Looks like a great box this week! The beautiful watermelon radishes continue, as do the Brussels sprouts; the pickled dry-farmed tomatoes which Happy Girl Kitchen put up for us from last summer's tomatoes and basil - yum! - of all the preserves, this is really "summer in a jar". Kale has transitioned from Red Russian to Lacinato, the dark-green dinosaur-skin-looking stuff. Meyer lemons... mmmmm. And fresh Shitake mushrooms from Far West Fungi -another real treat! Like I said, great box! ;-) Debbie

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The first thing I thought of when I saw Tom was putting the watermelon radishes in again, and also cabbage (and of course we always have carrots) was... fermented veggies! I want to encourage everyone to learn how to ferment veggies, because it is the simplest thing to do, because it's a lot of fun, and because they are delicious and nutritious!

Simple fermented veggies
This is a sauerkraut-kimchi hybrid of my own making; you can ferment all sorts of veggies!

Basic ingredients
1 head cabbage, quartered, cored and chopped or shredded (save 1 leaf whole)
1 or 2 watermelon radishes, sliced, slices halved or quartered
a couple carrots, scrubbed or peeled, then sliced
4 tbsp. low-mineral content sea salt or kosher salt (not table salt; you don't want the anti-caking ingredients, and I just recently learned that a high mineral sea salt, while good for general cooking - I use it all the time - is not the best for fermenting because the minerals can impart an off taste)
4 C filtered water (don't use tap water; you don't want any chlorine, which will inhibit or kill the good bacteria you want to grow!)

Optional additional veggies/fruit from this week's box:
trimmed and halved Brussels sprouts
sliced turnips
turnip greens coarsely chopped
sliced cauliflower florets
cauliflower leaves, sliced or chopped
chopped apple

Optional seasoning additions:
1 or 2 sliced leeks or onions
several cloves of garlic, peeled, then sliced, chopped, or even left whole!
crushed dried chilies (or you could chop up some of the pickled peppers, if you received them with your preserve option last week), quantity to taste based on heat preference
1 or 2 tbsp. grated ginger root

Other items:
2 or 3 wide-mouth quart jars
2 or 3 narrow jam jars filled with water for weighting (any jar that is narrower than the mouth of the quart jar will do) [alternatively you can use a ziploc bag filled with brine; just use brine and not plain water, in case the bag leaks]

Chop and/or slice the veggies (basic ingredients plus optional additional veggies but not the "seasoning additions") and toss together in a big bowl or non-reactive pot (NOT aluminum!). Dissolve the sea salt into the water completely to make a brine. Pour the brine over the veggies and let soak a couple hours or overnight.

Drain veggies, reserving brine. Add optional seasoning additions to drained veggies at this point and mix in.

Pack veggie mixture into quart jars by putting in a few handfuls then literally pushing down with your fist (or anything that will work) to squish them together and cause the brine to rise. Add more veggies and pack until your jar is about 2/3 full. I've learned to not overfill them, then they don't overflow when fermenting, because the brine expands. This is why I suggest using 2 or 3 jars, so you're not tempted to try to get it all into one jar. [these pictures are from a sauerkraut-making blurb I did a few years back]

Now's where the saved whole cabbage leaf comes in: tear it into 2 or 3 large pieces (one for each jar)... ideally each piece should be just slightly larger than the diameter of the jar. You're going to use this to keep the veggies contained in an orderly fashion below the brine. Slip the leaf down into the jar and using your fingers, tuck it down and around and push on it so that the brine rises but the veggies stay below. If you don't feel you have enough brine covering the veggies, add a little from what you reserved. About a half-inch of brine is my visual rule of thumb.

Now take that jam jar filled with water and stick it into the bigger jar and gently push down on it to make the brine rise, then leave this sit at room temperature to ferment! Length of time: 5 to 7 days. If your kitchen is on the warm side, check it at 4 days; if you're fermenting in a cool spot, it can go longer than 7 days. It is not an exact science.

It's fun to watch the progress: the veggies will bubble and a foam will form on top of the brine. Sometimes a little mold or scum appears too, but you can just skim that off. The veggies will not be harmed and neither will you.

NOTE: the pictures above are, like I said, from a few years ago when I was making plain sauerkraut. You can see how I've put the jar in a bowl to catch the brine overflow. If you do like I suggest above and only fill your jar 2/3 full, you shouldn't have this problem. If in doubt, set the jar in a bowl so you don't have a puddle on your counter ;-) Below is some sauerkraut (cabbage, leeks, fennel seed) I started just last Saturday, so this is how it looks after just 2 days. Note how I didn't fill the jars so much, so they're not overflowing.
 


Taste the ferment after a couple days; it should start to get tangy - just lift out the jar, stick your fingers down into the brine and taste. Or carefully pull aside the covering leaf of cabbage and try a forkful of the veggies beneath. If it is still salty, push it back down under the brine and let it ferment longer. If it tastes sour to your liking, then that's great! Take the weighting jar out, put a lid on it, and stick it in your fridge, where you can enjoy it over the course of a couple months. It will continue to ferment in the fridge but much more slowly.

I love to have a small bowl of sauerkraut or kimchi or fermented veggies with my lunch. The brine is as good as the veggies, so don't toss that part!

Note 2/14/11: If you're interested, please see further discussion on fermented veggies in Winter Week 9 newsletter - I documented in pictures a mixed veggie ferment!


Made this recipe last week, with last week's turnips. It was good!

Farmhouse Turnips
modified slightly from a recipe in the cookbook "Greene on Greens"
serves 2 generously or 4 as a side dish

3 tbsp. butter
1 small onion, minced
1 bunch turnips, with greens
about 1/2 C tomato puree or canned chopped tomatoes, or just use 1 or 2 tomatoes from the jar of pickled dry-farmed tomatoes in your box this week, chopped
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
[if not using turnip greens, use 1 to 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley]

Cut green tops from turnips and set aside. Trim top and root away from turnip bulbs and scrub (no need to peel), then cut into half-inch wide slices, then cut the slices into sticks, kinda like french fries.

Go through the turnip greens, discarding any discolored leaves, and coarsely chop the rest for use in the recipe.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the onion; cook 5 minutes. Stir in the turnips, tomato, sugar and allspice. Mix well. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Stir the chopped greens in for the last 3 minutes or so of cooking, so that they wilt but still keep their color. [If not using the greens, just mix in the chopped parsley at the end, or sprinkle on top when serving.]


Barley Stew with Leeks, Mushrooms and Greens
from a Bon Appetit clipping, Dec 2009
serves 6

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 C chopped leeks (about 2 small stalks; white and pale green parts)
8 oz crimini mushrooms [use the fresh shitakes!]
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 1/4 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes in their juice [can substitute the crushed dry farmed tomatoes from a few weeks back or this week's pickled ones, just chop 'em up]
1 C pearl barley
4 C (or more) vegetable broth
1 bunch kale, stems removed, leaves coarsely chopped

Heat oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add leeks; sprinkle with salt and pepper and saute until leeks begin to soften, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic, and rosemary; increase heat to medium-high and saute until mushrooms soften and begin to brown, stirring often, about 7 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice; stir 1 minute. Add barley and 4 C broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until barley is almost tender, about 20 minutes. Add kale; stir until wilted, about 1 minute. Cover and simmer until kale and barley are tender, adding more broth by 1/4 cupfuls as needed for desired stew consistency, about 10 minutes.


Lemony Leek Soup
from "Recipes from the Great Chefs of Santa Cruz County" (this particular recipe was from Sheperds Garden Seeds)
serves 6 to 8

1 tbsp. butter or margarine
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
6 C thinly sliced leeks (about 6 to 8 leeks)
1 carrot, thinly sliced [farm carrots are small; I'd use two?]
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
6 C chicken stock
1 tbsp. grated lemon zest [use the Meyers! Yum!]
2 tbsp. lemon juice [ditto!]
2 tsp. fresh marjoram or 1 tsp. dried
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
1/4 C rice
1/2 C milk
salt and white pepper (to taste)

garnish
3 tbsp. minced chives [optional; got any baby scallions left from last week's box?]

In a 4- to 5-quart saucepan, heat butter and oil, add leeks, carrots and celery and saute until softened.

Add chicken stock, lemon rind, lemon juice, marjoram, parsley and rice and simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes, until veggies are very tender.

Puree in batches in a blender or food processor.

Pour mixture back into saucepan; add milk, salt and white pepper to taste. If soup is too thick, add extra milk or stock.

Heat soup through but do not boil. Serve hot or cold, sprinkled with chives and a dollop of sour cream or yogurt.