Fermented Daikon

If you read my blog last year, you know how I have fallen in love with fermenting.  My experience thus far has been limited to pickles and yogurt. 

 

A few weeks ago I got 4 daikon radishes (or daikon root) in my
Bountiful Basket contribution. (click the link for info)  I was a little shocked and a lot confused.  I had never even seen a Daikon much less cooked with one. 

 

After searching a bit I found that Daikon make great pickles.  There were tons of recipes for refrigerator pickles.  I finally found a few that suggested fermenting and I was done looking!

 

The week before my sweet mother-in-law gave me an awesome birthday present.  A pickling crock!  I was so excited to use it and this seemed like the perfect chance.  

 

 I began by peeling the root. 

 

 Then I cut them into coins.
 

 Not too thick.
 

 Then I salted them.  It will pull away the little bit of bitterness that is in the root.
 

 After letting them sit for 30 minutes or so, I gave them a really good rinse to remove the salt and liquid that came off of them.

 

 My crock needed a weight to keep the root under the brine solution.  This Pirex lid fit perfectly!

 

 I put the daikon into the crock (I added a few cloves of garlic 'cause that's how I roll) and then covered them with brine.  I used the lid to weight the root down into the brine.  You don't want anything exposed to air.  That is how you get mold and grossness.  You do not want fermented grossness. 

 

 As the fermenting process began, we noticed a smell.  It could only be described as...well...smelling like another natural form of fermentation that occurs in the human body.  Say after a big bowl of beans.  Sorry, I had to go there.  Matt had the wonderful idea to cover it with this pie plate which fit perfectly and kept all of the gassy smells inside.

 

 After several weeks of fermentation, (and leaving them well alone!) it was time to test them.  They still smelled a little stinky but the taste was wonderful!  I think the Daikon just has a funky, radishy aroma.  I packed them into quart jars.

 

 Then I ladled the fermented brine to cover them.  I put the lid on and store them in the fridge where they will keep for a LONG time!  You could can them at this point but the processing would rob you of all the raw, probiotic goodness that you get from fermentation.

 



3 out of the 5 kids loved them.  I loved them.  Matt still hasn't tried them but I think he will.  They have that wonderful tangy flavor that the fermented pickles had last year.  I am so happy with the crock!  It was so much better than using glass jars.  Thank you Grandmolly!!!

 

Here is the brine recipe and the link to the site that I used for instruction.  Now go ferment something!

 

"Stir up a brine solution of 2 Tablespoons sea salt (un-iodized salt) to 1 quart water. Note that you must use salt that has no additives-check the ingredients of your salt to make sure that it contains nothing but salt. Additives in salt can prevent the lacto-fermentation process from occurring." 





The beauty of produce

My boys decided to help me out and harvest my root veggies.  I had been ignoring them and we had had several freezes.  We thought they were probably perfect to dig!  Plus, we have a big storm system headed our way and wanted to get them out before it hit.

Our carrots did really good this year.  Carrots are one of those forgiving veggies.  You put down seed and up they come.  Well, it does take awhile but they are worth the wait!

YUMMM!  Look at the fat ones!

Zaddy got a big one.  These are perfect for roasting.

Asher took on the manly job of digging them out. 

Every season I like to try a new veggie.  When it got too hot for my lettuce, I collected the seed and then pulled it up.  In it's place I threw down some turnip seeds.  They came up like crazy and I underestimated how much space each plant would need.  So we ended up with a big lump of greens.  Today we were able to see what was growing under the greens.  I can't wait to roast these! 

What a mess!

But they sure clean up nice.

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

I have been a major blog-slacker.  But I have a good reason.  It's harvest time!  My garden has been in need of almost daily attention.  Plus, this is the time of year that my MIL makes the treck to New Mexico to pick up our chili and tomatoes. Our supplier is Sichler's Farms in Los Lunas.  We always anticipate her return.  Almost as soon as she pulls in the drive, we start packing our green chili.  After that we start processing our red.  It's a big deal!  After doing the same thing for several years, we now have it down to a science.  So I appologize for my absence.  I will be back to normal after the first freeze.

Oh freezer full of chili how I love you.  Please last us through the year.

This is fresh-roasted and pureed red chili.  It will make many Huevos Rancheros and enchiladas.

The stage is set.

The players are ready.

The heat is on!

The audience is, well, a little crazy from all of the canning! (And no, we do not have a canning uniform.  We are just wearing our husbands old work shirts.)

We use the raw-pack method.  It seems to work better for us.

Boiling water is poured over the tomatoes and they are processed for 40-45 minutes.

We also did some pickling.

I can't wait for these to be ready to eat!

We made salsa.

And our own lava lamps!  Just kidding.  This is just tomato juice that seperated during processing.

Molly Jo worked her booty off.

I just had to throw in a shot of our after-canning dinner.  Fresh green chili on a tortilla with cheese, garlic powder and salt.  Oh man.  What a reward!

Deconstructing a garden

It is a bitter-sweet time of year.  Time to start pulling up the plants that I have nurtured all summer.  Some are in the midst of massive prodution.  They can stick around.  Others, like our corn, have already given what they had to give.  We are always thankful as we wrap up the season.  We again reflect on the majesty of it all.  Nourishment from a seed and some dirt.  It's still amazing after these many seasons.  The Father still provides.  We will continue to pull and sort until the last frost.  I hope your season has been sweet. 

Oh the bounty!!  Vibrant color from the ground.

So sweet with no chemicals added!

My fridge has been stuffed.

But this is beautiful too!

This was just one color of indian corn that came from our stalks.  My personal favorite.

It was like Christmas to open each husk.  So many colors!

Of course we save seed for next year.

This kid stuck with me all afternoon.  He shucked corn like a pro.

This one just kept trying to eat it.  But come on, you always need a comedian.

We found some okra that was long gone.  So, to seed it will go!

As a bonus, we found some watermelon hiding in the corn.  Thanks summer!

Dancing Around Obsession

I am sure you are getting sick of produce pictures.  Well, tough.  It is my current focus.  You will only have to deal with it for another 6 to 8 weeks.  That all depends on Fall.  But for now, I hope you can happily share in the depths of my focus.

/

Dill seed.  Awesome.

The humble beginnings of my stockpile.

Amazed at creation.  Such color and glory out of something so practical.

Poor, sad potatoes.  I did not water you like I should have.  The dry season overwhelmed me.  Yet look how you still managed to grow!  Next year my friends, will be your year.

Who let the chickens into the garden?  Hmmmm.  Someone looks guilty.

I do love to see their little fluffy bottoms in the tomatoes.  They are great at picking bugs, which makes me happy.  But also great at picking perfectly ripe tomatoes.  That does not make me happy.

Oh Summer, you have been torture at times.  But there is no other season that can make ice cream taste so good.

Right Zaddy?


This post is linked to Homestead Revival's Preparedness Challenge!  Go check out the rest of the links.  Great stuff.