kombucha- a tutorial

kombucha- when people ask me what it is i say "it's this fermented green tea drink that i LOVE!" and i hope they don't immediately google it on their smart phone because the images of the "scoby" are kind of frightening. 
scoby- noun- an anacronym for "symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast".
it's this kind of rubbery layer of stuff that sits in the tea and helps it ferment. 
it's to kombucha what a starter is to sourdough- kind of.

the above picture shows several layers of scoby going on- the topmost layer being the newer "skin" forming at the top.
but i admit that i fell in love with kombucha even before knowing how it was made or seeing what a scoby looked like- thank GOD. 
believe me- it's SO yummy and it's good for you too!  it's probiotic.  it's energizing.  it is good for the metabolism.  in short it cures wot ails ye.

so - to make kombucha you first must secure a scoby from a hippie friend.  you know, that friend that if she doesn't smell of patchouli she smells of something because she probably doesn't wear anti-perspirant.  her kids *probably* wear shoes- at least they are optional.  and she excuses herself to pee her 10 month old son off in the woods during a conversation.

once you have a scoby- you must feed it.  what does yeast eat?  sugar. 
so the imporant ingredient in this is sugar.  i use green tea because it is super tasty.  i use a tad bit of black tea because the scoby likes it. 

so to feed the scoby you must make a sweet tea.  i make approx 3 litres of sweet tea for one scoby. 
here are my measurements-
3 litres boiling water
3 bags kombucha tea(i use yogi brand)
2 bags of black tea (ceylon)
1 cup sugar- ***important***  you MUST use the devil's handmaiden.  you CANNOT use honey or agave or stevia or xylitol or anything more holy. 

ok- so then you let this sweet tea reach room temp.  pour it into your gallon sized fermenting vat(costco sized pickle jar or not- it MUST be glass).  place your scoby in the sweet tea and pour the brine the scoby sat in (should come in about 6 oz of brine) into the fermenting vat.  cover with some fabric.  i cut a t-shirt up.  cut a square to cover the top nice a good and then cut a long strip of t-shirt to secure the square down over the top.  this is important because fruit flies LOVE this stuff. 
now wait.  in the summer it ferments fast(one week).  in the cooler winter it's slower(two weeks).  you will see a nice layer growing on top- another scoby to share with a friend who now thinks YOU are the hippie fringe. 

taste it.  when it reaches a nice balance between sweet and vinegary then it's ready.

you can bottle it and throw it in fridge to stop the fermentation process, or....
you can do a second ferment(yummmmm!)
my kids love second ferments because i flavor it. 

i pour the kombucha over jelly (made only with SUGAR! not high fructose corn syrup). 
sometimes i pour it over some fruit puree that i have mixed with sugar and heated up(to dissolve the sugar). 
mango is my kids favorite!  and adding shredded ginger makes it so carbonated you have to watch out when you uncork!
i have also tried adding chia seeds.  it works.  i pour chia seeds into a cupcake liner- fill it up! and then pour them into the bottle.  it's amazing watching them form their little gelatinous shells.  it's got an interesting texture, but my kids don't go for it.
i do the second ferment in ikea stopper bottles.

 or these bottles of french soda i found at kroger in the health food section.

the second ferment takes only 2 or 3 days.  i sit them on the shelf in the pantry.  right now i have two grape(from jelly), two mango, and two peach sitting on the second ferment shelf.  i also currently have about four first ferments in various stages of stew going on.  i'm thinking about expanding my kitchen just to accomodate my kombucha fascination.

my food cravings

so here is a list of what i have been gnoshing this time around.

balsamic vinegar- i could drink the stuff. i actually put so much on my salad that my lips start to shrivel.

fried eggs with chipotle smoked tabasco, fresh ground pepper, and salt.

tropical fruit yogurt salad thingy- it's something cool and yummy to beat the heat.
just a mixture of things.
-fresh pineapple-chunked
-fresh banana- sliced
-unsweetened shredded coconut
-slivered almonds
-plain whole milk yogurt
all in a big bowl.

i love smoothie season!

this am's smoothie:
kiwis
plain yogurt(whole milk- of course)
frozen strawberries(just brought home from market and washed and
frozen- green tops and all)
blueberries
a handful of kale
whey protein
a healthy amount of coconut oil
rw knudson's morning blend(juice I bought to make popsicles for the
kids with).

it was kind of seedy- the kiwis.
and a funny coincidence- the smoothie song by nickel creek came on
itunes when we were drinking.

blueberry oatcakes

in an attempt to get away from wheat and too much gluten we have
resorted to more sneaky ways to make our favorites. i have recently
drawn a line of blame connecting gluten and/or wheat to my sad &
depressed moods. who knows if it's real or placebo? i say who
cares? if i feel better without wheat, why not skip it for awhile?

i just blend up some soaked oats in the food processe, add eggs(one
more than you would with a regular flour pancake bc oats are pretty
heavy), baking soda, some melted butter, a little honey, a dash of
salt and a dash of cinnamon.
then cook them up!
YUM!!!
frankie is such a blueberry head. we bought this giant box of
blueberries on saturday from costco. and she was the driving force
helping polish off the whole box by the same time sunday- just 24
hours later! so i went back out late last night to the blueberry
crack dealer and hooked her up with another box or two. otherwise
they'd just be oatcakes- which are good too!

french toast oatmeal

my kids love french toast. but it's too messy and time intensive to make everyday. this morning's oatmeal wore all the fancy clothes that bread wears when it dresses up as french toast.

french toast oatmeal
measure your oats out the night before(follow measurements on oats canister). cover them with water. stir in a spoonful of one of the following(yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, whey, or lemon juice). this does two things: first, soaking makes grains much more digestable- and second, cooking time is GREATLY decreased.
in the morning your oats will be more like a porridge instead of otameal.

throw them in a pan.
put them on medium heat.
stir in 1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinammon
2 tbsp maple syrup

cook until heated through.
enjoy!

poor man's pizza

when i was little we used to make these open faced grilled cheddar cheese sandwiches. they had ketchup between the cheese and the bread and sat in the oven until the cheese melted and the bread toasted a bit.
i recently have been exploring my roots. we brought back the tradition of "poor man's pizza" but put the italian back into it. don't forget that layer of olive oil between the bread and the sauce. it keeps the bread from getting too soggy. like butter on a hamburger bun keeps the hamburger juice in the burger and off your bun.

taking me back

i'm not a big pork fan, but it was on sale for CHEEEEAP, so i bought a couple packs of these thick pork cuts. i decided to try and make something my mom made growing up. it was basically onions, green peppers, and campbell's tomato and rice soup over pork chops. i have a problem with campbell's soup. sooooo much MSG. so i made some changes. here goes.
saute green pepper slices and onion slices in a pan in some oil. transfer them to a plate once the pan has some good veggie juices brewin' in it. while they are sauteing, shake some nutmeg ontop of the pork chops. i think this would work well with chicken and a little curry flavor as well, but let's get on with the cooking- ok? brown the pork in the pan on both sides over medium heat. open the tomato soup(i used wolfgang puck's creamy tomato soup). empty into bowl. pour wine into can until half full. swirl and empty into bowl again. mix tomato and wine. put pork into a shallow casserole dish. layer the onions and peppers on top. then pour tomato wine mixture on top of everything. cover with foil and bake at 375 until meat is done. you might want to use a meat thermometer. i just baked for awhile and then turned the oven off and left it in there for an hour or two.
serve with rice. super yum. the kids always ask for seconds.
edited to add that i thought wolfgang's tomato soup was greasy. i'm hunting for something else- that or a good creamy tomato soup recipe. and on my hunt i wouldn't mind finding a soy free, msg free ranch salad dressing recipe if that's not too much to ask.

move over laura ingles wilder!

ok, sorry for the long blog silence followed by too many tidbits to read, but
I JUST MADE BUTTER!!!!
(will post pics soon)

oatmeal bread

from the king arthur flour company. came on the unbleached bread flour bag.
3 cups bread flour
1 cup rolled oats (old fashioned)
2 T butter
1.5 t salt
3 T brown sugar or honey
2 t yeast or 1 packet active dry yeast(if you use the packet you have to disolve it in warm milk first before mixing it in with everything else)
1.25 c lukewarm milk
.75 c raisins

throw all ingredients into bread machine. except for fruit. put it on dough cycle. check for consistency about ten minutes in. adjust to make supple by adding more flour or water. add the raisins about 3 minutes before the end of final kneading cycle. shape into log. place in bread pan- let rise covered- until it's 1-2 inches above rim of pan. bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes. if bread is browning too quickly- cover with foil.

Chocolate Ice Cream

Chocolate Ice Cream
Recipe Ingredients:



4 oz. bitter chocolate
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
3 cups milk
1 1/2 Tbs. Cook's Choice Pure Vanilla Extract
3 cups heavy cream

Preparation:


In top of double boiler, melt chocolate
Add sugar
Beat eggs and add to chocolate mixture, stirring vigorously
Heat milk to a boil and add to chocolate mixture
Cook, stirring ocasionally, until mixture thickens
Cool
Add Cook's Choice Pure Vanilla Extract and heavy cream to the cooled mixture
Churn-freeze
Makes 1/2 gallon

tourtiere

i found this recipe over at a blog called blueberry cottage. it's tasty and has tame ingredients. a bit of a warning. if you plan to make your own pie dough---count on a long prep time. we ate at close to 9pm this night bc i didn't judge that right at all. used the hot oven to bake sweet potatoes and an apple crisp(recipe found at blueberry cottage too!). on stovetop i sauteed some spinach in a little bacon fat with garlic and sea salt. blueberry cottage has some nice pics of the final product at her site.
Tourtiere
Ingredients:
2 Pie crusts for a 9" pie pan
1lb of lean ground beef
1lb of ground pork
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 large egg , lightly beaten
Heat your oven to 350. Roll out crusts and refrigerate until ready. In a bowl mix all your ingredients together very well. Put bottom crust in pan and add your mix then top with other crust. Crimp and then cut some vent holes for steam. You may add some decorations onto the top by pasting with a bit of water. Brush the top with a bit of egg (optional) to give it that golden colour. Cook for 1 hour or until the juices run clear. Cool for 15 mintues before serving.

hannah's corn

this recipe comes all the way from the san diego union tribune's food section. while we were living in san diego we couldn't afford much. chris had to take coworkers to lunch on our credit card so they could pay him back in cash so i could take the cash and get quarters so i could do laundry. it was the price we had to pay- just to live so close to the pacific. one thing i did indulge in was a subscription to the paper. i signed up for one reason. on wednesdays there came tucked between sports and the classifieds (big fanfare inserted here) the food section! i got recipes and tips. and this was so good because i was a definite newbie at cooking whole foods. before moving to san diego cooking meant mixing browned ground beef with noodles that came from a box that had a big goofy white glove with a face. so i needed all the help i could get.
i made hannah's corn tonight. it came from the food section and it is yummy-lishious!

Hannah's Corn

1 lb bag frozen corn
onion
butter
chopped medium *zucchini
herbes de provence
salt pepper
4 strips cooked bacon(crumbled)

saute chopped onion in 1T butter until soft. throw in zucchini. stir and cook over med heat for 5 minutes. add frozen corn. stir in 1 1/2 T herbes de provence. cook and stir for five more minutes or until veggies are soft. serve topped with bacon crumbs.
*if you don't have zucchini or your kids don't like it you can substitute another veggie. some good options are carrots or red bell pepper.

turnip greens stew

this was soooo yummy! chris still added the tabasco- a true southerner.
i actually didn't have any ham. the refrigerator thief took it. so i used bacon instead. it is a blue moon when i come up with my very own original recipe so if i don't give anyone credit, i just forgot. this one is from southern living magazine jan 2004 issue.

turnip greens stew
prep- 5 minutes , cook- 30 minutes
2 cups chopped cooked ham (or 1 lb bacon chopped into 1 inch pieces)
1 T vegitable oil (or butter and olio de olivio)
3 cups chicken broth
2 (16 oz) packages frozen chopped turnip greens (i got the one with diced turnips in them too) or feel free to use fresh!
1 (10 oz) package frozen diced onion, red and green bell peppers, and celery (publix sells their version calling it a "california blend")
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp seasoned pepper

saute ham in hot oil in dutch oven over med-hogh heat. heat 5 minutes or until lightly browned. add broth and remaining ingredients; bring to boil. cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 25 minutes makes 6-8 servings.