Fermented Beverages are Added to the Growing List

Lately I am all about fermenting, and finding out more and more, daily. It appears there is almost nothing that cannot be fermented, adding amazing probiotics to the system. A couple of weeks ago, when cutting up a pineapple to use in a fruit salad, I kept aside all the outer peels and the core of the pineapple (without the green top). I saved them in the fridge for a couple of days, until I had time, and then placed these leavings into a large jar. I added in a cinnamon stick and then dissolved ½ cup of honey into about 6½ cups of water and poured this over the pineapple leavings. I screwed the cap on, loosely, and set the jar in a dark corner of the kitchen.

When fermenting something sweet like this, it is highly important to stir the mixture very often, (I stirred about 4 times a day), in order to keep any molds from forming (as the fruit floats and is exposed to air). The liquid is very sweet, and the fruit is sweet, so the ferment can go on to creating wine, if left unchecked, but for an amazing lightly effervescent beverage, it is ready in about 2 to 5 days, depending on how warm it is in the house.

Since I cannot get my husband to eat either my wonderful fermented sauerkraut or the fermented piccalilli I am loving so much, I figured one sure way to get some probiotics into his diet is with a beverage. When stirring the mixture daily, check it from the time it starts to exhibit myriad tiny bubbles at the edges of the jar. The ferment has begin at this time, and where to stop it will depend on your taste buds. I waited until I could actually feel that tiny bit of effervescence going on - not much, as I didn't want it alcoholic - but just enough to make it interesting. This happened at about 5 days in my kitchen. I strained off the liquid and put it into a container with a pour spout and gave it to my picky man. He loved it! 

For my next magic trick, I decided to use strawberry tops. If you are one of those who still uses a strawberry huller to pull out just the green calyx and core of the strawberry, then this will not suffice. However, if you, like me, just cut right across the top of the berry, to save time, then keep those strawberry tops with that little bit of fruit still attached! My second fermented beverage for my husband was a Strawberry Ginger Spritzer. Pretty much any fruits and peelings can be used this same way, changing out spices or other flavors as desired.

Strawberry Ginger Spritzer

Strawberry Ginger Spritzer

Makes 7 cups
Takes about 2 to 5 days, depending on temperatures

1 pound strawberries: tops cut off (use the berries for something else)
4 or 5 strawberries, sliced
5 slices fresh ginger, with skin on
pinch salt
6½ cups filtered water
½ cup sugar or raw honey

Place the strawberry tops, sliced berries and ginger slices into a large glass jar, capable of holding at least 7 - 8 cups liquid. Stir together the water and honey or sugar until dissolved, and pour this over the fruit in the jar. Cover loosely with a lid (gases will build as the mixture ferments), or cover with a cloth, towel or cheesecloth, held on with a rubber band to discourage flies, fruit flies or other insects. Allow this mixture to ferment, stirring well 3 or 4 times a day with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. 

Keep an eye out for tiny bubbles forming around the top of the liquid. Using a clean spoon, taste once this fermentation begins. If it is not at all fizzy, wait another day or two or until it begins to have a tiny bit of fizz happening on the tongue. Once it is fermented to taste, strain the liquid into a glass or plastic jar and refrigerate. Keep in mind that the fermenting may still continue in the fridge. Keep the lid loose.

Then, as I was reading about Beet Kvass everywhere lately, and I just happened to have 2½ beets in the fridge (having used 2 slices in the making of the Fermented Pink Onions a few days prior), I thought I had best find out what all the to-do was about. Beet Kvass is an Eastern European beverage, obviously made with beets, very popular in Russia and the Ukraine, among other places. It is fermented to taste and then the beverage is either drunk as is, for its tonic qualities (a VERY long list!), or added to soups or stews. The beets, once fermented, may be used for a secondary ferment. After that, they are either discarded, composted, or added to soups or stews. Waste not...

I love beets, when they are cooked. Raw, I have found, I am not fond of them at all, plus they make my throat feel raw and scratchy. So, I avoid raw beets! So with this Beet Kvass, I was very, very leery of how the taste might be, as the beets are not cooked, but only fermented. I needn't have worried. I guess I should know better by now that once a food is fermented the flavor profile is so different it is hard to believe. This tonic has salt added, making it a brined beverage. After tasting it at 3 days, I find I am eager to leave it fermenting for longer, to see where it goes. It can become very sour. When to stop is up to individual taste. It can be fermented for up to a month, if the flavor is acceptable. Sally Fallon, in Nourishing Traditions, says:

“This drink is valuable for its medicinal qualities and as a digestive aid. Beets are just loaded with nutrients. One 4-ounce glass, morning and night, is an excellent blood tonic, cleanses the liver and is a good treatment for kidney stones and other ailments.”

The recipe for Beet Kvass is just about identical wherever you find it, with the main difference falling in the amount of time to ferment. Some people say two days. Sandor Katz talks of up to a month. As I say, taste and see where you prefer the flavor.

The other main controversial topic is to use whey or not to use whey. Whey (obtained from placing plain, unflavored yogurt into a coffee filter lined sieve and drained until reaching the amount needed, usually 1/4 cup) is used as a "starter" much as a sourdough starter gets fermentation rolling in bread. It will jump start the fermentation process and the time it takes will be less, if you are in a hurry. The flip side is that slower fermentation allows the formation of many more strains of lacto-ferments to form, making a more potent and healthful tonic. I chose not to use whey in this ferment. When eliminating the whey, more salt is needed. Salt is used to keep bad bacteria at bay until the ferment begins. Once fermentation begins, then any unwanted bacteria will be killed off in the fermentation process. I basically used the recipe from Wellness Mama, http://wellnessmama.com/9087/beet-kvass-recipe/, but here it is, without whey and with more salt.

Beet Kvass

Beet Kvass

Serving size 3 - 4 ounces, twice daily
Makes about 2 quarts

2 - 4 beets, scrubbed well, cut in ½-inch cubes
4½ teaspoons coarse sea salt or Himalayan Pink Salt
7 cups filtered water

In a jar large enough to hold at least 2 quarts, place the beets and salt. Cover these with the filtered water and stir to dissolve the salt. Cover the jar loosely with a lid, or top with a cloth held in place with a rubber band. Keep out of direct sunlight. Stir daily 1 - 2 times. The beets will float, and molds might form if not moved enough.

Once the flavor is to taste, strain off the liquid, leaving at least ¼ cup of the already fermented liquid in the container. Add salt and water again for a second batch and stir well. The fermented liquid acts as a starter, already having the strains of good bacteria in it to help things along. Refrigerate the finished Kvass.  

Some additions, if desired: carrots, fresh ginger. 



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

More Pheasant and Another Recipe

As I said in my last post, our friend Rich brought home 3 pheasants on his second day hunting. We used 1½ birds in a wonderful Pheasant Mushroom Stew, and it was finally time to do something with the remaining 1½ birds. Back on Monday when we worked with the birds, I set this second half of them into a marinating container with some red wine, olive oil, smashed garlic and fresh herbs, and there they stayed until yesterday evening. This was the wine marinade recipe:

Wine Marinade for Pheasant

Enough for 1 to 1½ pheasants

1½ cups dry red wine
½ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons juniper berries
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 large sprig fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh sage (about 20 leaves)

Set the pheasant quarters into a container. Add in the juniper berries, garlic and fresh herbs, then pour in the wine and olive oil. Marinate, turning twice daily for up to 3 days.

Dinner of Pheasant Alfredo, egg noodles and Fall Fruit Compote

My original intent with these wine marinated birds was to make a wine-based sauce, and add in a lot of dried fruit - somehow. Somehow, the recipe was just not coming together in my mind. The concepts I wanted to bring together just weren't coalescing into a usable recipe. And then - and this is where I love having Rich around - he said he really wanted to use a cream based sauce, maybe an Alfredo Sauce for these birds. I said I had really hoped to use a lot of dried fruits in the recipe, and it seemed they would just muddy an Alfredo sauce. Rich said, "Why not use the fruits in a side dish?" To which I had to smack myself on the forehead and say, "Well, DUH!" 

Okay, so now I had a workable plan. First off, being me, I prefer to make my own Alfredo Sauce, so I had to create a recipe, since I never really had. I asked Rich what he would put in an Alfredo sauce? He said cream and cheese. Well, okay. I was a bit concerned that the meat, having soaked in wine for 3 days, would also muddy up the white Alfredo Sauce. Rich said he didn't care if the sauce was pink or purple. I embellished on his Alfredo "recipe" a bit, but in essence, used that concept. I will say, try to use the best quality butter, cream cheese, Parmesan and Romano cheeses that you can afford for this sauce. It makes a world of difference. As for the dried fruits, I decided to make a compote-like side dish that would serve like cranberries do with turkey or chicken. Wine seemed to be a theme in this menu, so I wanted to cook the fruits in a wine reduction sauce. My other true desire was to use fresh quinces as a part of this fruit melange. 

Creamy Pheasant Alfredo and noodles with a splash of color from the Fruit Compote

I think it is truly not necessary to first marinate the pheasant in the wine sauce before making it into this Alfredo recipe. The main reason we went the wine marinade route was just to keep the birds in a suspended state until we could get one batch eaten and get around to the second batch. Rich was averse to freezing the remainder, if we were going to be using them soonish. However you choose to go about this recipe, I will say that the meat did not leach color into the white Alfredo Sauce, so that was wonderful. The meat was tender, albeit still dry, despite not really overcooking. For anyone who has not cleaned, cooked or eaten pheasant, the meat has almost no fat whatsoever. It is almost impossible to have a fat-free meat that is also juicy and tender. We even went the route of a very low 250 degree oven this time, and the meat was still dry. Luckily, I like dry fowl just fine.

The birds tasted very good last evening, in the recipe we thought up. Nothing truly new under the sun, of course. Pheasant Alfredo recipes seem to abound, as I soon noted when I Googled that concept. My Alfredo was terribly rich, but I think that sort of comes with the territory. Still, the addition of herbs and garlic seemed to take the sauce to new levels. It was absolutely delightful. The fruit compote was the perfect accompaniment. The wine was great, the company convivial and all was perfect in my world.

Pheasant Alfredo, straight from the oven

Pheasant Alfredo

Serves 4 to 6

1½ pheasants, in quarters (marinated or not)
1 stick unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic, minced finely
10 sage leaves
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (3-ounces)
1 cup freshly grated Romano cheese (3-ounces)
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 large or 2 smaller sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh sage (or about 20 leaves)

At least ½ hour before making the Alfredo Sauce, melt the stick of butter over very low heat and add in the minced garlic and 10-ish sage leaves. Leave the pan on the lowest heat possible, so it does not even come to a simmer. This might require leaving the pan slightly off the burner. The goal is to "steep" the garlic and sage flavors into the butter, cooking the garlic very gently so there is no raw flavor left. (I left my pot over a "warming burner" for over an hour).

When ready to make the sauce, remove the spent sage leaves and add the flour to the butter and garlic in the pan and stir in. Add in the milk and cream and bring to a low boil. Add the cream cheese, in cubes, stirring until it is melted into the cream. Add in the Parmesan and Romano cheeses, stirring until they are melted.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 casserole with cooking spray. Set the fresh herbs over the bottom of the casserole. Lay the pheasant quarters over the herbs, skin side down (whether it has skin left on or not). Pour the Alfredo Sauce over the meat. Cover the casserole tightly with foil and bake for 1½ hours.
This pheasant Alfredo dish was just perfect served with wide egg noodles as an accompaniment. The Fall Fruit Compote (recipe coming in my next blog) was just the right amount of bright flavor to cut through all the cheese and cream in the sauce. 

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

It's Pheasant Hunting Season Again

Once again, it is time for avid hunters to test their shooting skills against pheasants. I have nothing against hunting, if it is done so one can eat or otherwise live. Our friend Rich arrived last Friday evening, so as to get out as soon as possible on Saturday. Sadly, no one was available to hunt with him on Saturday, and he didn't manage to get any birds. On Sunday however, he went out with someone and he came home with 3 birds. 

Stewed Pheasant, Dressing with Stewed Mushroom Gravy and Delicata Squash, a hearty meal

Once home, he and I cleaned them and put them to brine overnight in a mixture of:

Large mushroom chunks in the gravy

Marinade for Three Pheasants

8 quarts of water
½ cup Kosher salt
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon juniper berries

Bring all ingredients to boil and then cool before pouring over cleaned pheasants. If using a zip-top bag to hold the birds, you might be able to halve this recipe for the marinade.

NOTES: The use of juniper berries is not absolutely essential, but if you can find them, they make game meats taste wonderful. 

The next morning I drained off the brine, as leaving them too long would make the birds too salty. Then Rich and I sat down to try and figure out what we wanted to do with them for dinner. We must have gone back and forth with ideas for more than 2 hours before finally agreeing, first, to use them for two separate meals, second to make the first batch into a stew with mushrooms and to have a stuffing/dressing made on the side to accompany, and third, to make the second 1 1/2 pheasants in a few days. Meanwhile we put that second batch to marinate in red wine, thyme, sage, olive oil, garlic. We had so many leftovers in the fridge that last night and tonight are pot luck nights here. Tomorrow I plan to work with the wine marinated pheasant.

Delicata Squash, baked

What I did for the stew recipe with the first 1 1/2 pheasants was to set dried mushrooms to soak in boiling water and start assembling the rest of the ingredients, which I was mostly making up as I went along. All I can say is the result was a rich and gloriously savory stew gravy. I had to hold dinner, as Rich got a last-minute call that his hunting partner could head out for a brief while, and he wouldn't be back till about 7 PM. We normally eat between 5 and 5:30 in our house, so this was a late dinner indeed, and the stew sat in the oven on "Hold" for at least 2 hours. Let's just say that the meat was literally falling off the bones by the time we ate dinner. We had decided to have some Delicata squash with the meal.

A note on the fats used in this recipe: It is difficult to exactly pinpoint the amount of fat to use, as much will depend on how meaty or fatty the bacon is. The bacon I used was extremely meaty and rendered so little fat that I had to add in oil and butter to accommodate frying the onions, garlic and then the pheasant. No matter how much extra fat or oil you add, it will make little difference to the moisture of the bird. Pheasant is naturally very lean. If it was to be roasted, wrapping the pieces in strips of bacon might help a bit in the overall moistness of the meat, but when the meat is in a stew, that has no real effect. The fat that floated on the surface of the stew attests to the fact that it was not absorbed by the meat!

Pheasant and Mushroom Stew

Dinner of Pheasant, dressing,
gravy and Delicata squash

Serves 3 - 4 

1 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms (8 - 12, depending on size)
½ ounce dried chanterelle mushrooms
4 cups boiling water
6 slices thick-sliced bacon, in 1/4-inch slices
1 large onion, chopped
4 large cloves garlic, rough chopped
1 - 2 tablespoons oil or butter, as needed for frying
1½ pheasants, cleaned and cut into quarters
½ cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
6 juniper berries
1 large sprig fresh thyme
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 - 3 tablespoons Worcestershire for Chicken (or regular Worcestershire)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt

Pour the boiling water over the dried mushrooms, cover and set aside for 20 or 30 minutes, while preparing the other ingredients.

Dry the pheasant pieces thoroughly with paper toweling. Combine the flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the first teaspoon of paprika in a large plate. Dredge the pheasant pieces in this flour mixture and set aside, reserving the flour.

Have ready a large stew pot. In a large skillet, over medium heat, brown the bacon. Once browned, remove with a slotted spoon to the stew pot. Add the onions to the grease in the pan, and add more oil or butter if needed. Once softened, add the garlic for 2 - 3 minutes, until fragrant. Remove the onion and garlic to the stew pot. Use 2 - 3 tablespoons of the reserved dredging flour and sprinkle it over the bacon, onions and garlic. Stir in well until it disappears.

Stew gravy with mushrooms
 - no sour cream!

Brown the pheasant pieces on both sides, in batches, without crowding the pan, and removing them to the stew pot when browned. Add in the juniper berries, thyme, tomato paste, Worcestershire, additional smoked paprika (regular paprika can be used instead) and the remaining teaspoon salt. A few grinds of fresh pepper would be nice also. Remove any tough stems or other parts of the soaked mushrooms. Chop the mushrooms and add them to the pot. Strain the mushroom liquid through a coffee filter or paper towel to remove any grit or dirt that may have accumulated. Measure the remaining liquid and add enough water or stock to make about 4½ cups. Pour this liquid into the pot and stir carefully. Set the pot over a burner and bring to a boil, while simultaneously preheating the oven to 275 degrees. Once the pot comes to a near boil, stir carefully, then cover the pot and place in the oven for 1½ to 2 hours, or until the pheasant is tender.
Sour cream may be added to the stew gravy if desired. I meant to do this but completely forgot in my hurry to get the food on the table for such a late dinner. No one missed the sour cream. The stew was absolutely perfect. The stew could be served over rice, or noodles. I made a dressing with the precise intent to use with this dish. Another alternative is to add potatoes to the stew to cook.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Garrigue - A New Word and a New Spice Blend

I am trying to think up some appetizers for Friday; one is for a Chateauneuf du Pape (Vieux Telegraphe). In all the research while filling in those wine/food pairing sheets I made (see yesterday's blog), I came across the term “garrigue” as in a flavor or aroma and used in reference to Southern Rhone wines such as Chateauneuf or Bandol and others. We have had some bottles of Rhone called Domaine la Garrigue, Vacqueyras, but had not ever seen the word "garrigue" used as a flavor term, so I looked it up.

Turns out it is a term for the combined aromas of all the wild herbs and plants that grow in the chalky soil in that area, such as rosemary, sage, thyme, fennel, juniper, lavender, mint, lemon verbena, marjoram and others. One web site says: The reason we now hear this term in relationship to wine is that it refers to the flavorful, earthy, salty and pungent aromas and flavors often found in garrigue wines.

Garrigue Seasoning Spices

So today I got this idea. I was thinking of using a flank steak again, as it is easy to marinate and give all sorts of flavors, then broil and slice. I decided to pick from this palate of flavors and make a dry mix first, them blend that with a combination of balsamic and currants, a touch of honey and olive oil. I went shopping late this afternoon, so I just got the flank steak. I will probably wait till Thursday to open it and start the marinating. This is what I used:

Garrigue Seasoning Blend

Makes ½ cup

1½ tablespoons pink peppercorns (for their floral notes)
1 tablespoon each, dried: lavender flowers, black pepper, sage, thyme, fennel
15 juniper berries
1 tablespoon sea salt
 
All these spices went into a little spice grinder and ground fine. I will probably add in some dried lemon peel instead of lemon verbena (that I don’t have). I added the pink peppercorns to lend their floral notes, though they are not a part of the garrigue herbs. It is a pungent combination of ingredients and it smells really, REALLY good. I put the whole batch into a spice blender and made it into powder. This makes about 1/2 cup in all, so there is plenty left to use for other applications.

Meanwhile, as with everything I make now, I thought I should get some pictures of the herbs and spices, individually, and then mixed the whole batch together and took shots of the whole mélange. The pictures are so pretty I may just make this my wallpaper!
 
I am planning to marinate and broil the steak, slice it and serve it on little toasts with a couple pieces of arugula and a slice of sharp cheddar. Once I have used this and see how it goes, I will report here on the results.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.