Fermentation

[Rick]

Neither drying nor canning are recommended for cantaloupe.

http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/datas...les/234-43.pdf

[grrlscout]

You can can it if you pickle it. I made some melon pickles last year.

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If you're interested, I'll try and dig up the recipe.

Hardest part is actually using the stuff. I still have some from last year, and I gave away quite a bit. Best use I have found is as a base for BBQ sauce.

[grrlscout]

Oh! And an update on the hot sauce. It's bubbling away. In fact, I have to open it up daily to release the pressure.

I meant to do that this morning, and grab a pic, but I forgot. Hope I don't come home to a pantry full of chile guts and glass shards!

[grrlscout]

Shwew! No explosion.

But the stuff had already reached the underside of the lid!

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[grrlscout]

I finished off the hot sauce over the weekend. I ran it through the blender, and then the food milll, to get the solids out.

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But then I decided that I did want some texture to it, so I added some back in. I ended up with two bottles this size:

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I kept one, and sent one to my uncle, who is a freak for hot sauces.

The only thing is, it tends to separate. But it's nothing a little shaking can't sure.

[your_comforting_company]

you fermented the peppers to make their own vinegar? I bet that is some good stuff!

[Batch]

I'd really be interested to hear more about the fermented peppers.

[grrlscout]

Oh, I thought I had posted the fermented hot sauce recipe. But I guess I didn't!

Here you go:
http://nourishedkitchen.com/fermente...-sauce-recipe/

I just used Thai Dragons instead of habaneros. The only thing was the thai dragons were a bit drier than the habs. So I did have to add a little water.

Also, the recipe calls for some sort of starter, like yogurt whey. I just used a couple cloves of garlic from my fermented pickles.

However, other people said that they didn't use any sort of starter, and it worked just fine.

ycc -- sort of. It's not vinegar proper, but it is a sour liquid. I believe this is the same process they use to make Tabasco.

[Batch]

Thank you!!!

[grrlscout]

7 months lates, the olives are finally done!

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I rinsed them, removed any mushy ones, and put them in their final brine, with rosemary, garlic, and lemons, and topped with olive oil.

[rwc1969]

Mmm, looks good, worth the wait I suppose.

[Trabitha]

I really should get more into pickling...my PLAN is to have much more veggies in the garden that are pickle-able. (YES!! That is a word! In fact, it's in my dictionary. )

I'll have to tap you for some advice like I did with Winnie and her amazing drying method!!

[grrlscout]

Just thought I would update this thread with my ginger beer project, mentioned in another thread.

Here is the recipe I used:

http://www.chelseagreen.com/content/recipe-ginger-beer/

Notes: In my warm kitchen, it only took about 2 days for the ginger bug to get going.

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In step 2, I used about 6" of ginger. I like it really spicy. Also during the boil, I added some allspice. I'm not sure how much flavor it added, whole. Next time I would crack them first. Cardamom would probably be a nice addition as well.

It was super easy, super cheap, and I got two two liter bottles out of the deal:

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Both are delicious! Good and spicy, with a nice fizz. I'm working my way through the second bottle now, and will probably start another batch when I finish with it.

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Bonus: it makes a fine addition to a Moscow Mule.

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[mountainmark]

Excellent thread Grrlscout! Thanks for sharing all this good stuff. Have you ever experimented with lacto-fermentation? I have an abundance of whey available to me and have been told it could be used for canning but haven't tried it yet.

[grrlscout]

Thanks, and I have! I believe I started the pepper sauce with a little whey, poured off a tub of yogurt.

[grrlscout]

We bought way too much of that bagged cole slaw mix for a Fourth of July pool party. The solution: ferment it to make sauerkraut!

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[grrlscout]

That batch of kraut turned out pretty nice! The next one was icky.

My current experiment:

This time, kale, some sort of Asian green, daikon radish, carrots, garlic greens, celery leaves, nasturtium leaves, and thyme. I'm going for a crunchy, salty, garlicky, peppery slaw-like salad that I can eat as a side dish. No idea how it will turn out.

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[Hevijunk]

Hello, I'm fairly new here but have been lurking for some time. If you enjoy making your own vinegar you might want to try your hand at making kombucha which is a fermented tea, it's quite easy to make and very tasty . The final taste can be taylored to your likes with the addition of sweeteners , be it sugar , splenda, honey, fruit juice etc etc.
You will need a mother to start with of course the standard run of the mill equipment for making vinegar, just google Kombucha for a recipe to get started.
Ed