Crispy Kale Chips

Fresh, organic, home-grown kale...perfect for crispy kale chips.  They are a wonderful alternative to deep-fried potato chips and definitely a fun way to eat your chlorophyll! 

Ingredients:

20 large kale leaves

1 apple

1 bell pepper

1/2 cup cashews 

2 cloves garlic

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 tbsp soy sauce

dash pepper

Method:

1. Remove the stems of the kale leaves and chop the leaves into bite-sized pieces.

2. Peel and core the apple and remove the seeds of the bell pepper.  Add to food processor with the rest of the ingredients (excluding kale) until desired consistency (I prefer to puree it).

3. Toss the kale with the "dressing" and arrange onto dehydrator trays.

4. Dehydrate until kale chips are dry and crispy.

Variations: add your favorite herbs and spices and experiment with different greens- swiss chard and broccoli greens are delicious!

Sourdough Adventures III

Delicious Dill Rolls

My sourdough rolls turned out successful with a soft, moist texture complemented by the unique aroma of dill.  Once again I used my favorite starter containing koji and kefir bacterial/yeast strains, and allowed the sponge to ferment 24 hours before the first and second risings, which took 2 hours each. 

Dehydrated Rhubarb

Rhubarb is a very nutritious vegetable but due to its intense sour flavor many people dislike it, and the only way they know how to eat it is inside sugar-laden strawberry rhubarb pie.  

To make gorgeous rhubarb "ribbons", simply slice the rhubarb stalks thinly and throw them into the dehydrator until completely dry.  

After dehydrating I like to cut them up into tiny bits and add them to my cereal/granola for mild tartness.  It can be substituted into recipes for dried fruits but you may need to add more sugar to the recipe to counter the sourness.    

Curry Chickpea Cookies: Wheat-free!

These savory cookies are fermented overnight before baking to make the chickpeas more digestible.  I threw in some chopped fresh spinach to add some nutrition, but just add whatever you have on hand because these cookies are delectable and versatile!  I didn't really measure everything but here is the basic recipe, so adjust the ingredients according to your needs.  Substitute in almonds or other nuts for the sunflower seeds, and feel free to be creative and add cooked potatoes, grated carrots, peas, and anything you desire!

Ingredients:

1 cup chickpea flour

1/2 cup of kefir (or liquid culture)

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

1 egg

3 tbsp curry powder

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup chopped spinach

Makes 12 cookies.

Directions:

1. Combine first 2 ingredients and ferment overnight.

2. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

3. Spoon cookie batter onto a baking sheet into twelve mounds.

4. Bake at 325 F for 15 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

Dogs Like Fermented Food Too!

Pictures of dogs enjoying fresh homemade sourdough bread and kefir/kefir grains!

YUMMY!

Sourdough Adventures II

Sweet Potato Raisin Loaf

Yay!  This time my sourdough rose better than my previous loaf.  My sponge culture contained kefir and amazake and the doubling time was short, only 1-2 hours.  I used a Chinese yellow sweet potato which acted as a dough conditioner, giving me a loaf of soft and mildly sweet bread.  YUM!  However, the bread still did not meet bread-baking standards because I think the sweet potato weighed it down a little too much to rise to an optimal height.  Nevertheless, I still really enjoyed feasting on my heavenly smelling loaf and I still have plenty of time to practice breadmaking before I have to master a sandwich bread for school! 

Amazake

Amazake is fermented sticky rice (culture: koji) and turns the rice into a pudding-like mush. The bacteria breaks down the starch in the rice so amazake has a tooth-numbing sweetness.  As such, it is often used as a sweetener in recipes as a tremendously healthier alternative to white sugar, instead of eaten on its own.  When the amazake is ready it will be very sweet, and to maintain this taste it must be stored in the refrigerator.  If it continues to ferment at a warm temperature, the sugar will be converted into wine and produce rice wine.  Even further fermentation will convert the rice wine into rice vinegar. 

Kombucha

Kombucha is a fermented tea drink with a taste similar to iced tea, but with a delightfully sour bite to it (kind of like vinegar).  Basically a colony of bacteria in the form of a gelatinous "mushroom" of many layers is placed in a jar and fed a mixture of black tea and sugar, and as the bacteria consumes the sugar the tea gets increasingly tart.  Kombucha mushrooms grow quite fast so some people even eat their mushrooms!  I've heard that dehydrated mushrooms make a delicious chewy snack.  Kombucha has many amazing properties, including anticancer abilities, and can be substituted for vinegar in dressings and other recipes due to its tartness.  However, please note that it is important not to drink too much kombucha from the start as the wealth of probiotics may be overwhelming to some stomachs.  It is best to start with one tablespoon a day and build your way up, preferably not exceeding 1 cup a day.  But don't worry if your system cannot tolerate this wonder drink; just heat it up to destroy the probiotics and you are still left with a nutrient-rich concoction!

Fermented Rice Sponge Cake: Gluten Free and Delicious!

Fermented rice sponge cakes are delicious and slightly tart, popular in Asia where they were traditionally fermented before steaming.  However, the fermentation process requires skillful planning so I usually let the batter ferment overnight but then the next day I cheat and use baking powder to make it rise. The bacterial culture that is traditionally used is koji, commonly used to ferment miso and many Japanese soy products.  I use a mixture of amazake(which contains koji cultures) and kefir as my culture because I find this produces a very active rice flour "sponge".  But if you don't have either culture, you can experiment with whatever you have, and even catch some wild yeast if you are adventurous! 

Here is the recipe I make every week:

Ingredients:

11/2 cups of rice flour
1 cup of water (or kefir)

some type of probiotic culture

2 mashed bananas

2 tbsp molasses (or any type of sweetener)

1 tbsp coconut oil 

1 tsp baking powder

dash salt

oil for greasing

handful of raisins (optional)

1. Combine the first three ingredients and ferment overnight at room temperature.  The next morning, it should look spongy when stirred and smell slightly sour.  

2. Add the mashed bananas, molasses, coconut oil, baking powder and salt.

3. Grease a glass pan with oil and pour in the batter.  Sprinkle with raisins if desired.

4. Steam the batter in a large pot on maximum heat for 20 minutes.

5. Carefully remove glass pan and cool.  Serve warm.

*To make the batter rise naturally through fermentation, omit the sweetener, bananas, and baking powder.  Anything sweet will turn sour because the mixture will have to sit in the glass pan after the salt and oil is added.  Steam for 15 minutes and drizzle the sweetener on top of the sponge cake instead.

*Sponge cakes lose their heavenly soft texture after 2-3 days so do not leave it in the refrigerator for too long!  Make sure you warm it up in the microwave before eating.

Sourdough Adventures I

Rosemary Garlic Sourdough Bread

As I mentioned before, I am an amateur when it comes to sourdough baking.  Rosemary garlic sourdough, sounds delicious, doesn't it?  Unfortunately, I chose to use fresh garlic and rosemary, both possessing strong antibacterial properties.  What happened?  The yeasts and bacteria couldn't reproduce and my bread did not rise even though my sponge was very active prior to adding the garlic.  I was disappointed but thankfully the bread still turned out yummy and wasn't rock hard as it still managed to rise slightly after 6 hours of proofing.  Notice the dense crumb in the photo.

Kefir

Kefir is a fermented milk beverage that contains a huge spectrum of probiotics and friendly yeasts.  It is now available in many grocery stores, but the best kind is homemade with kefir grains.  It only requires 12 hours of fermentation and the bacteria will digest much of the lactose, converting it into lactic acid, producing an easily digestible milk drink similar to the taste of yogurt!  As such, many lactose intolerant people can enjoy kefir and reap the numerous health benefits it provides.  However, some people may experience stomach upset if too much kefir is consumed at first, so it is best to slowly build up on the amount of kefir you drink.  Maybe start with half a cup and work your way up.  

Click here for an amazing website on kefir.