Crazy Kraut

Most of the time I'm half crazy.  I'm also half German and don't know which half is crazy at the moment.  Ever since being bitten by the Kefir (fermented milk) bug, I'll try krauting anything/everything.

Food processor did this for me

Fall gardens produce lots of Things I get to do today--way more than any regular "today" can handle.  But then you already knew that.  Just because one whole bed of tomatoes has the flavor equal to sticking your tongue out into the wind doesn't mean they can just be lobbed over the fence to the chickens.  They are tomatoes, after all.  So I pulled up all the plants, harvested 25 pounds or so of green tomatoes that I made into kraut.  First time for everything, right?   The cookbook said you could use any vegetable.

Used a plastic bag with water to hold veggies under the brine.
Clever, sure to fit, but didn't weight the kraut enough.

Keeping the veggies under the brine is the most important thing in krauting.  Inexperience found me forgetting to measure the crock to see if the hold-down plate would fit.  What if it wedged in so tight I couldn't pull it out?

With the weight-plate in a plastic bag,  it could be
tested for size and pulled free when it was time
to check the krauting process.

Now the truly crazy part:  I could just sit down in the middle of the kitchen floor with a jar of this tomato kraut and a fork and be the happiest person on the block.

Crock, brine, and tomatoes with plate to hold them down.
A jar of juice stands guard and holds everything under
the brine.

Half gone already.  

Cute Kefir Cheese

Kefir ready to drink or make cheese

Maybe it's the alcohol.  I'm loving all the kefir that has been turned out in this kitchen in the last week and a half.  I've consumed nearly all of it myself.  It can have up to 3% alcohol, but I'm sure mine is closer to .5%--just a little fizzy on the tongue.

Kefir cheese--about four hours of draining off the whey.

Making kefir cheese is one of the simplest Things I get to do today. Pour the kefir (grains removed and placed in a jar of plain milk for another brewing) into a cheese cloth and suspend it until it's reasonably dry--up to 8 hours. When I unwrapped the cheese cloth, all I could think was,  "That's the cutest little cheese I have ever seen."  Next I'll salt it and season it a bit and spread it on crackers or toast.  It's very similar in texture to fresh goat cheese (chèvre).




If you want some grains to start your own kefir, I'll have some to share soon.  Just comment on this post and we can get it going.

Animal or Vegetable?

A large grain is floating close to the
surface next to the tea bag.*

I'm making Kefir.  I bought "grains" and put them in milk.  Most folks know about kefir made with milk, but the water one was new to me. Curiosity put water kefir grains on my order list as well, and I soon found myself the proud mother of grains for milk and water.

  Back lit, the jar of solution shows many grains at the bottom.

One of the Things I get to do today is find out whether these little critters are animals or plants. My reading from the well-known source, Wikipedia, says they are a combination of yeast and bacteria. That makes them closer to animals, but still on the middle of the fence, I think. Either way the kefir milk and the kefir water are both delicious and fabulously good for the body. If you are thinking of getting a useful pet, I recommend you grow some these guys.








*Water Kefir Directions:
Add the grains to a cup of water, one tablespoon sugar and an herbal tea bag.
Cover with a breathable material like cheese cloth or a paper towel since the fermentation process, which takes two to three days at room temperature, requires air.
The resulting liquid smells like sourdough, is slightly sweet, a bit fizzy, and has a 1 or 2% alcohol content.  I ordered my grains from www.kefirlady.com.