture above, I also added some banana peppers to see if they tasted good lacto-fermented. they got bitter, so I'm not recommending them

 Here are a couple of YouTube Vids that I watched when I was coming to grips with purposefully fermenting food items that I was going to eat:

Musings from the Junque Pile: Where the heck have you been?

It sure has been awhile, huh?  What the heck have I been doing with myself?

Well, I had a bad bout of bronchitis. Those of you who read my face book status, I didn't really have the bubonic plague, or SARS. Swine flu was iffy, and the doctors really did think I might have had whooping cough, but thankfully no.  Just bronchitis. But, finally I feel human again.


If I had a dime for every time I heard, "Hey. I thought with this new diet you're on, you are supposed to be healthier," I would be so rich right now.

So I got that going for me!

*sigh*

Anywhoo, I've also been enjoying the last of the summer weather. We've finally cooled down a little bit, and this last week has seen our area *FINALLY* get some decent rain.

I've been picking green beans like a mad fiend. We've been blanching them, then vacuum-sealing them for the freezer. It's nice, because I put a little pat of butter and my usual spices in there, and ZIP! off to the freezer they go! Ready to be boiled or steamed and ready for the dinner table.

I like that.

This week, I'll be posting pics of the garden, and a couple of recipes and things I've been working on the kitchen.

I'm ready for fall, and to getting back into writing again.

Go me!

Junque Yard: What's happening at the Micro-Mini Ranch

It was such a pretty morning the other day that I had to snap a shot. 

My tomatoes are finally starting to ripen. My beans, pumpkins, melons, and zucchinis finally have blossoms.

Harvest is going to be late this summer, but I will have something to show for our efforts.

I think the excessive heat this year caused the cycle to slow down. I have lots of green leaves everywhere, and I made a point to water more than I normally do, which was good because we've had a drier than normal summer.  But everything is growing, and for that, I'm thankful.

Now, I'm trying to figure out what fall crops I want. Definitely spinach, carrots, and I'm thinking broccoli, maybe cauliflower. 

I hope those things take well to growing in containers, because the pumpkins, zukes, and melons are taking up all the space in what we refer to as the "back 40." 

That's inches folks, I don't call it the micro-mini ranch for nuthin'.

Junque Food: Attempting Sweet Potato Chips

photo from www.examiner.com

This was originally posted in my other blog: Paleo Lifestyle in the Real World

 I'm always up for trying a Paleo version of junk food.  When I saw this recipe for homemade salsa with sweet potato chips, I knew I'd have to try the chips. I've made my own salsa before, and it's fine, but until my own tomatoes are ready for "salsifying," I can wait patiently.

But I couldn't wait to try to make chips. Crispy, crunchy, salty chips. Mmmm....

Sorry, I got lost for a second there.

I apologize, but I didn't take pictures of the process, but if you click the link above, the Amazing!Paleo chick does a great job of showing the process.


Thankfully, we'd recently purchased a mandolin to make even slicing of the sweet potatoes easy. I am not a precision slicer.

I followed Amazing!Paleo's directions to the letter, and was mostly happy with the results, except my chips did not all get crunchy. I waited for them to cool down, like the directions said, but several stayed limp, especially on the middle of the bigger chips.

So tip #1: I learned is that the skinnier the potato, the better off you are going to be for the crispiness factor. The wider the potato, the longer it's going to be to make them crunchy. Or you're just going to have to deal with limp chips. No Bueno.

Tip #2: The recipe on the blog says 10 minutes, give or take, on 375F.  The next time I try these, I'll do it longer at 325F. Lower and slower would DEFINITELY the way to go. I was in danger of incinerating my chips if I left them in longer than 12 minutes.

But I have to say, that despite the edges of a lot of the chips being burned, and the middles not being crunchy, the sweet potato chips tasted AWESOME. Seriously.

I will be making more of these. They will be a welcome addition of a treat to our Paleo Lifestyle.

Enjoy.

Junque Food - Almond Milk & Flour, part 2

It doesn't look pretty, does it?

It's the paste left over from blending soaked almonds with water, this is what is strained out of the almond milk.

I had heard that this paste could be dried and made into almond flour, or as a protein powder for smoothies, etc.

Of course, when I went looking for a recipe to do that, all I could find was people using slivered almonds, or taking the skins off the soaked almonds in order to make it more "flour" looking.

I didn't do either. I should be hanged as a bad example.

I took the leftover almond paste and spread it thin-ish onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper, and let it dry. This took about 3 days. Then I pulsed it in the food processor until fine. And it looks like this:

So it's not all white and pretty like everyone else. I bet it can still be used just like other almond flour.  And I will use it, and let you all know if the skin makes it bitter or whatever.

I wonder what I should make?

I could use it to coat fish, or make cookies (eventually, I don't think I have enough to make a batch yet. this is about a cup and half that you see in this picture.

Or muffins. The list is pretty endless.

And I need to make more almond milk.  That's right I didn't tell you about the Almond milk itself.

It's fabulous.  I didn't sweeten it, because I wanted to try using it in scrambled eggs. The store bought almond milk is all sweetened with "cane juice," which is code for sugar. Sugar comes from canes, people. Don't let those labels fool you!

But I digress.

Store bought almond milk is too sweet to make scrambled eggs. So I figured I'd test it out with homemade unsweetened almond milk, and it worked just peachy! I can have creamy eggs again! Woo Hoo!

Now, the Paleo blogs I've been reading have made good use of  blending dates into a paste and using that to sweeten things. I even saw a recipe for making coffee creamer using either almond milk or coconut milk, and sweetening it with date paste.

I am going to try this as another way to get off the commercial creamer that I am addicted to. If I can, that will be the last bit of corn syrup that is OUT of my diet.

And then I will do the chubby girl dance, for sticking it to the man for their totally yummy, but ultimately horrendous for me commercial foods.

*nods*

I know this blog is not very coherent, but I'm not quite awake yet this morning.