Easy Pickles!

These were a real hit at Paul Pitchford's Healing with Whole Foods intensive in New York. Probably because they were so garlicky and pungent with apple cider vinegar!

Since garlic fosters desire, perhaps the appeal for these grew deeper the more you ate them?

In an attempt to rid some cucumbers, Sharla quickly sliced them on a mandolin along with some spices and garlic, and then topped up the jar with half water and half apple cider vinegar.

That's it!! Use raw/unpasteurized apple cider vineger, and it will ferment the vegetable so that it will keep for quite a while. Healthy, crunchy, tasty and desire-y!

Sprouted Banana Kamut Cookies!

So what to do with 10 day leftover grain sprouts sitting in the fridge? They got really slimy, sticky, but were incredible fragrant with that delicious aromatic punch created from fermentation. The sprouts were used for sprouted bread, and so were only grown to about 1/2" long or shorter, which retains the grains starchy, meatiness that is required for bread making. If the sprouts were any longer, it would've become more like a veggie sprout and would've been more green and better for a sandwich, for instance.

So I've got quasi-fermented, half sprouted kamut, neglected and needing some love.

Step one: Dry them out - I laid them out on a baking sheet (I woefully used a non-stick although I usually avoid them.. but as they were so sticky and I didn't want to ruin the experiment, I really didn't want them to stick!)

Distribute them evenly on a the sheet, and leave them to dry in the oven at about 310 or so... not to cook them, just to dry up the sticky fermented film and give them a gentle pan toasting. I think I had them in there for 15 minutes, flipped them about, and then gave them another 10 or so...

Step two: Grind the dried, toasty grains in a grinder or something that will bring them to a paste.. like a wet flour. This is similar to making sprouted bread, but I toasted them first.

Step three: Add in a bowl and mix:

• ground, sprouted, toasted grains (about 1-1/2 cups.. give or take)
• 1/3 cup oat flakes
• 1/2 cup spelt flour
• 1 mashed banana
• 1 tsp dried ginger and cinnamon each
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp ghee or butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla

Step four: Grease up your baking sheet with some of the ghee/butter, set the oven  to 375F, wet your hands with cold water, and then form little balls with the mixture. Press them down into cookies on the cookie sheet.. I made 3 large and 2 small with my batch, but I'm sure far more can be made with more ingredients or improvising. 

Step five: Bake for 30 minutes (I did 35 minutes, but the bottoms got to browned, and the still set nicely). Take them out and let them cool in a place where air can get underneath... like a wire rack. Wait until the set a little.. and enjoy!

These cookies had such a neat taste and aroma - something I've never tasted before. So earthy, hearty, almost with a beer-like dank to them... rich and sweet tasting, but not heavy or powerful. Just a wallop of that centred-sweet flavour you can only get from grains - especially fermented! Yum! 

Note: As with anything fermented, please use your nose to determine the 'quality' of the food! I have never had a failed fermentation project (more like accident!), but I always throw things away if the smell is putrid and foul. Good luck!

The Patient Pizza (sourdough crust)

Above: sponge after rising

Above: sponge before rising

Above: starter when bubbly

The sour flavor enters the Liver - according to Chinese health philosophies, but so does patience, which this recipe calls for quite a bit of - making it very healing for those with swollen stagnant Livers (easily angered, irritable or impatient). Patience is the key to this delicious, important component to any fantasy pizza, as well as a healthy flowing Liver.

The beauty with souring your own food in your house is that you draw on the natural bacteria in your own home, creating a culture that you naturally live with. As healthy bacteria are key to a healthy gut and immune system, this recipe, in essence turns the bacteria in your living environment into your immune system! Making your every breath in your home strengthening for your gut and immunity, rather than fighting the natural bacteria in your house - you turn it into you!! Be one with your home!!

Start by adding 1/4 cup of whole grain flour (I used spelt) in a CLEAN jar (remember, you will spawn whatever bacteria are growing in there) with 1/4 cup water and dropped in a raisin. Choose organic, cause harsh chemicals on the surface of the raisin (sprays) can potentially kill your bacteria - and the naturally occurring bacteria on the surface will be healthier (the bacteria are the white film normally seen on grapes, raisins, cabbage, etc). I also stirred in one capsule of a digestive enzyme to start the fermenting - but you can spit in it to get it started too. Haha.. just kidding... but really it works. I haven't tried it. Gross.

Put a lid on the jar LOOSELY so you can draw bacteria from the air. Sealing it tight will do nothing.. maybe it will mold before it bubbles up and sours. Stir the starter daily and check on it. After a day or two, or three - depending on the warmth of the jar, it will begin to be bubbly, fragrant and sour! Fermentation!!

Quick! Feed it by doubling it, add another 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water and stir.

Let it bubble away again, this time it will be faster. Again, once soured, double the batch by adding 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water. Once that is bubbled up, you are ready for some crust action.

Dump the total of 1 cup flour starter into a large mixing bowl and add 3 cups of water and 4 cups of flour (the same as the starter, but others can work - actually, you can put anything in there, leftover rice, oatmeal, etc - it will get "eaten" up by the fermentation and look uniform once soured.) This sticky mush is called a "sponge" and acts as an in between for your final dough and the starter. Let this rise, covered (preferably with a damp cloth... and don't have it open because if a fly falls in there, you will be culturing more than bacteria!) for 2 hours and up to a day or so.. just let is rise and get sour too.

Stir in another 3 - 4 cups of flour just until it's soft and doughy and able to be kneaded. If it's too sticky and sticks to your hands, add more flour. You'll also want to flour your wooden board/surface you're kneading on so that doesn't stick too. Knead for about 5 minutes to work the gluten and get the air out.

Roll it out into crusts (or at this stage, roll it into loaves if you're making bread) with a floured rolling pin, and set it on a floured baking sheet/stone.

Put it into a cold oven and let it rise again for about an hour, or more. You speed it up you can add a shallow pan of hot water in the oven to make it warm and moist for the lovely bacteria to spawn even faster. Bacteria seem to reproduce when the conditions are hot and sweaty.

After about an hour, but up to a day!!.. (although this can make the crust/bread tougher) turn on the oven to 350F without disrupting the crust (so it stays risen) and bake it for about 30 - 45 minutes (a loaf would be 375F for 60 minutes). Once it looks cooked through, take it out - dress it up and make a pizza, cooking for another 15 minutes or until your cheese is cooked or however you like it.

It's alot of work, and I'm sure you'd be a little 'crusty' if your pizza is a flop after all that effort, but chances are it will turn out great (souring is pretty fool proof) and will taste like no other crust you've ever tried!! Delish!!

*As a note, after you've dumped your starter into the mixing bowl, leave just a little bit in the bottom of the jar, and you can add 1/4 cup of flour and water each to remake the starter, which will be quick.. you only have to start your starter once. Once it's going, it just keeps on going and going and going and.....