Yesterday, we enjoyed a very informative session with Richard Kralj, M.Ed, RDN, LDN a Food Safety & Quality-Senior Extension Educator with Penn State Cooperative Extension, on the basics of pressure canning. We’ll share some tips we learned in a future post. We also welcomed Amanda Feifer, the fermentation educator and author of Ferment Your Vegetables, to our booth. She shared some recipes and answered lots of questions about fermenting! We are sharing one of the recipes from her new book – Winter Herb Kvass (see below).
Amanda Feifer, the fermentation educator and author of Ferment Your Vegetables, will kick off the day at the Family Living Main Stage. Amanda will continue fermentation demos throughout the day at Fillmore Container’s booth. Lisa Reinhart will close out the day with Apple Maple Jam from Preserving with Pomona’s Pectin.
10-11am Beet kvass@ Family Living Stage
1:30pm Fun with Sauerkraut
3:00pm Yogurt and Kefir
4:00pm Pickled Vegetables
Excerpted from Ferment Your Vegetables by Amanda Feifer (Fair Winds Press, October 2015).
The city of Geneva, Switzerland, might as well be the set of a spaghetti western for the number of tumbleweeds that roll through town during ski season. With snow falling in the nearby Alps, residents flee to the hills, snowboards and skis in hand. I’ve never enjoyed being cold or falling on my butt, so my go-to activity when I lived in Geneva was to accompany friends up the hill. While they skied, I hiked through the snowy pines and soaked up the winter sun. Each intensely herbaceous and woody gulp of this kvass reminds me of pine trees and sunshine on the chilly slopes.
1 large radish, sliced into 3 pieces
1 large bunch (60 g) fresh thyme
1 large bunch (60 g) fresh rosemary
1 large bunch (60 g) fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 quarts (2820 ml) filtered water
Place the radish, whole herb bunches, and salt into a 1-gallon (3.8 kg) jar and pour the filtered water in until the jar is full to 2 inches (5 cm) below the rim, or fill all the way to the rim and place in a bowl for the entirety of the fermentation. Cover your jar, making sure it can vent CO2, and leave to ferment at room temperature for 5 to 7 days. Strain the liquid into a clean jar and chill before drinking. This mixture may be fermented for longer than 7 days, but the flavor starts to become quite woodsy.
We recently tested this recipe from Amanda, using the last remaining herbs from our garden. We tried one batch with the white plastic lid resting on top of the jar and one with our reCap, rubber stopper and an airlock. While it was impossible to create identical environments inside both jars, we are curious to see if they exhibit any significant variations.
Are you just getting started on your fermenting journey? Check out all our ferment gear here.
Giveaways
We hope you’ll stop by and see more great recipes, being demonstrated at our Preservation Station. Don’t forget to enter two great giveaways we have happening! Win a Fermenting Kit or a Canning Kit.
After seeing and tasting the results of yesterday’s radish fermentation demonstration I definitely want to try my fermenting in the near future. Thanks for setting up the demos!
We’re so glad that you enjoyed them Vickie and thank you for letting us know! Did you get to taste the sample of krauts that Amanda brought? I’m now a cold kraut convert!
I just came upon the Filmore Container site this afternoon, I also was No where near PA, but I do have two questions for you… Firstly, I am comfused as to which fermentation device would be better in this situation? Would you think that the Econo-Lock with stopper, or the Recap Fermenter would have done a better job? Which system os easier to use? Or… which one would you recommend to a New home canner?And secondly, how did that drink actually taste? It looks like you cut yp a Christmas tree, and stuffed it in a jar? To be honest, it doesn’t look very tasty. I sure hope it tases better than it does in my mind. LOL!!
Patiently awaiting your reply,
Kelli
Hi Kelli,
We actually shared a fermentation tool review from The Fermenters Club in this post.
Spoiler alert…we are pleased to say that Pickle Pipes (by Mason Tops) rated very high in the testing by Fermenters Club. Pickle Pipes are a one-piece, self-sealing, silicone and waterless airlock. The Recap Fermenter and Econo Lock are also good solutions. But if you prefer a one-piece solution, we suggest the Pickle Pipe. You can get them here.
Regarding the taste of the Winter Herb Kvass, it is an acquired taste. 😉
Just found your website after watching a video on simplycanning.com and must say that I love your site. I will be buying my canning supplies from you in the future. Great selection and great prices. I’ve been canning for over 35 years, everything from salmon and steelhead to salsas and veggies. I recently started to ferment and would encourage everyone to try it. The pickle pipes work fantastic. Todd from Idaho.