Lacto-Fermenting Gluten Free Crepes

I tried lacto-fermenting my gluten free crepes overnight.  As with the gluten flour, it is sublime.  I made crepes just as delicious as the French do.  It is absurdly easy, as well.  All I had to do was blend the flours with the milk, and add a tablespoon of live-culture whey poured off the yoghurt.  I set it at room temperature overnight.  Then, in the morning I added the egg and melted butter, and made the crepes.  No need to let it sit for at least twenty minutes, as I would if I were starting first off in the morning.  Crepes are faster this way.  Both steps seem easy-breezy, when broken down into these two parts.  The texture is amazing.  My only regret is that I added sorghum flour.  I should have kept it to millet and rice.  Next time, I'll try that.  Either way, I have my final version of excellent crepes.

Chutneys and Condiments

It's been ages since I have made a lacto-fermented chutney.  I'm attempting two this afternoon, mango and papaya.  I haven't tried either one in this method.  I did make some tomato based salsa with a lacto-fermented method a few days ago.  Sublime - a pleasure no jarred salsa can approach.  I hope these condiments round out our table and improve a summer table of grilled meats.  I'll post the recipes later, once I make them.  However, it's ridiculously easy.  Mash up fruit with spices.  Add salt and live-culture whey.  Put in a jar.  Put the jar in the yoghurt maker.  Take out a few hours later and refrigerate for up to a few months.  It's so easy, that I wonder how we ever succumbed to commercial varieties.

Pancakes

For Shrove Tuesday, we're making crepes according to our new soaking method. We soak the flour in the milk with a touch of live-culture whey prior to cooking, ideally overnight. Then, just prior to cooking we add the melted butter and eggs. The results are so good, that I don't think I'll be going back to the quick soak of 20 minutes prior to cooking any time soon.

A Busy Weekend of Lacto-Fermenting

On Saturday, I resumed lacto-fermenting with vigor. Two beverages - a second attempt at lemonade - yogurt, kedgeree, crepe batter took over my kitchen. The crepes were perfect; I finally discovered the "secret" is the traditional method of soaking the flour overnight in milk and live-culture whey. It was perfectly bubbly and sublime Sunday morning. So easy and quick in the morning! For late morning, we had kedgree: the best I've ever made. Again, soaking overnight in whey is the secret for both easier and better results. The beverages should be ready to sample today. Also, I baked a loaf of long-rise sourdough. I can't commend enough the traditional method of lacto-fermenting. How much we have lost in our modern kitchens by abandoning the super-secret!

Today would be the day for the food factory, but we'll be out and about with first of the month errands. Conveniently, I made the yogurt on Saturday, and will just skip making stock today.

Food Factory Day

Today is fully autumn in our kitchen. It's Food Factory Monday: beef stock, yogurt and for the first time, home made lemon-lime soda. Natural fermentation! Since the ginger ale was so amazing, I'm hopeful that by the weekend we'll be sipping some delicious soda. At the very least, it should be easier on the budget than the commercial soda water. If it's actually health giving, instead of harmful, I'll be over the moon. If I'm really, really lucky, the Vintner will prefer it over the carbonated stuff.

Mincemeat Kuchen

I used my usual sour dough starter, but added whey instead of water to make the dough. Also, I added more butter, nutmeg, a bit of sugar, all (unbleached) white flour, vanilla and lemon. Essentially, I just altered Nigella Lawson's kuchen to be a long-rise sourdough and lacto-fermented as well. I let it rise overnight at room temperature, instead of retarding in the refrigerator, as I would with commerical yeast. This morning, I started preparations to make it an apple chutney kuchen. At the last minute, I decided to make mincemeat kuchen instead of apple kuchen. The mincemeat is from before I started lacto-fermenting condiments this spring, but it is home made. Since it's not that different from the chutney, or indeed, Nigella's recipe for apple kuchen (just more spices and fat,) I'm optimistic. If it doesn't work so well, I'll try my apple chutney for kuchen next.

Recipe of the Day

Lacto-fermented Apple Chutney, or Nigella Lawson meets Sally Fallon

500g cooking apples
1 medium onion
2 chili peppers
250g unrefined sugar
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cloves
½ tsp sea salt
black pepper
1 tbs grated fresh ginger
1 tsp turmeric
50ml live-culture, liquid whey

Peel and chop the apples, and finely chop the onion and chilis. Blend all the ingredients and place into canning jars. Allow to sit at room temperature for 2-3 days, then refrigerate for up to several months. Lovely with pork chops.

This recipes blends some of the ingredients of Nigella Lawson's Spiced Apple Chutney with Sally Fallon's lacto-fermentation style of making condiments. They both make lovely chutneys on their own, but my style is to blend the best of both.