Lemon-Dill-Garlic Kraut No. 3

Posted on by September 20, 2019

We like this dill-based kraut better than anything we have made. So, time to start experimenting with the ingredients–particularly the dill. This batch contains 25% more dill at 4.6 gm rather than only 3.7. On 7/23/2019, after it has been in the refer for maybe a week, Mary said she liked it best of any we have made.

 Orig. Grams25% more dill
Cabbage1862.0
Dried dill at 1.25 gm per 500 gm cabbage3.74.6
1.7% salt31.7 
2 T lemon juice*  
Garlic – 3 lg cloves   

In truth, the large digital scale only weighs to the nearest gram. We arrived at about 4.6 by adding dill until it read 5 then removed some.

.* This happens to be 1 tbsp of juice per 900 gms of cabbage

Giardiniera with Bunching Onions

Posted on by June 17, 2019

5/11/2019 – This was our first Giardiniera made at the farm and we used mostly the white parts of the bunching onions from the garden. We repeated the use of a 6% brine as was successful for us in Houston.

  • 4 C Cauliflowerettes
  • ~4 C large diameter green onions cut into 1/2″-3/4″ long sections
  • ~2 C carrots also cut into 1/2″ long sections with the larger ones sliced into quarters then into sections
  • ~ 10 fresh Thyme sprigs about 2″-3″ long
  • 6 large toes of garlic cracked and a few broken
  • large pinch of red pepper flakes

Packed all into a 1/2-gallon mason jar and pressed and bounced them down. Put a glass weight on them then filled it with the 6% brine made from well water and pickling salt.

6/9/2019 – Our first taste of this ferment was after one month of fermenting in the small pantry. The cauliflowerettes, onions, carrots, and garlic were crunchy without being salty so the 6% brine was just right. Needs more thyme and red pepper flakes or Sambal Oelek.

This was interesting but not likely to be made again unless a different ingredient promised to give it a flavor beyond just the typical ferment and everything tasting the same.

Fermented Swiss Chard, Green Onions, & Garlic

Posted on by June 10, 2019

5/5/2019 – We made this with swiss chard and green bunching onions from our garden. We used the white lower parts of the larger onions and only the inner small tender leaves. The red stems of the chard were included.

Rightmost jar on Day 1

The white part of the onions was cut into 3/4″ long pieces and the greens closer to 1/2″. As this time we are using only small leaves and cut shorter so hopefully, they do not turn out so chewy.

  • Swiss Chard – enough to make layers in the one-quart jar
  • Onion – Chopped up about 1 quart lose.
  • Garlic – 4 cloves smashed lightly and cut into large pieces.
  • Salt – The chard + onions weighted 276 gms. So, for a 6% brine, we added 16.6 gm pickling salt.
  1. Packed the chard, onions, and garlic in layers in the jar and weighed it to get the weight of the contents; i.e. 276 gm.
  2. Calculated the salt needed for a 6% brine.
  3. Filled the packed jar with water then poured off the water into a bowl and mixed in the salt.
  4. Poured the brine into the jar with the chard+onion+garlic.
  5. Put in a glass weight, capped it with a fermentation lid and into the small dark pantry.

6/1/2019 – We have eaten both jars and found it interesting in that the chard was NOT mushy. The flavor of the veggies was noticeable over the ferment but not a lot. The 6% salt made the veggies firm but they were not salty. This could be worth trying again and maybe with some more spices and heat.

Lemon-Dill-Garlic Kraut No. 2

Posted on by September 20, 2019

4/30/2019 – We have tried the LDG Kraut enough to know the first batch is very good. So this is a big batch as we have two small heads and two large heads of cabbage. This batch uses the two small and one of the large heads.

  • 2 very small and 1 large head of cabbage – 2,538 gms
  • 4 large toes of garlic that weighted 20 gms.
  • 5 grams of dill that is equates to 0.00197% of the cabbage
  • 2 full tablespoons of fresh lemon juice plus a scant tablespoon.
  • 43.6 gm salt that is 1.7% of the cabbage plus garlic plus dill.

This 2,500 gms of cabbage nicely “filled” two 1/2 gallon jars. There was about 1.5″ of headspace. That equates to about 3 lbs. of cabbage to fill a 1/2 gallon jar.

BBQ Sauce with Dijon

Posted on by June 7, 2024

4/27/2019 – Needed more BBQ sauce for chicken thighs on the Weber Kettle but found we only had a piece of a bottle of Stub’s Hot & Spicy. So, added the following to some of it to make it do the 12 thighs. Mary liked the sauce a lot as did I.

  • ~ 1/2 C Stub’s Hot & Spicy
  • ~ 1/4 C ketchup
  • ~ scant 1T Dejon Mustard
  • ~ 1/4-1/2 C Apple Cider Vinegar

Fermented Green Onions & Carrots

Posted on by May 19, 2019

4/25/2019 – This ferment was inspired by various recipes but not anyone in particular. The important item was the recommendation for the salt to be 2%-3%. It turned out very good with the carrots crunchy and the white parts of the multiplying onions a firm and nothing mushy. The green parts of the onions were about 1/2″ long and were a bit chewy.

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Lamb Chops Smoked

Posted on by April 21, 2019

4/21/2019 – We planned to have two 2-bone lamb chops today for Easter dinner but instead had a very large late lunch with Peggy, Frank, Mandy, TS, Margarit and Sam. After that event we trimmed the chops, cut shallow slices into the fat side.

Seasoned them with ground Rosemary and thyme. Coered

Lemon-Dill-Garlic Kraut No. 1

Posted on by September 20, 2019

4/14/2019 – Made this generally following the Lemon-Dill Kraut on page 134 of our copy of Fermented Vegetables by Shockey & Shockey. On 4/29/2019 we tried it an liked it a lot.

Ingredients

  • 1 avg head of cabbage that weighted 899 gms or almost 2 lbs.
  • At 1.7% salt level added 15 gm.
  • Dill dried – 2 tsp that weighted 2 gms
  • Lemon Juice – 4 tsp*
  • Garlic minced – 2 avg toes

The Process

  • Chopped up everything as usual
  • Added the salt, dried dill and Lemon Juice per their recipe and let sit until “glistened”.
  • Added the garlic
  • Packed in a jar with an air gap lid.

8/12/2019 – *This happens to be 1 tbsp of juice per about 600 gms of cabbage.