My Kitchen Clatter

teaching and sharing whole foods

Apple Pork Roast

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This is the perfect fall recipe – apples, sauerkraut and pork all in one pot. Plus it is a super easy recipe. Throw it in the crock pot or pressure cooker, forget about it, and it’s done in time for dinner.

This is my mom’s recipe and typical of any good recipe, it came from her head and hasn’t been written down until just now. I hope I do it justice. I was reminded of this recipe this weekend when I was teaching people how to make sauerkraut. This is a great way to use it in a cooked recipe and you’ll be surprised at how everyone loves it. Even if you don’t think you or the kids like sauerkraut, I’d recommend trying this. The apple and kraut combination give it a little sweet and sour kick.

If you have any comments on it, I’d love to hear them in the comment section.

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Apple Pork Roast
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This is a favorite use of sauerkraut in our family. The apples mellow it out a bit and you'll be surprised at how much you like sauerkraut after tasting it.
Ingredients
  • 1 pork roast, about 3 pounds
  • 2 cups of sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
  • 1 T caraway seed
  • 2 apples, cut up
  • 4-5 small potatoes, cut into 2-3 inch pieces
  • 2 T brown sugar
Instructions
  1. Crock Pot method - Place the pork roast in the bottom of your crock pot or pressure cooker. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Cook in crock pot on high for 6-8 hours
  2. Pressure Cooker Method - The only difference with pressure cooking the roast is that you need to make sure you have enough liquid in the cooker. You can use the sauerkraut juice, but it may result in a very salty roast. I'd recommend adding 1 cup of light beer, or at least the minimum amount required by your cooker to reach pressure. Cook at high pressure for 40 minutes (stovetop cooker) or 55-60 minutes (electric cooker). When the cooking time is up, allow the pressure to release naturally.

 

Getting Started with Sauerkraut

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A Little Background

My first attempts with sauerkraut started several years ago when we started getting our fall CSA baskets from Sue & Gary Gauger at Natural Farm Stand in Richmond, IL. Our fall CSA baskets are always stuffed full to overflowing with beautiful squashes, onions, carrots, and of course – cabbages. Cabbages of every variety – red, green, Napa, Bok Choy, and Savoy. The first year of the CSA, after I tired of coleslaws, stuffed cabbage and cabbage wrapped tacos, I ended up gifting the extra cabbages to any friend who would take a cabbage. While it’s great to share the extra with friends, I really wanted to use the cabbages myself. So, the second year that we got the CSA, I was prepared for the cabbages and had researched making sauerkraut.

I have a German heritage and have memories of sauerkraut on my grandparent’s table, but I had never actually seen or participated in the process of making kraut. And sadly, my grandparents weren’t around any longer to teach me the tricks of kraut. All I knew was that kraut from the grocery store doesn’t taste anything like the real stuff -not even the packages in the refrigerated section.

So, I did a little research on the internet and found some good cookbook references and I that next year I started a couple batches in half gallon Ball jars in my garage. Unfortunately, I was too scared to actually eat the first couple of batches of homemade kraut. The fermenting process was too different, and I honestly didn’t know whether I was doing things correctly. Over time, I’ve done more research and slowly gained confidence in home fermenting. The resulting kraut has been worth the learning experience.

Maybe you have been to my kitchen to learn how to make sauerkraut and maybe this is your first time attempting to make sauerkraut with your extra CSA cabbages. I hope this post will help you get started with home ferments and inspire you to  try some new things in your kitchen.

Things You’ll Need

The only things you’ll need to get started are:

  1. Cabbage – any kind is fine. Fresher is better, because it will have more moisture in it if it’s been picked recently. It’s great if you can get it at the farmer’s market or stand. But cabbage from the grocery store is fine also. Once it is shredded and packed, the cabbage really reduces in size, so don’t be afraid to pick out a really big head of cabbage or use several smaller ones.
  2. Salt – any sort of salt if fine as long as it has no additives – no anti-caking agents. I use either Real Salt or Ball’s canning/pickling salt.
  3. A container to hold your kraut – to get started, you can use a half gallon or larger glass jar. A half gallon jar will hold about a 3 pound head of cabbage. If you can find a small food grade bucket, they work great also. There is no need to invest in a crock or special equipment.
  4. Optional ingredients – you can add spices or veggies to your kraut. Some popular spices include caraway, juniper berries, bay leaves, or hot pepper flakes. Veggies can include carrots, onions, hot peppers, or even apples for a sweeter kraut.
Kraut Ingredients

Kraut Ingredients

Steps to Making Sauerkraut

1. The first step in making kraut is to clean the cabbage. Usually removing the outer layers of leaves is enough to clean it. Wash it also, if necessary. Next cut the cabbage in half down the core and cut out the core of the cabbage.

Cored Cabbage, ready for slicing

Cored Cabbage, ready for slicing

2. The next step is to shred the cabbage. You can slice it with a knife into thin strips (about the thickness of a quarter). This method works well if-especially, if you are only doing a couple of heads of cabbage. I usually do a big batch of kraut when I make it, so I use a kraut board to slice my cabbage. The kraut board allows you to slice the cabbage quickly into very thin, even slices. If you decide to use a kraut board, be sure to wear knife gloves to protect your fingers from the sharp blades – honestly, this isn’t a bad idea even when you are using a knife.

 

3. After you have one head of cabbage shredded, put it into a big bowl or directly into your fermentation vessel, if it is a larger vessel. Add one tablespoon of salt for each small head of cabbage, or 3 T of salt per 5 pounds of cabbage. Also add any extra spices that you are using. I usually add about 1 teaspoon of caraway seeds or juniper seeds per small head of cabbage or 1T per 5 pounds of cabbage. Mix in the salt and spices using your hands and massage the cabbage a little. Now let the cabbage rest for 10-15 minutes. If you are doing more heads of cabbage, the resting time basically happens while you shred the next head. Now pack the cabbage into your vessel. If your cabbage is very fresh, you will probably already notice water starting to be pulled out of the cabbage and pooling in the bottom of your bowl. When you pack the cabbage, push it down hard to make sure it is really packed in. You can use a special kraut pounder, but I usually use a potato masher or my fist. You want to submerge the cabbage under the brine. If you don’t have enough brine to submerge the cabbage, check it again the next day. If you still don’t have enough brine, then you should add brine to cover the cabbage. You can make your own brine by dissolving 1 1/2  tablespoon of salt into four cups of water.

4. Now weight down your cabbage to help keep it under the brine. When I’m using a glass jar, I fill a plastic bag with brine and use that to keep the cabbage submerged. When I’m using a plastic bucket, I put a small plate over the top of the cabbage and weight it down with a clean rock or another jar filled with brine. Cover the container with a towel or other cloth.

Sauerkraut submerged in brine

Sauerkraut submerged in brine

6. If you’d like to make wine kraut – add 1/2 cup of dry white wine per 5 pounds cabbage to your container on the second day.

5. After 24 hours, remember to check to make sure that the cabbage is covered with brine. If not, add brine to cover the cabbage (see step 3). Check the sauerkraut every couple of days to see if scum is forming on the top of sauerkraut. If you find scum, scrap it off daily and wash the plate and weights. If you want to avoid scum on your kraut, you can use an airlock on your jar. Airlocks are used in beer brewing and can be found at beer brewing supply stores. They really aren’t necessary for sauerkraut, but if the fear of a little scum or mold on your ferments is stopping you from trying home ferments, then it may be worth trying.

6. Store the sauerkraut container somewhere with a consistent temperature. 60 degrees is near perfect, but higher will work also. The time it takes to mature will depend on the fermenting temperature. Start tasting the kraut after about 2 weeks. If it ferments at 70-75 degrees, it will probably be ready at 2-3 weeks. If it ferments at 60-65 degrees, it may take 5-6 weeks to be ready. The final product will be pale golden in color and have a tart, crisp flavor. You can also tell if it is ready by looking for gas bubbles being released from the sauerkraut – once the bubble stop, you know it is done fermenting. But you should really just go by taste, when it tastes good to you, then call it done. I usually end mine at about three weeks when it is fermented in my 68 degree basement.

7. When the sauerkraut is ready, you can store it, tightly covered in the fridge. I’ve kept it in my fridge for several months this way. You can also freeze it in plastic bags, which may preserve the Vitamin C better than canning, and it doesn’t hurt the texture too much. You can and should eat you kraut raw – it is perfect on sausages and pork chops. I also love it cooked with a pork roast or in a sausage soup.

8. If you want to can the sauerkraut, pack it and its juice into pint or quart jars. Leave 1/2 inch headspace and waterbath can for 20 minutes (pints) or 25 minutes (quarts). This storage method does not preserve the good probiotics of your kraut, but it saves on fridge space. Store the jars in a cool, dry, dark place.

Some additional resources

If you want to do more reading on fermentation, here are some of my favorite resources.

The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich, www.agardnerstable.com

The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz, www.wildfermentation.com

Mountain Feed & Farm Supply, www.mountainfeed.com

 

Crock Pot Apple Butter

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You know apple butter is ready when no liquid pools around the edges.

In recent years, I have avoided making apple butter. My last memory of it involved thinking, “Boy, this just tastes like spiced applesauce.” So I didn’t bother with it for a couple of years. And then this year, a friend asked me to make her some and I had an overload of apples. So, I figured I may as well give it another shot. Worst case scenario, I was planning to make my girlfriend take the entire batch of apple butter.

Apple butter is really great on homemade toasted bread or added to plain yogurt or oatmeal. I also love it on my whole grain waffles with toasted pecans and a little whipped cream. A friend told me just today about making cinnamon rolls with apple butter as the filling. I’m going to give that one a shot in the very near future, because it sounds like the perfect fall treat.

So this time around, I did a few things differently. First, I did not puree the butter like a lot of recipes call to do. Instead, I chopped the peeled apples up at the beginning using a food processor – almost to a chunky applesauce consistency, but not quite. If you don’t have a food processor, you can just put the quartered apples into the crock pot and use an immersion blender on them once they are soft and mushy. Or just run it through a blender or food mill and you’ll end up with a smoother consistency.

I also played with the liquid on this recipe. Instead of using water as the liquid, I made one batch using apple cider and a second batch using hard apple cider. Honestly – they really didn’t taste much different. I was honestly hoping that the trendy hard apple cider version would be amazingly better than the old fashioned version, but not so much. But either one of them provides a little more flavor than using plain old water.

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Crock Pot Apple Butter = almost done.

I did this recipe in the crock pot. I really love this approach. It’s pretty hands off. You can stir it periodically, but really, you just let it do it’s job until the end when you jar and can it. The main trick with the crock pot approach is to leave your wooden spoon on the edge of the crock with the lid on so that the lid is cracked open for most of the cooking time.

You’ll know that the apple butter is done when the liquid is mostly gone. You should take a little bit and put it on a spoon or plate – let it cool a couple minutes and check to see if any liquid pools at the edges of the butter. Once there is no liquid, then the butter is done.

Enjoy!

 

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Crock Pot Apple Butter
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Serves: 8 half pints
 
Because this cooks low and slow, this is a great recipe to start at night and finish the next morning. Your home will smell wonderful while you sleep.
Ingredients
  • 5 pounds of peeled, cored and quartered apples
  • 2 cups of apple cider, either hard or not
  • 3 cups of sugar - white or brown is fine
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoons ground cloves
Instructions
  1. Using a food processor, chop the apples into small pieces, almost pureed
  2. Add all ingredients to the crock pot and stir.
  3. Cover crock pot and cook on high for one hour.
  4. Turn crock pot to low and crack the lid with a wooden spoon to keep the lid slightly open. Cook on low for 8-11 hours. Stir occasionally, more towards the end.
  5. Once the butter has thickened, test it for consistency. Place a small mound on a spoon and let it cool for a couple minutes. If, after two minutes, no liquid has escaped the edges, the butter is done.
  6. The butter can be frozen in jars - leave enough space for expansion. Or it can be processed in a boiling water bath - leave ¼ inch headspace and process for 10 minutes.

 

Apple Pancake

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I usually just throw the apples in the pan - none of this fancy arranging!

I usually just throw the apples in the pan – none of this fancy arranging!

This apple pancake is one of our favorite fall breakfasts. My boys and six and eight enjoy making the pancake themselves. Get one of those fancy apple peelers and let them at it. I do the work with the hot cast iron skillet, but they like this pancake so much that they are willing (and able) to most of the work themselves. It’s fun to have the little ones happy in the kitchen.

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Apple Pancake
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Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 4 eggs
  • ½ cup whole wheat flour
  • ½ t baking powder
  • 1 T sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 T butter, melted
  • ½ t ground nutmeg
  • ¼ cup white sugar
  • 1 t ground cinnamon
  • ¼ t ground nutmeg
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter
  • 3 large tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced
Instructions
  1. Place 12-inch cast iron skillet in oven and pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
  2. While oven is preheating, combine eggs through ½ t nutmeg in a medium bowl. This mixture can be made the night before and kept in fridge, ready to go for the morning.
  3. Combine ¼ cup sugar, cinnamon, and ¼ t nutmeg in a small bowl.
  4. When oven and skillet are hot, put ¼ cup butter in skillet and put skillet back in oven until butter is melted, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet.
  5. Sprinkle about half of the sugar cinnamon mixture over the bottom of the skillet. Remember skillet is HOT! Layer apples on top of the sugar and then sprinkle with remaining sugar cinnamon mixture. Put pan back in oven to bake apples for 10 minutes.
  6. Pour batter over the top of the apples and finish cooking until top is golden brown and apples are cooked, about 20-25 minutes.

 

My Thoughts on Flour

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I’ve been meaning to put this article out here for a while. These are just my personal opinions on flour and food. I make no claims to know what is really affecting so many people’s bodies. Is it gluten? Or is it too much sugar? Too much processing? Too many chemicals? Or a combination of all of these things?
I don’t really know the correct answer – and honestly, I don’t think anyone really does. But, like most people, I have some thoughts on the subject. And once in a while someone asks me why I mill my own flour. People might be aware that white flour isn’t that great for us, but they wonder if there is really much difference between store bought and freshly ground whole wheat flour. And honestly, when I was first introduced to the concept of flour milling, I wasn’t sold on the idea that it was so much healthy. But it didn’t take long for me to be convinced. All I had to do was make a loaf of bread using the freshly milled flour and I was converted. The dough was softer than any dough I’d made using whole wheat flour. And the bread tasted fabulous.
I think that because we don’t hear about flour milling very often that people assume it must be something that is difficult or time consuming. If you’ve been to one of my classes, you already know that it’s neither of those things. If you grind your coffee beans most mornings, then you are already exerting the same amount of effort as I do when I grind flour. So, it’s not hard. And as a mother of four who occasionally fits in a little civil engineering on the side, I honestly don’t have time for anything that adds an extra challenge. But I do make time for things that I feel make a difference to the quality of my family’s food and health – and flour is one of the easiest places I’ve found to make a difference. Plus baking your own bread is a rewarding and relaxing experience in its own right.

Before wheat berries are ground into flour, they can be considered a live food. If they are exposed to moisture, they will sprout and germinate. When they are ground into flour, they immediately begin to oxidize. And just like your coffee beans, the flour will taste better when it is freshly ground. Oxidation also affects the vitamin and nutrient levels in the flour. Most of the vitamins and nutrients are contained in the wheat germ. There is also Vitamin E oil in the wheat germ. Over time, the Vitamin E oil eventually will go rancid in whole wheat flours. If you have ever had whole wheat flour that tastes bitter, it is likely it’s been sitting on the shelf too long. This is one of the reasons that white flour became so popular for mass production – it has the germ removed for shelf stability, but removing the germ also removes the vitamins and nutrients from the flour. White flour also has the bran removed, which contains fiber and helps with digestion. All of this processing means that white flour barely resembles the original whole wheat flour made directly from wheat berries.

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Source for image: http://wbc.agr.mt.gov/wbc/Consumer/Diagram_kernel/

I can go on and on about the flour. But really, in the end, you should decide for yourself. Here’s some ideas to start:

  • Do some research on processed flour. While it can be hard to find clear, non-biased articles, try this one on WebMD as a start and then try googling processed flour. You’ll find that flour is one of the most processed foods in our grocery stores.
  • Take one of my classes or find a local class on whole grain baking. You’ll learn something new and get lots of samples. Try this link through Bosch Kitchen Centers to locate other demonstrators who teach milling and whole grains.
  • Bake your favorite recipe using freshly milled whole grain flour and see if you don’t love it.

 

Spicy Yellow Tomato Jam

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Yellow Tomatos

I find that people often give me a second look when I talk about tomato jam. Not many people have heard of it, but it is definitely a jam worth the effort. I think of it as a grown up jam – I don’t share it with the kids – it’s too good for them. They won’t fully appreciate it, so I save the strawberry and raspberries for them. I’ve had more than a few people ask for the recipe, so here you go!

When picking your tomatoes, I recommend you find a nice flavorful heirloom variety from the farmer’s market or your own garden. Don’t even bother with the watery tasteless store bought imitations from the grocery store. My absolute favorite tomatoes to use are yellow and orange varieties. I find them fun to work with and they typically have a less acidic, more mellow, sweeter flavor.

The time it takes for this recipe will vary greatly depending on several factors – your tomatoes’ water content, the size of your simmering pot, whether it’s a full moon. Get the idea? Allow lots of time for this one. I’ve let some batches simmer for four or more hours until they got nice and thick like I wanted. Whatever you do, don’t try to double this recipe. You will be simmering forever. Trust me on this.

As far as ideas for using this jam – once you taste it, you’ll come up with endless ideas on your own. But here are some starters. Try it on cream cheese or goat cheese with crackers. It is wonderful with scrambled eggs – like a fancy katsup. It also makes a great sandwich spread with ham or turkey.

Okay! Now get simmering!

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Spicy Yellow Tomato Jam
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Serves: 4 pints
 
Ingredients
  • 5 lbs tomatoes
  • 3 cups sugar or 2½ cups of honey
  • ½ cup lime juice
  • 1 T freshly grated ginger
  • 1 T cinnamon
  • ½ t ground cloves
  • 1 T salt
  • 1-2 T red pepper flakes - adjust to your taste
Instructions
  1. Core and finely chop the tomatoes. Save yourself some time and use the food processor. I don't skin them or deseed them - if you chop the tomatoes fine enough you won't notice the skins, plus they help thicken the jam.
  2. Add all ingredients to a large stainless steel pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and keep a simmer. Simmer for 2-4 hours until the jam is thick. The jam should separate when you stir the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
  3. Fill hot pint or half pint jars with jam, allowing ¼ inch head space.
  4. Wipe jar rims and place hot lids on jars.
  5. Process in a water bath canner with water at least one inch over tops of jars for 20 minutes.
  6. Remove jars from canner and allow to cool completely (at least 12 hours) before checking seals.
  7. Makes 2-4 pints (4-8 half pints) - depending on tomato type.

 

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

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I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for chocolate chip pumpkin muffins for a long time. I originally started with a recipe from Cooking Light and have marked it up over the years to make it my own. I’m constantly amazed by how healthy cooking often focuses on eliminating fat, but it doesn’t always focus much on the sugar content. This is slowly changing, but my original recipe from 2006 had over half of the sugar that I call for in my recipe.

And with regards to the flour – I know you’ve heard it before, but I’m going to say it again. If you are using store bought flour instead of freshly milled flour, your results will turn out totally different from mine. The freshly milled flour works very similar to white flour – it may have a little more texture, but it will still create a fluffy beautiful muffin. My experience with store bought whole wheat flour is it results in a dense, dried out muffin. So if you are stuck with store bought flour, then you may want to mix in some white flour to get a better muffin. The difference with whole wheat is the taste. It really does taste better than white flour – I know it’s hard to believe that flour can taste good, but it’s true in my world.

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Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
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Serves: 18
 
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups whole wheat flour (6.7 ounces)
  • 1 t baking powder
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1 t cinnamon
  • ¼ t cloves
  • ¼ t nutmeg
  • ¼ t salt
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • ½ cup b[packed brown sugar
  • 1 cup pureed pumpkin (canned or homemade)
  • ⅓ cup buttermilk, sour milk, whey, or milk kiefer
  • 3 T coconut oil or butter, melted
  • 1 T molasses
  • 1 t vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400
  2. Combine dry ingredients - flour through salt - in a medium bowl. Whisk together. Add chocolate chips and make a well in the center of the bowl.
  3. Combine remaining ingredients and combine with a whisk.
  4. Add the egg and sugar mixture to the flour and stir with a wooden spoon or dough whisk until just combined.
  5. Scoop batter into muffin tins - should make about 18 muffins.
  6. Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Remove the muffins immediately and cool on a wire rack.

 

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

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CHOCOLATE CHIP ZUCCHINI BREAD

It’s that time of the year again – zucchinis are coming out of my ears. I’m constantly dropping off the extra at friends’ and neighbor’s houses. I’m known as the zucchini fairy in several circles. Late in the season, I start leaving the zucchinis without ringing the doorbells, because I’m pretty sure that everybody else is done with zucchini also.

 

One Day's Worth of Zucchini Picking

One Day’s Worth of Zucchini Picking

This is a great recipe for zucchini bread. I really like it because it is not overloaded with fat or sugar. Of course, using whole wheat flour makes it even healthier. But it tastes so good, that you wouldn’t even know that it’s a little bit healthy. It also freezes really well. I often make a triple batch and freeze the extra loaves – just wrap them in some tin foil, freeze, and use within a couple months.

A couple tips to make your bread even better. You can peel the zucchini to get rid of the green skin. Also – if your zucchini is a big guy, you can quarter it and slice out the seeds. To shred the squash, use the larger shredder disk on your food processor or shredder attachment on your mixer.

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Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
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Serves: 16
 
If you don't like little bits of green in your zucchini bread, just peel the zucchini before you shred it.
Ingredients
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, melted butter or coconut oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup applesauce
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour - I use freshly milled flour
  • 2 T unsweetened cocoa
  • 1¼ t baking soda
  • 1 t ground cinnamon
  • ¼ t salt
  • 1½ cups finely shredded zucchini (about one medium)
  • ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a large 9x5 inch loaf pan.
  2. Combine sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl. Combine with a whisk.
  3. Whisk applesauce into sugar mixture.
  4. Combine flour, cocoa, soda, cinnamon, and salt in a separate bowl and add into sugar mixture. Stir until just combined.
  5. Add zucchini and chocolate chips to batter. Don't overmix.
  6. Pour batter into prepared bread pan.
  7. Bake 50-60 minutes until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  8. Let cool a few minutes in the pan and then turn out onto a cooling rack.

 

Homemade Fruit Vinegars

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Making your own fruit vinegar sounds so hard. But it’s not. Have you ever had a jar of apple cider go sour accidently? Or a bottle of win or beer? Then you’ve made vinegar and probably not even known it.

I’ve made vinegar from scraps of all sorts of fruits – apple, peach, pear, raspberry, strawberry, and blackberry. I’m even giving cherry a try this spring. Your final vinegars are more interesting than most store-bought options and they have the added advantage of containing beneficial probiotics. Give it a try, you’ve got nothing to loose.

The Basics – Getting Started

Vinegars are one of my favorite ferments to play with – I have to say I’m slightly obsessed with them. I love seeing science in action in my kitchen. This stems back to high school chemistry. I think. Anyway, to make a fruit vinegar, you start with fruit, water, and a little sugar. Mix everything together in a large glass jar with a wide opening. I like the 1/2 gallon Ball jars to start with – they are cheap and easy to find at most hardware stores. I also have some large one gallon jars that I picked up at our local beer brewing shop. You’ll want to use a glass or other non-reactive container for this so the vinegar doesn’t react with the metal. Also, the beneficial bacteria don’t like the metal either. Finally, look for a wide mouth jar since you want a good air to liquid contact area. The bacteria need oxygen to do their job on the vinegar.

I use fruit scraps to get my vinegars started. I love knowing that I’m not throwing away all those apple peals or slightly mushy strawberries. You can use the stems, peels, brown spots, and mushy fruit for this. Just make sure everything is clean – both the jar and the fruit scraps. Basically, you’ll ultimately end up making something out of nothing. Fill the jar about half full of the fruit scraps. Add anywhere from a tablespoon to a quarter cup of sugar per quart and top the jar off of with water. The sugar gives the bacteria a little boost to get to work and it will affect the sweetness of your final product. Try to use water that has not been chlorinated since the chlorine will stop the natural processes that we are aiming to encourage.

As the fermentation process proceeds, the jar may start attracting fruit flies. I normally cover  my containers with a breathable cover (such as a coffee filter, paper towel or cheesecloth) held on with a rubber band. Once I start seeing the flies, the jar usually gets kicked out of the kitchen to either the garage or basement. The temperature range for the fermentation process is pretty wide – between 59 and 94 degrees F – so this gives you a lot of flexibility on where to store your jars as they are fermenting.

During the first step, natural yeast and bacteria (Acetobactor) in the air start to go to work on the sugar and they produce alcohol, essentially turning the water into alcohol. Meanwhile, your fruit is also flavoring the water into juice. You’ll notice some bubbling in the mixture, which is a good sign that your reaction is taking place. Stir the container once a day to keep it oxygenated. Stirring also helps redistribute the fruit so that the pieces sticking out of the top don’t go moldy. If you get a moldy piece of fruit, just pick it out and keep going.

After about a week or so, the bubbling will stop and you can strain off the fruit and let the yeasts and bacteria keep working on the alcohol. At this point, your chemical reaction will change and the alcohol will ferment into vinegar.

This is the point where the process gets really fun – and some people may get grossed out by this stage. But you will start seeing a gelatinous mass begin to cover the top of the vinegar. At first it will look like a foam forming on the top. This mass is called the mother of vinegar and it is actually a cellulose mass of the Acetobactor bacteria. It consumes the alcohol in the liquid and expels acetic acid – or vinegar. The mother will get thicker as the fermentation proceeds. If you have a little unpasteurized apple cider vinegar or mother from a previous batch of vinegar, you can jump start the mother formation by adding a couple tablespoons to your jar. But I’ve actually seen mothers start to form within the first day of removing the fruit scraps.

Once the mother forms, try not to disturb the jar so that the mother can remain floating on the top. If it sinks to the bottom, don’t worry. The fermenation will keep proceeding, but the jar will probably start forming a second mother on the top.

The entire process is an aerobic process, which means that your jar of liquid needs to have oxygen for the chemical processes to occur. So keep the breathable lid on the container this whole time. After about 3-8 weeks, the vinegar will be finished.

Finishing & Bottling

Now the tough question – how do you know when the vinegar is done? For me, it is mostly a matter of taste and smell. Does it smell like vinegar? Yes? Good. To taste it, stick a straw in the container, slide it under the edge of the mother, and see what you think. It’s really a matter of personal taste. The acidity level can have a pretty high range to give you a weaker or stronger vinegar. If it’s too strong, you can always water it down.

What if you let the vinegar go too long? It’ll get stronger – to a point. And then the chemical reactions start backfiring on you and it actually will start converting back to water. This can take a few months or more.

Once you have a vinegar you like, you can filter and bottle the vinegar. First, remove the mother. You can save it for future vinegars. Most of mine get composted. Then filter the vinegar through a cheesecloth and bottle into narrow necked jars. Now you can cap the jars for storage. At this point, you don’t want oxygen contact with the vinegar because you want to stop the fermentation process.

You may find a new mother form in you stored bottles. This is most likely to happen if you don’t bottle it into narrow jars. If it happens, just fish it or strain it out of  there.

Your vinegar will continue to develop flavor as it ages. I have some two year old raspberry vinegar that has wonderfully deep flavor. You can even store the vinegar for three years or more, depending on the vinegar and storage conditions.

Ideas  for Using Vinegar

Obviously, cooking is a great use for flavored vinegars. Homemade vinegar can be used in almost any recipe calling for vinegar – including salad dressings, potato salad, coleslaw, and barbeque sauce. Just don’t use your vinegar in canning recipes that call for 5% vinegar since you don’t know the actual acidity of your vinegar.

If you make up a bunch of apple cider vinegar, you can use it for all sorts of health, cleaning and beauty products. While I do use vinegar in cleaning, I don’t use it for much of the health and beauty stuff myself. If you are interested in this, do a search for uses of apple cider vinegar and you’ll find lots of ideas such as wart remover or a digestive aid. I personally like the ideas for a hair conditioner, but then again I haven’t actually attempted it myself. Although, I will admit to giving the chickens a little apple cider vinegar in their water as a probiotic.

Along the idea of probiotics, as long as you don’t pasteurize or can your vinegar, it contains natural bacteria that are good for your gut. This is the same reason that yogurt and kiefer are good for us. Even using your homemade vinegar in your salad dressings is a great way to help introduce some additional good bacteria to our systems.

Strawberry Margarita Jam Recipe

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This recipe for strawberry margarita jam is perfect for when you are bored of making strawberry jam, or when you simply need a change of pace from the ordinary. Give it a try, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Tequila and Lime

Tequila and Lime

I always love to make special jams, but then I sometimes find my self wondering what to do with jam that doesn’t really belong on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. What? No tequila on a PB&J? However, I am not opposed to having this on an English muffin for breakfast. Other ideas to use this jam as a topping for a lemon tart or bar, swirling into a cheesecake or as a cheesecake topping. I’m thinking a key lime cheesecake would be especially fun. Or using it as a filling with a little lemon curd in teeny tiny little tarts. If you have any other suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

When I’m making unique jams, I like to can them in cute little jars and then I plan to gift several of them at the holidays or as gifts throughout the year. You probably won’t want four or five jars of this in your pantry. Or, then again, maybe you will. It’s that good.

When I was making this batch, the tequila smelled a little strong, but it mellowed out nicely in the final product. Do not be afraid! I can only imagine that the flavor will only get better as the jam ages a couple of weeks. Make sure to sample your tequila as you are cooking, otherwise what’s the point of cooking with liquor?

Lime Zest

Lime Zest

I chopped my lime zest into teeny tiny pieces so that it disappeared into the jam. You can barely tell it’s in the end product. That’s a good goal to aim for – no one wants tiny bits of lime zest in their teeth. Zest your limes (it took me three limes) before you juice them.

This recipe uses Ponoma Pectin to set the jam. This pectin allows me to use a lot less sugar than regular pectin and you don’t need to cook the strawberries for very long. If you haven’t used this type of pectin before, I recommend checking out their product. The low sugar and short cooking time allow the flavor of the strawberries and lime to shine through the final product. It really does taste like a strawberry margarita.

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Strawberry Margarita Jam Recipe
Author: 
Recipe type: Jam
 
This Strawberry Margarita Jam is a great addition to your pantry. Try it with cheesecake or anything involving lemon curd.
Ingredients
  • 3 cups of crushed strawberries
  • ⅓ cup fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
  • ½ cup of tequila
  • ¼ cup orange liqueur
  • 1 T lime peel
  • 2 t calcium water (from Ponoma's package)
  • 1 cup honey
  • 2 t Ponoma's pectin
Instructions
  1. Combine room temperature honey and pectin in a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
  2. Combine strawberries, lime juice, tequila, orange liqueur, lime peel and calcium water in large saucepan, jam pot, or stock pot. Bring to roiling boil, stirring constantly.
  3. Add honey and pectin to strawberry mixture. Bring back to boil, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute or until honey is completely dissolved. Remove from heat.
  4. Fill hot jam jars with ¼ inch headspace.
  5. Clean rims and place lids on jars.
  6. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
  7. Allow jars to cool completely before checking seals and storing.

 

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