Fresh Fava, French Carrot and Arugula Salad, Mustard Crème fraîche
Lightly steamed fresh fava beans, French carrots and peppery arugula tossed in extra virgin olive oil and white balsamic vinegar and dressed with homemade mustard crème fraîche..
Fava, French Carrot and Arugula Salad
String and split fava bean pods and remove the beans. Split small round French carrots.
Steam the beans and carrots together in a bamboo or wire steamer until just barely done, perhaps 2 minutes. Immediately transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process; we want the vegetables to be tender, yet cooked as little as possible to preserve the color and nutrients.
Meanwhile, make a simple vinaigrette of high quality extra virgin olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, minced garlic and slivered shallot.
Drain the vegetables and toss with arugula micro-greens and vinaigrette. Season with black salt and coarsely ground pepper and dress with a teaspoon of homemade lacto-fermented mustard combined with a tablespoon of homemade crème fraîche (Crème fraîche is similar to sour cream, but thicker and slightly more sweet than sour. Mix together 3 parts fresh heavy cream and 1 part buttermilk or plain yoghurt. Cover and allow to stand on the counter overnight before refrigerating).
Serve with toasted crusty bread if you like..
Show Me The Whey pt. 2
In an earlier post, I took at look a using yoghurt as a source of liquid whey, which in turn can be used to make all sorts of great stuff like lacto-fermented ketchup or raisin chutney. I also touched on some of the ways to use the solids that are left after the whey is removed.
In Show Me The Whey part 2, I take a closer look at some of the ways to use those solids, including a fresh cream cheese replacement and the traditional Middle-eastern labneh and oil-preserved, spice-coated dried labneh balls, all of which may be made at a cost of less than $5.
Once separated from its liquid whey, the solid labneh is ready for use as a replacement for cream cheese, including everything from a sweet or savory spread to crab & cream cheese wontons to cheesecake. In this form, it will keep in the refrigerator for up to about a week, a little longer if salted.
Here, I’ve spread labneh on some thin pumpernickel (made from whole-grain sprouted rye) and topped with lingonberries & rosemary, fresh chives & black sea salt flakes and homemade orange-ginger jam with red pepper. It would work just as nicely on a sprouted bagel with smoked salmon..
Labneh on Pumpernickel with Assorted Toppings
Another good use for labneh is as labneh balls, which are made by rolling the labneh into balls, removing the remaining water by air-drying on absorbent paper for a day or so, rolling in spices such as dried mint or za’atar (sumac, thyme, sesame seeds and salt) and then preserving in olive oil. Made this way, the labneh will last indefinitely on the counter (no refrigeration needed), or at least until it gets eaten..
This post is part of The Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter Thursday
Updated: Compound Tomato Sauce (lacto-fermented ketchup)
Adapted from recipes from Abby Fisher (1881) and Sally Fallon (2001), this healthy condiment keeps its Old South flavors..
1 1/2 cups tomato paste
1/2 cup (more or less) filtered water
1/4 cup whey
2 teaspoons walnut oil
1 tablespoon molasses
1/8 cup fermented fish sauce OR 1-2 anchovies, mashed OR 1 teaspoon anchovy paste
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Grind dry ingredients together in a spice grinder or mash in a mortar (if using fish sauce, be sure to taste before also using sea salt). Add to the rest of the ingredients in a non-reactive bowl and stir well to combine.
Add filtered water to achieve the consistency that you prefer. It will thicken as it stands, so you might want to leave this a little on the thin side.
Transfer ketchup to a jar with a tight-fitting lid and allow to sit at room temperature for 72 hours before transferring to refrigerator for long-term storage.
(Here’s an earlier version of this recipe)
This post is part of Food Renegade’s Fight Back Fridays
Lacto-fermented Raisin Chutney
When I read the recipe for raisin chutney in Sally Fallon‘s Nourishing Traditions, I knew that it would be wholesome and nutritious, but I was a little doubtful about how good it would taste. Boy, was I wrong!
Star anise, ginger, coriander, fresh cilantro, plump raisins.. this stuff is seriously delicious!
1 1/2 cups organic raisins, soaked in warm filtered water for 1 hour
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro leaves
10 black peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds
1/2 tablespoon anise seeds
1/2 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons whey
1/2 cup filtered water
Place garlic and cilantro in food processor and pulse a few times. Drain raisins and add to food processor along with peppercorns, red pepper flakes, seeds and ginger. Pulse a few times until the mixture becomes a coarse paste. Transfer to a pint-sized, wide-mouth mason jar and press down lightly with a wooden pounder or a meat hammer. Mix salt and whey with water and pour into jar. You may need to poke a few holes in the chutney to allow liquid to percolate through. Add more water if necessary to cover the chutney. The top of the chutney should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 2 days before transferring to refrigerator. The chutney should be eaten with 2 months.
Lacto-Fermented Organic Whole Grain Mustard
Store bought organic, whole grain mustard is ridiculously over priced (and it isn’t even fermented), but you can make a quart of it for about the cost of a single jar. Here’s my recipe (adapted from Sally Fallon) for about 1 1/2 cups of the good stuff..
Lacto-Fermented Organic Whole Grain Mustard
All measurements are approximate
1/4 cup organic whole yellow mustard seeds
1/4 cup organic whole brown mustard seeds (hotter than yellow)
1/3 cup filtered water
2 tablespoons organic apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon wildflower honey (optional)
2 tablespoons liquid whey
1 teaspoon sea salt
juice of 1 small lemon, more or less to taste
2 cloves garlic
Blend everything together in a food processor, adjusting consistency, if necessary, with additional filtered water.
Cover tightly and allow to stand at room temperature for 3 days before transferring to the refrigerator.
Make some ketchup too and throw away the squeeze bottles!
What’s in the works this week
I’m sure that most of you are aware of the many benefits of fermented food. If not, I suggest that you add The Nourished Kitchen to your bookmarks.
Starting with one jar of real yoghurt separated into its component whey and yoghurt cheese..
Lacto-fermented salsa (fresh red and yellow tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, cilantro, salt, spices and whey). Now, here’s the kicker.. in 3 months, lacto-fermented salsa will still look, smell and taste exactly as it did on the day it was made.
Another batch of fermented ketchup, a jar of concentrated chili base (ancho, guajillo, New Mexico, cumin, cinnamon and salt) and a jar of mango cream cheese spread (fresh mango, yoghurt cheese and salt), all for about 10 bucks.
