Search

Random Recipe

Lacto - Fermented Garlic/Red Onion & Cauliflower/Mixed Peppers

Lacto - Fermented Garlic/Red Onion & Cauliflower/Mixed Peppers

We ferment veg on a rolling basis these days. A little of the brine from a previous batch works as a bacteria ‘Prime’ and gets the fermentation off to a flying start. But pretty much anything with any natural sugars in it will work if you have a clip top jar, some Salt and Water.

The ingredients veg wise are really arbitrary now. We had a catering bag of Garlic which was destined for composting as it had done the rounds through the local Food Banks and was sprouting. So I added a couple of quartered Red Onions to fill the jar. We did Cauliflower and fresh Chilli a while ago which Sue really liked. So the Cauliflower and mixed Peppers is a take on that, but perhaps not with as much heat? We shall see…..

The basic ‘Good for all’ brine is a 2% concentration. So 2 to 3 heaped Table Spoons of Salt per Litre of water is a good starting concentration. I use Himalayan Salt as it doesn’t have the anti-caking agents added which can sometimes inhibit the fermentation.

The only rule of thumb with one of the oldest food preservation techniques is just to make sure that your brine is at room temperature i.e. not too hot, before adding the veg. If you boil the brine to dissolve the salt the heat will kill the bacteria which you need and the whole gig will just go bad!!! Really bad! That’s the worst that can possibly happen but  you’ll know by sight and smell.

The best that can happen is that it will ferment and you’ll end up with pickles which make shop bought ones seem very bland.

Also the Lactobacillus Bacteria are supposedly very good for your ‘Gut Health’ That’s not why we make these pickles though. We just like them and it’s a great way to get the best out of veg which was perhaps well beyond it’s best when we got it…...

On Facebook

Aubergine Baked Boats

We like to set ourselves little challenges. We’ve done the “Ingredients Alphabet”, “Around the World” etc. So this time we’re going to jump on the Vegetarian gig and do a “Vegetarian Alphabet”

Aubergine for “A” works.

We;re not into the “Fake Meat” concept so the Urad Dal which we bought from the local Continental shop added the Meaty texture.

Ingredients:-

Urad Dal – (Split Black Lentils)
½ tube of Tomato Puree
1 Aubergine halved and scooped out. (Save the flesh)
3 Onions, sliced
2 cloves of Garlic, minced
Mixed Herbs
Salt & Pepper
Chilli Flakes
Mushrooms, sliced
Grated Cheese
Cherry Tomatoes
Oil

Method:-

(1) Add the Tomato Puree to a little water in a saucepan and bring the Urad Dal to the boil. Reduce the heat, season with Salt and Pepper and simmer for a good hour. Add extra water as required as they are very thirsty little dudes.
(2) When the Urad Dal has expanded and softened take them off the heat.
(3) In a frying pan fry the Onions until translucent.
(4) Add the Mushrooms and fry for a further 5 minutes on a low heat.
(5) Cut the Aubergine lengthways, scoop most of the flesh out and Oil.
(6) Place in the oven at 180c and roast for 30 minutes.
(7) Add the Aubergine flesh, Urad Dal and all the other ingredients excluding the grated Cheese and halved Cherry Tomatoes to the frying pan and fry gently stirring occasionally.
(8) Remove the Aubergine halves from the oven and stuff with your filling.
(9) Heat the grill.
(10) Dress with the Cherry Tomatoes and grated Cheese and place under the grill.
(11) When the Cheese has melted you’re good to go.

We served ours with Chips and Peas. It was really very tasty and filling.

 

Social Links

Translate

English French German Italian Portuguese Russian Spanish