More on the Fermentation Front

Have I talked about fermentation before?  I don't remember and honestly, I don't feel like looking back in what few archives I have here so I'll just give you a brief rundown on what it is and why you should think about trying it.

Nourished Kitchen is a treasure trove of info and recipes for foods that are GOOD for you.  Do you ever wonder how people in the "way back" days preserved their foods?  Veggies, meats? How did they make whatever condiments they might have used?  What are they health benefits to eating fermented foods? This website and THIS page, specifically, will tell you all the answers to those questions and more. They have an email list you can sign up for and receive helpful tips and probably recipes too although they have TONS on their site.  They also have a blog and even meal plans! Go check them out and tell them I sent you. ;o)

So, here is the recipe for a basic fermented ketchup from their website.

homemade ketchup, an old-world recipe

• Yield: about 1 pint
• 
  
• Prep: 5 minutes (active) mins
• Cook: 3 to 5 days (fermentation) mins
• Ready In: 8 mins

Deeply robust with the rich-sweet flavor of concentrated tomato, this ketchup differs from the cloying sweet varieties you find in the grocery store. Allspice and cloves, traditional inclusions often omitted in most store-bought varieties, bring a level of depth that would be otherwise absent. Not a particularly quick food, this homemade ketchup is slowly ripened and aged over a period of three to five days as beneficial bacteria metabolize the food’s natural sugars, creating a condiment that is potently rich in food enzymes and probiotics. It’s a traditional process, lactofermentation, that increases the nutritional value of the foods we eat and love. This recipe and over 100 others are included in the latest of Nourished Kitchen’s online cooking class: Get Cultured! How to Ferment Anything.

Ingredients

• 2 cups tomato paste (preferably homemade)
• 1/4 cup raw honey (maple syrup or whole unrefined cane sugar)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp fresh whey* (divided)
• 2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar (plus extra for thinning the ketchup, if desired)
• 1 tsp unrefined sea salt
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

Instructions

1. Spoon tomato paste into a large mixing bowl and fold in raw honey or other natural sweetener of choice.
2. Whisk in one-quarter cup fresh whey or vegetable starter culture into the sweetened tomato paste along with apple cider vinegar, sea salt, allspice and cloves. Continue whisking these ingredients together until the paste is smooth and uniform.
3. Spoon the homemade ketchup into a mason jar, top with remaining two tablespoons fresh whey or vegetable starter culture, cover loosely with a cloth or lid and allow the ketchup to sit at room temperature, undisturbed, for three to five days.
4. After three to five days, uncover the homemade ketchup and give it a thorough stir before transferring to the refrigerator. Naturally fermented homemade ketchup will keep for several months in the refrigerator.

One thing about this recipe that might make it difficult for just ANYONE wanting to make this RIGHT NOW would be the fact they MIGHT not have whey sitting around in their house.  Where do you get whey?  Well, I'll tell you where I got mine: I bought raw milk, made cheese out of it and saved the whey which separated from the cheese, put it in glass jars and froze it.  Hopefully this won't hurt the whey's duties in this recipe... it was chilled in the fridge but not frozen, although the recipe calls for "fresh whey".

Now I just sit back and let it ferment for a few days and then I get to try it... (on the kids... I mean... with dinner...for EVERYONE). I will report back and let you all know how it turned out.

p.s.  I got a pint jar full as well as a tall, skinny jelly jar full. :o)

In other fermentation news, Saturday I made 5 pints of sauerkraut, another fermented food, and my husband and I LOVE it!  He ate more of it than I did so hence the reason I had to make more. ;o)  Another thing I make that is fermented is Kombucha.  I had forgotten I'd made a batch and now it still sits there in it's glass, gallong jar and it's "Mother" is about 2 inches thick or more... with another one growing on the bottom.  Guess I will make a fresh batch and try a new twist I recently learned about.... home-made fermented grape kombucha soda!  I'll make it and test it and get back with you to let you know how it tastes.  I can't rightly post something that's nasty can I???  ;o)

Stay tuned !