Peas, Please

For smaller batches a colander would be just fine, but we've been soaking our tray's worth in custom-made colander-buckets placed in a solid bucket. Until they start to sprout we rinse them once a day to keep them moist. When they do sprout, pour them into a soil tray (I've also heard of people doing this special sprouting mats, as well--less mess?), and then just water them (rinse them) once a day until they're about 7 inches high.

Shawn's Tortilla Soup

For a batch fit for 4-6:

1 C onions, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, minced
3 T veggie oil
1-2 minced chiles (meh, to taste)
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t dried oregano
3 C of equivalent of veggie stock
3.5 C chopped fresh tomatoes (don't give me that look, you've bought winter tomatoes)
1/3 C fresh lime juice (I'm not sure if Shawn went bottled or fresh)
1 C corn
salt to taste

Saute onions and garlic, add chiles, cumin, oregano, then add tomatoes and sprinkle with salt. Cover and cook until the tomatoes begin to release their juices, stirring occasionally (will take longer with "winter tomatoes"). Add stock and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, add the lime juice and salt to taste.

Serve topped with grated monterey jack cheese and crumbled tortilla chips (get the thicker kind), garnish with cilantro if you have it.

Cream of Radish Green and Beet Green Soup

No premade stock necessary! A heavy vegetable stock will drown out the flavor of the greens, so it's easier just to make a light stock from scratch as you prepare the greens.

I used:
1 onion
1 large potato
1 clove garlic
2 stalks celery
1 1/2 cups water
greens of 2 bunches radishes
greens of 2 beets
1/2 head romanesco broccoli
1 cup milk (buttermilk?)
a lot of salt

I simmered the onion, potato, garlic, and celery in the water for 20 minutes before adding radish and beet greens and the basil, which I then simmered for another fifteen minutes.

I pureed the whole mess, along with the milk. Then I added in some romanesco broccoli that I happened to have on hand, which I'd steamed separately. Then tried to 'reheat' the soup, even though it had only been off the stove for a minute or two. Lesson learned: don't try to reheat thick liquids that are already plenty hot! The soup started to boil, and the whole pot thumped around the stove spewing enormous scalding green bubbles onto my arms.

Oh, I added a good amount of salt, it needed it.

Overall, the soup did not quite have the bite I'd hoped for from the radish greens, but it did have an obscure, aromatic flavor. There aren't enough creamy soups out there, either, and I enjoyed it just for that aspect. Maybe with less potato, or without the blander beet greens, the radish flavor would have come through more. Even the actual radish slices seemed tamped down by the soup.

I was working loosely off a Moosewood recipe ("Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites," 82) which called for buttermilk. That probably would have given the soup the acidic kick it needed. Plus, it would have added a fermented element to the soup, which, as we know from the foodifesto, is a totally positive addition.

That bread in the photo is from a multi-grain loaf from the Truckee Sourdough Company, the best small bread bakery in all of the Sierra foothills, as far as I know. Moosewood reminds you to serve your soups with crusty bread and to preheat the bowls in the oven. I didn't follow this last direction because I was eating out of the neat wooden bowl Rose brought me from Kauai. But it does sound nice.

Tempeh Tempeh Tempeh

Before making tempeh, you'll need to have obtained the starter, spores of the Rhyzopus oligosporus mold. One source is G.E.M. cultures. I've heard that the starter will last 6 months, but I think you can stretch that if you keep it in the fridge and increase the amount you use as it ages.

Here's the KVG recipe:

2.5 C whole dry soybeans, washed and drained
1-1.5 T rice vinegar
water
1 t tempeh starter or 2 oz fresh minced tempeh

that makes one big ziploc bag. We make five times the recipe in a go, so all measurements below will be for 12.5 cups of soybeans. The process, from soaking to finish, takes about 36-48 hours.

1) So, start with soybeans. Cover them with water (7.5 C?) in a big pot and bring them to a boil before letting them soak overnight, covered (8-16 hours for pre-fermentation). Drain them and let the fun begin. Once drained, you'll need to dehull/split your soybeans in an amusing and efficient manner. If you're making a small batch, using a rolling pin or small cutting board to press down on them work, but for larger amounts, might I suggest strapping wooden boards to your feet and stepping on them? These experts use a grain mill. It's important to split the beans because the culture can't penetrate the hull, and you'll be stuck with unfermented soybeans in your tempeh.


2) You now have a mix of cracked soybeans and hulls. To separate out the hulls, fill your bowl or pot of bean/hull mix with water and sloosh it around a bit,. The hulls will float to the top--the trick is to pour them off before they settle. If you can establish a good rhythm, it should take about 5 fill and pour cycles to get most of the hulls away (no need to be too too anal).

I like to think of the hulls as soybean ghosts

3) After the last hull pour-off, cover the beans (about 10 cups of water) and add 1.5 T vinegar (i have a note that says if it's a smaller pot, add 7.5 cups water and only 1 T vinegar). Bring to an active boil and cook, uncovered, for 30-45 minutes (do not pressure cook). The vinegar lowers the pH, which inhibits less desirable molds from jumping in


.

4) Drain the beans then pour onto baking sheets lined with towels to dry. Let stand 20-30 minutes, stir around a bit every once in a while, until they are about body temperature and fairly dry. Transfer them to a large bowl, add the tempeh starter, and stir/mix for 2 minutes (well-mixed is the goal).

5) Now we need some ziploc bags with holes in them. Take your gallon ziploc bags and poke holes in them using, i dunno, a far sewing needle, pushpin, corn cob holders?, in a grid pattern, about 1/2 to 3/4 inches apart. My notes say that you can get about 6 cups in each gallon bag.

6) Incubate. This the the tricky bit. The goal is to keep the fridge at 86-88 degress for 22-28 hours. The instructions we were using, from The Book of Tempeh, recommend putting a lightbulb with a dimmer in a foam cooler, with a rack at the bottom for air circulation. We just put a light bulb in the oven, put a bandana above it so it didn't overheat the bag nearest to it, and left the oven door slightly ajar (rolled up dishcloth to keep it from shutting all the way). It'll be a bit tricky the first time, but then you'll know what it takes to get your oven hot enough. The key is to keep checking it, because once the fermentation takes off, the tempeh will start producing it's own heat.


You'll know it's done when it's got the white mold all around it--the soybeans should look held together, not loose. If it starts turning gray or has black spots it's gone a bit far (you can always cut that chunk off). If it smells ammonia-y, it's iffy. It if smells bad, something went wrong. But hopefully not! You're rewarded with beautiful tempeh that will keep 4-5 days in the fridge, indefinitely in the freezer (don't stack the tempeh bags in the freezer, though, or at least not until they are already frozen, because the live mold will keep fermenting and cause them to overheat)

Lovely tempeh, sauteed with a solid splash of tamari

A later innovation: cloth straps for stability and comfort (and, er, looks?)

Was that too long-winded? It's just:

whole soybeans--> bring to a boil-->soak-->drain and dehull-->second boil (w/vinegar)--> drain and cool--> inoculate-->pack-->incubate-->ta da!

Other instructions/directions/tips can be found at: Mother Earth News, Peter's way, Too Many Chefs, and Bunnyfoot's blog.

Kombucha Instructo

As given to me:

In 1 gallon of water, steep 6-8 black tea bags for 20 minutes. Stir in to dissolve 1-2 cups of sugar. Cool to room temperature in an iced tea dispenser. Add the culture and starter liquid, and cover with a rubberband and piece of fabric over the top opening (it needs air--don't seal it with the lid).

Let sit 2-3 weeks at 65-90 degrees, out of direct sunlight. When it's good and done, remove the culture with 8-12 oz of liquid (this will be used to start your next batch). At this point you may have a baby as well as the mother, you can peel them apart to start multiple batches, or dispose of one of them (compost!)

You can add juice to the kombucha at this point, which will add flavor and carbonation, but never add juice to the culture (i wonder if Sandorkraut would agree with that last point...) If you pour kombucha into bottles, do not tighten the lid too much. Leaving it out an extra day with an added bit of juice makes it fizzier.

Clean brewing container every so often, not necessary to do it each time. Use mild soap, rinse well!!

It's Chili in here

The uber-quick, yum chili:

2 T veggie oil
1 large onion, chopped or diced
1 med. green bell pepper (or more-seasonally appropriate green veggie)
2 med. carrots, chopped
1 C water
1 T chili powder (not cayenne--the stuff sold as "chili powder"--i only recently learned the difference)
1 t ground cumin
3/4 t salt
2 cans (the 15oz's) red kidney beans, drained and washed
1 big can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
opt = 1 pasilla chili, seeded and chopped (or 3/4 C worth)

Heat oil, saute onion, pepper, carrots (and opt. chili) for 3-5 minutes. Then stir in remaining ingredients, heat to boiling, then reduce to a simmer for 10-15 minutes til veggies are done (or until desired consistency), stirring occasionally.

We've been mixing in some macaroni noodles for fun.

Shitake Masterpieces