The first time I heard of this I was dubious. But seriously - this is one of the greatest things you can do to a cauliflower!
Just cut the washed cauli into florets. Add a little sea salt and drizzle generously with olive oil. Roast in a hot oven until the it browns (takes 20 - 30 minutes). A little blackening around the edges it fine - it will be sweeter.
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Apple sauce
Sooo bad at keeping up with this blog! Have been seriously off the healthy food wagon for a few months and feeling it. Ugh! Boy#1 is now off egg, tuna, lentils and crustaceans. Most of those aren't a problem but no eggs or lentil has been hard on our food budget!
I had a load of apples going spare today so I made apple sauce using my crockpot. Love doing that - it is easy and makes the house smell so good.
knob of butter
loads of apples *
spices of your choice
Put a knob of butter in your crockpot. Core and peel the apples and bung them in too Add any spices that you like (I use mixed spice, a couple of cloves and a pinch of ground cardamom). Cook on low for a few hours, until the apples are soft. Mash or puree.
The kids had this with yogurt for pudding and I am going to freeze a load for future pies, crumbles and sauces.
* If you are using a cooking apple like bramley then you may need to add some sugar. I find eating apples are plenty sweet on thier own.
I had a load of apples going spare today so I made apple sauce using my crockpot. Love doing that - it is easy and makes the house smell so good.
knob of butter
loads of apples *
spices of your choice
Put a knob of butter in your crockpot. Core and peel the apples and bung them in too Add any spices that you like (I use mixed spice, a couple of cloves and a pinch of ground cardamom). Cook on low for a few hours, until the apples are soft. Mash or puree.
The kids had this with yogurt for pudding and I am going to freeze a load for future pies, crumbles and sauces.
* If you are using a cooking apple like bramley then you may need to add some sugar. I find eating apples are plenty sweet on thier own.
Friday, 15 May 2009
Milk Kefir
Just realised I never posted properly about milk kefir. I've been making it for over a year now. I started off just using it in smoothies as it was yeasty and tasted horrible to me. But once the grains settled down they started making a really tasty drink. For information on the wonderful properties of kefir I can highly recommend this epic website. I can't think there can be any questions about kefir not addressed there somewhere!
To make kefir you just add some grains to some milk and leave them alone at room temperature. The time taken to turn the milk into kefir depends on how many grains you have, the temperature and how much milk they are in. The kefir is done when the milk starts to coagulate. You can then strain out the grains and either drink the kefir straight away, or put in a clean jar to further ripen (for more info see website linked above).
To make kefir you just add some grains to some milk and leave them alone at room temperature. The time taken to turn the milk into kefir depends on how many grains you have, the temperature and how much milk they are in. The kefir is done when the milk starts to coagulate. You can then strain out the grains and either drink the kefir straight away, or put in a clean jar to further ripen (for more info see website linked above).
Apple juice kefir
Sadly the almond milk kefir was a bust. So I tried out apple juice kefir instead and boy#1 has declared it delicious. I agree - not as sweet as apple juice (which I find too sweet) and slightly acid and fizzy. A great replacement for Appletizer (which I have a serious weakness for!) and a strong probiotic to boot. Instructions are again fantastically easy to follow.
1 cup apple juice
kefir grains
Rinse the grains thoroughly in filtered water to remove all traces of milk. You might want to make a couple of batches in juice before trying it out with dairy sensitive folk (who may still react but many don't apparently so it could be worth a try). Add the grains to the juice in a clean jar and leave in a cupboard overnight. Strain out the grains. You can either drink the kefir now, or put into a jar and refrigerate. I did this for a few hours and it made the drink fizzier.
1 cup apple juice
kefir grains
Rinse the grains thoroughly in filtered water to remove all traces of milk. You might want to make a couple of batches in juice before trying it out with dairy sensitive folk (who may still react but many don't apparently so it could be worth a try). Add the grains to the juice in a clean jar and leave in a cupboard overnight. Strain out the grains. You can either drink the kefir now, or put into a jar and refrigerate. I did this for a few hours and it made the drink fizzier.
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Sauerkraut
I love lacto-fermented sauerkraut. It is so easy to make the real deal and it has so many health benefits. When I first started making it I used 1.5 litre jars. But now I have found a big ceramic pot that works really well. Not perfect - it has a lip that means I can't get a plate in to cover all the vegetables, but it does fine.
I basically follow the instructions here for making it. I chop my cabbage because it is easier than putting it through my decrepit and slightly broken food processor. Then I add lots of grated carrot and thinly sliced onion. Apple is also really nice. When you have your veggies prepared then you need to salt them. Add about 3 tbsp sea salt to 5 lbs veggies. I also like to add a bit of the last batch of sauerkraut to get things started but this isn't necessary. Mix thoroughly and then add to your container. You then need to give them a good bashing, to squash them down tight and to start to break down the cell walls of the veg. I use the end of a rolling pin in jars and my fist in the big pot. Keep pounding until you have all that tension worked out and the veg is tightly packed. Then you need to weigh it down with something. If you have a plate that fits your container then put that in with a jar full of water on top to keep it down. If not, then fill a plastic food bag with water, seal tightly and put on top. Over the next 24 hours keep pressing the veg down as you remember. Water will be drawn out of the veg by the salt slowly. After about 24 hours the veg should be covered. If it isn't then you can add a little more brine - mix a tsp salt in a cup of water and put in enough that the veg is covered. Then leave it to ferment for 1-4 weeks. After the first week then you can start to sample the sauerkraut to see if it is done to your taste. How long it takes really depends on the temperature and how much salt is in there. When it is finished you can store it in the fridge if you have space. If not then put it in a cool place and make sure that the brine is always covering the vegetables after you have taken some out.
Here are two rubbish photos trying to show my arrangement for fermenting sauerkraut. It is a ceramic bread crock from Tesco and a freezer bag full of water on top for a weight. If you are sitting down then have a look at the 'proper' fermenting crocks (click on 'wholesome gadgets' in the link). There - looks a lot less naff when you have seen the price of real ones doesn't it!
I basically follow the instructions here for making it. I chop my cabbage because it is easier than putting it through my decrepit and slightly broken food processor. Then I add lots of grated carrot and thinly sliced onion. Apple is also really nice. When you have your veggies prepared then you need to salt them. Add about 3 tbsp sea salt to 5 lbs veggies. I also like to add a bit of the last batch of sauerkraut to get things started but this isn't necessary. Mix thoroughly and then add to your container. You then need to give them a good bashing, to squash them down tight and to start to break down the cell walls of the veg. I use the end of a rolling pin in jars and my fist in the big pot. Keep pounding until you have all that tension worked out and the veg is tightly packed. Then you need to weigh it down with something. If you have a plate that fits your container then put that in with a jar full of water on top to keep it down. If not, then fill a plastic food bag with water, seal tightly and put on top. Over the next 24 hours keep pressing the veg down as you remember. Water will be drawn out of the veg by the salt slowly. After about 24 hours the veg should be covered. If it isn't then you can add a little more brine - mix a tsp salt in a cup of water and put in enough that the veg is covered. Then leave it to ferment for 1-4 weeks. After the first week then you can start to sample the sauerkraut to see if it is done to your taste. How long it takes really depends on the temperature and how much salt is in there. When it is finished you can store it in the fridge if you have space. If not then put it in a cool place and make sure that the brine is always covering the vegetables after you have taken some out.
Here are two rubbish photos trying to show my arrangement for fermenting sauerkraut. It is a ceramic bread crock from Tesco and a freezer bag full of water on top for a weight. If you are sitting down then have a look at the 'proper' fermenting crocks (click on 'wholesome gadgets' in the link). There - looks a lot less naff when you have seen the price of real ones doesn't it!
Almond milk kefir
Today's kitchen science experiment (and I do lots of these - regular visitors are getting very wary of peering into jars and bowls in my house ;0) ) is almond milk kefir. Normally my kids eat lots of yogurt and take a probiotic to keep them stocked up with good bacteria. Now that my son is off dairy for the time being (at least) I needed to find new sources. Lucky for me he likes sauerkraut, but he isn't going to love it if I feed it to him every day!
I have been making milk kefir for a while and I did know that the grains could be used to make other kefir drinks. But it didn't occur to me to make some for boy#1 until I read this. I'm trying out almond milk kefir first because I think it sounds tasty. If he doesn't like it then I'll use it to make pancakes and try fruit juice kefir. Let's just hope the poor child doesn't mind being experimented on...!
Instructions are the same as for milk kefir - put the liquid to be 'kefired' in a clean jar with the grains, leave for 24 hours, strain out grains and drink. The only big difference is that the grains won't grow in non-dairy milk and will eventually die. So you need to keep some growing in dairy milk to replace them or this will quickly become very expensive!
I have been making milk kefir for a while and I did know that the grains could be used to make other kefir drinks. But it didn't occur to me to make some for boy#1 until I read this. I'm trying out almond milk kefir first because I think it sounds tasty. If he doesn't like it then I'll use it to make pancakes and try fruit juice kefir. Let's just hope the poor child doesn't mind being experimented on...!
Instructions are the same as for milk kefir - put the liquid to be 'kefired' in a clean jar with the grains, leave for 24 hours, strain out grains and drink. The only big difference is that the grains won't grow in non-dairy milk and will eventually die. So you need to keep some growing in dairy milk to replace them or this will quickly become very expensive!
Almond milk #2
This method isn't much more effort than using ground almonds but it does need starting ahead. I found that it wasn't quite as strongly almond flavoured but was still delicious. And better than milk (and nearly as good as cream) in coffee.
1 pack almonds - either in skins or skinless
warm water
pinch salt
more water, stock or wine
Put the almonds in warm water with a good pinch of sea salt and soak overnight. In the morning drain and rinse them and place in a blender with some more water, or some stock or wine (depending on what you will be using the milk for). Blend into a smooth paste and then dilute to the texture of double cream. Leave to stand for 5 - 10 minutes.
Strain through cloth into a clean jar or jug. You can then use the milk as is or dilute it further, depending on what you are using it for. A thick milk can substitute for cream, and a thinner milk is great over cereal.
1 pack almonds - either in skins or skinless
warm water
pinch salt
more water, stock or wine
Put the almonds in warm water with a good pinch of sea salt and soak overnight. In the morning drain and rinse them and place in a blender with some more water, or some stock or wine (depending on what you will be using the milk for). Blend into a smooth paste and then dilute to the texture of double cream. Leave to stand for 5 - 10 minutes.
Strain through cloth into a clean jar or jug. You can then use the milk as is or dilute it further, depending on what you are using it for. A thick milk can substitute for cream, and a thinner milk is great over cereal.
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