Fermentation Madness

The Boy is reading Wild Fermentation and seems to want to make every single thing in it. Since we are short of flat surfaces to store our jars of bubbling goodness we will be putting in shelves this weekend.

Currently bubbling away-
Kombucha
Ginger Beer
Hard Apple Cider

On the short list of things to get started this week-
Kimchi
Mead
Sourdough (this is a maybe for me, but The Boy loves sourdough)

We are in desperate need of more glass jugs though. Sunburst Bottles has a great selection of large capacity glass bottles, if we can't source them locally that is where we will get them for future projects.
Oh the excitement of wild fermentation! I love to sit and watch the jars start to spontaneously bubble with no aid from us other than a piece of muslin to keep the flies out. (photos coming soon)

Omnivore's Hundred

It's been ages since I was an omni...
Bolding=something I've eaten

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos Rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Woo-hoo! 44% I love food!

Wild Fermentaion and New Fur Kid

I've been a bit MIA lately :) We got a new furbug! His name is Ziggy and he is such a little terrorist! He is a doll, but rather a handful. Here is a photo of him while still at our local Animal Services Shelter (he is an ex-stray)

(Can you see his little goatee? So cute!)

After reading several stellar reviews of the book Wild Fermentation, I just had to get it. It's a brilliant book! I read it in one day and we now have two (not including our kombucha) wild fermentation projects going! One is a hard apple cider and the other is ginger beer, both are starting to bubble and do their fermentation dance. I'm so excited about this project! I've been taking lots of photos, so hopefully a how-to/step-by-step post for ginger beer will be in Herb-Cat's future...

"Meat"balls.

These are the best "meat"balls ever. All measurements are approximate, I usually don't measure things.

-4 eggs
-1/4 cup dried minced onion
-3Tbs vegetable broth powder
-1/4tsp onion powder
-1/4tsp dried parsley
-1/8tsp black pepper
-1 tsp minced garlic
-2 cups grated cheddar cheese
-1 cup homemade bread crumbs (recipe to come)
-1 cup finely chopped walnuts (we use the food processor)

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Lightly oil a baking sheet and preheat oven to 400*f.
3. Roll mixture into meatball sized balls (or what ever other shape strikes your fancy at the moment).
4. Bake for about 20 minutes until they are nice and crispy (don't get them too crispy, they are rather nasty when they get too dried out).
5. Nom. Or you can freeze them (on a baking sheet in a single layer then put in a container) and nom them at a later date. They freeze very well!