Holy Mother!

When you get a kombucha mother of your very own for Christmas, you realize what lucky food nerds you and your friends really are.  Matt and Sallie made this batch and its accompanying mushroom, and now it is in my care.
Here is what Matt says about the care and feeding of my new creature.  He has been getting to know this SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) for quite some time.

Hey girl!  I'm glad you are getting exited about this brewing.  If we are right about about the benefits, it is well worth drinking it every day, and even if it's merely tasty that's good too.  Frankly though, I don't think humans would have bothered keeping it alive for 3000 years if it was a hoax.  It is like a sourdough starter in that it is derived from elements in the environment but to keep it in a form usable to us we have to husband it and keep it somewhat carefully to keep it alive. Check out "Kombucha: the Miracle Fungus"  by Harald Tietze, he points out that fact, among many other interesting things.  One is that Kombucha is actually considered a lichen, a symbiotic combination between fungus and blue green algae, which have been recently discovered to be not algae but single celled bacteria- one of the earliest forms of life on this planet.  So, we probably share considerable DNA with Kombucha!

So the basics:   Brew tea and add sugar.  Generally, 3/4 to 1 cup sugar to each gallon of tea.  Most people say to use simple granulated white sugar, the cheaper the better.  A lot of people that would never use it for food use it in kombucha because it is so transformed in the process that they are not worried about the organicness or whatever.  Also, you can theoretically use any natural sweetener but some work better than others.  There is some controversy about using honey.  A lot of people say it doesn't work, but maybe that's because of introducing wild yeast and such which might change the balance of the kombucha strain.  I have used it and it seems to work fine.  Expensive though and hard to judge what would be the equivalent of a cup of table sugar.  It seems to be organic cane sugar is probably the best if you can find a bulk cheap one.    If you use honey, don't use it every cycle.

The tea is also simple but complicated.  Black tea works fastest and has the richest flavor.  Green by itself will work, but tends to be astringent, light and slow to ferment.  My favorite mix is 2/3 Irish Breakfast and 1/3 Green.  I usually use about 6-10 bags per gallon depending on how dark I want it.  So boil the water, turn it off, add the tea, let steep and cool for an hour with the cover on, then add the sugar, cover, swirl and leave overnight to cool.  Do not add ice to cool as there is bacteria in your freezer (gasp)!  Then, in the morning you take you your SCOBY out of the pitcher or jar with clean hands and put it in a clean bowl with some of the liquid from the last batch (it can sit in the fridge like that with some saran wrap on it for many weeks with no problem.  Empty the gunky stuff from the bottom that you didn't want to drink and rinse the vessel.  Best not to use soap, but if necessary just make sure it is completely rinsed.  Never use anti-bacterial soap in the vessel or on your hands when prepping, if at all possible.  The scoby is very hardy, but you could damage it a little.  Pour the sweet tea, cooled off to below 80 degrees, into your vessel then carefully place the scoby on top so it floats. It may not want to float right away, especially if the room is cold and the scoby came out of the fridge.  If that's the case just let it be.  You want it to be as unwrinkled as possible as the layering effect is strongest once the  scoby is flat and tough and smooth.  If it gets all wrinkled (or folded in quarters as yours was) you can try to stretch it out, tear it in half or just leave it and eventually it will form a new top layer that is more smooth.  This will happen if you take a scoby out of a bigger vessel and put it in a smaller one.  It is fine, will still work the same, but essentially the thing breathes and it seems to thrive on surface area, plus it does best if the whole surface of the liquid is covered.  As you experiment with different vessels you will see how the ratio of the surface area to the volume of liquid effects the brewing.  The higher the ratio (i.e. the larger the surface of the vessel) the faster it will brew, but the flavor may be best when brewed a little slower than full-steam ahead.  Other factors of the speed of brewing are air temperature, temp. of what the vessel is resting on, season, health and balance of scoby, amount and type of sweetener, type of tea...yikes! Really, though, you can't go wrong.  Just expiriment, drink it at all stages so you know what's going on, and enjoy! 

Cheers to your health my friend!

It's Kimchi, Ya'll!

I've fallen in love with kimchi. Kimchi is Korean and is a fermented dish usually made of napa cabbage, radish, green onions...and sometimes cukes. This is a new dish to me, but certainly not to the world. Kimchi has been enjoyed for thousands of years. And I know why! It's tasty, yo! My friend Kristen is also in love with kimchi and she invited over last Sunday for breakfast (pancakes - nom, nom!) and kimchi-making lessons. This is really timely since we'll be pulling fall cabbages shortly.

This recipe draws from David Lebovitz take on kimchi. What I immediately like about this dish is that there is room for your creativity. You can add and remove elements at the chef's choice. This can be vegan, or not. It can be super hot and funky (this is a fermented dish) or more on the tame side. Once you get the basics, it really is yours to play with.

Either way it all starts in one place...with cabbage (love!) about 24 hours before you jar.

This is about 2 lbs of Napa cabbage, halved.

You need to cut the cabbage into 2-inch pieces.

Put the pieces in a non-metal strainer.

Move the strainers to the sink. Add about 2 tablespoons of salt.

You'll need to weight the cabbage down.
This is to drain the water from the cabbage.
Keep it this way for about 24 hours.

It's gonna shrink! Check it out!

Now it's time to get the rest of your fixins together. We went for a bunch of green onions (plucked right from the garden). Kristen had a bunch of radish and carrots, so those went in as well. Thinly slice the carrots and cut the green onions into two-inch pieces. Toss them in a bowl with the cabbage.

Next, you get your sauce together, items listed below. Kristen went for the real deal and found Korean chili paste. Now, you could substitute the chili paste with sriracha, but you may not find the same color and consistency. If you do go for the Korean chili paste. Here's a peek at what the packaging looks like.


For the sauce, you'll need 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar, 3 tablespoons of Korean chili paste, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 1/2 tablespoon minced ginger, and 2 tablespoons of chili powder. You could add fish sauce here if you'd like.

Mix it up.

Toss it with the veg,
then mix until the veg is completely coated with the sauce.


Pack the jars *to the top* and close tightly with a lid,
preferably with a plastic lid in a Ball mason jar.

The key here is to have the jars packed, really packed. You'll keep the jars out for a day or two at room temp. before putting the jars into the fridge. I recommend placing the jars in a plastic bag in case you have some liquid spill out. The longer they stay out, the funkier they get. That could be what you are looking for, but you may want to be conservative on your first round. If you want a little less of a bite...keep at room temp for a day, then refrigerate for several days more. After this, it is just time to eat up. Have it on rice, noodles, or in a quesadilla! Enjoy!

I heart Sourdough.

I just found out that my mom once had a sourdough starter for so long, she named it Herman. Now I have my own white-ish blob of sourdough starter living in my refrigerator, which, while not name worthy yet, does seem like a cross between a science experiment and one of those Tamagotchi pets. It has to be fed every once in a while, and you probably should warn anyone that comes across the starter in my refrigerator that I actually mean to have it there. It looks pretty gnarly.

Meanwhile, as weird as it seems, I have started to feel affection for the stranger in my refrigerator because the house smells so good when the bread is baking. And the recipe couldn't be easier- just time intensive. All I have to add to the starter is flour, water, salt and a bit of sugar. And time... My favorite recipe takes over 24 hours from start to finish. That is some serious rising! But I love the sour sourdough, so it seems worth that much time. I have also noticed that the bread lasts longer once made than any other- certainly more than any homemade loaf.

There are lots of recipes online to make a starter, however, the flavor does improve with age, so if you can get starter from a friend, do. (I'll share!)

Not convinced to keep a starter yet? Check out this video, Science on the SPOT: Secrets of Sourdough, about the art of baking and the science behind the fermentation going on in sourdough.