Claus's Kraut, Cubes, Kale, Noodles and Oodles

I've been busy trying to get ready for Santa.

First, I made him some CSA Sauerkraut from scratch!  I hope he likes kraut.

 I started the kraut on Tuesday, November 20th.  

It was four big cabbages (two white and two red) from my CSA, hand cored and sliced, with a few carrots thrown in, plus Kosher salt. I sprinkled salt on as I went, no more than maybe a tablespoon per head of cabbage) and caraway seeds (sprinkled in as I packed it into the bucket).

My kraut making techniques are a combination of Sandor's instructions, this and these and some videos on youtube. There are tons of videos on different techniques on YouTube, too, just put in "homemade sauerkraut" and a ton come up. Here is Sandor's video (great! But, who doesn't love Sandor?) and this nice Gramma also uses a big, food safe bucket like the one I got FREE from Wegmans (see below!!).

Once your cabbage is sliced (phew!) put a little at a time into your "crock" and pack it down to push out all the air.  I used a potato masher.  Keep adding and pushing until it's all in there.

 Carrot top :-)

Now you need a lid/plate or other covering that *just* fits inside your crock.

My plate didn't quite fit, so I made a plate out of aluminum foil, I just pushed the foil to the edges of the bucket.  I used a triple thickness.  I hope that's a legit method :-)

Weight it down with something really heavy.  I used water inside two, huge freezer bags made to hold soup (according to their marketing, anyway):

Snap the lid on, if you have one (or make one out of a towel or cheesecloth or something) and wait.

You want the brine to come up over your "plate" so the kraut is always submerged.  It should happen in about 24-48 hours, longer is also fine, it seems, as long as it is airtight and mold isn't forming, leave it alone. 

You can see the liquid is above the plate and the bubbles indicate fermentation is happening!

P.S. I got the big bucket for free at Wegmans! 

A big thanks to the awesome Joni Marie Newman for suggesting I check with my grocery store for a big container! I love Joni.

My Italian friend in the Wegmans cheese department sent me to bakery to check out my request for a big (preferably glass) jar or bucket.  They had a large, food grade plastic bucket and they gladly gave me one.

Their bakery department orders icing in these big guys (it's a 15L bucket, which is about 4 gallons)

I open it outside to scoop and re-pack the kraut! 

Baby Klaus's Kraut (One Week Old).  Delicious, mild and crunchy!

I have to remember to re-check the kraut tomorrow, hoping for a richer, more sour kraut!

I've also been breaking into the frozen stash of CSA stuff:

 This is the sauce from the Squash Mac I made in October.  I sauteed six cloves of garlic in olive oil and added about eight cubes of the sauce, also added a bit of hot pasta water to thin it out.  

It was perfect for Penne & Broccoli!

 With home made chickpeas!

My favorite "Stellar Stuffed Mushrooms" from The 30 Minute Vegan.

These are so amazing.

And this may look plain, but it was great.

 Sauteed Kale and Mushrooms in Oil, Organic Lemon juice and Garlic with Kosher Salt & Pepper.

And I found an organic, vegan vanilla pudding powder at the grocery store!

If you want to make The Veggnog Cake and can't find that Bird's powder or don't want to order it, I bet this stuff works pretty good.

I'll try it the next on the round of Veggnog Cakes!

This was dinner last night (I added rich, garlicky chickpeas, too)

 Dinner last night was the Kale and Friends Salad  Organic Kale and Brown Rice Salad with Dried Organic Cranberries, Sliced Almonds and a Organic Winter Citrus Vinaigrette. 

I also added rich, garlicky chickpeas (pressure cooked in rich broth, olive oil and salt).

In a large bowl, place one bunch of kale leaves, washed and chopped mixed with 1/3 cup dried cranberries, 1/3 cup slivered almonds, and 1/3 cup of sliced grapes (if you want) or slices of mandarin orange.  Dress this first with 2.5 T of the dressing.

Cook 1.5 Cups of brown rice and dress that with another 2.5 T of the dressing, put the hot, cooked and dressed rice over the kale salad mixture and stir very well.  The kale will cook a tiny bit and soften nicely.

Winter Citrus Vinaigrette: 1/3 cup of olive oil, 1 clove of garlic smashed, 1 tsp Kosher Salt, bunch of pepper, juice of one organic lemon, one organic orange and about 1 tsp of combined orange and lemon zest. Whisk like hell.  Pour 2.5 T over your kale salad mixture and 2.5 T over your Brown Rice.

This was breakfast this morning!

Old Fashioned Oats with Flax, Organic Grade B Maple Syrup, Vietnamese Cinnamon, Vanilla, Bananas and Chopped Pecans.  YUM. 

Lunch Today: A version of Hornswaggle Salad.  My favorite!

Besides eating, I am also working on oodles of homemade gifts:

Many mini loaves are in my future. My Vegan Sticky Gingerbread is up first.

Ollie and I are also working on hand made Christmas gifts for the family:

Handmade Gift Post Coming Soon! 

Hang in there everyone, "the holidays" will be over before you can say

HO HO HO

XOXO

Toasted Boots Sauce: Roasted Tomato, Artichoke & Chickpea Pasta

This ain't no spaghetti western! Enough gallavantin' around town, it's time to get cookin'!

Toasted Boots Sauce (Italy=the boot, get it?): Roasted Tomato, Artichoke & Chickpea Sauce.  

There were still more tomatoes to be had in this last week's CSA:

 CSA Week #21 (10/17/12):

Fingerling Potatoes, Cauliflower, Sage, Arugula, Parsley, Carrots, Mini B'nuts, Daikon Radish, Beets, Spring Mix, Radicchio, and Heirloom & Cherry Tomatoes:

Aren't they prettier than a speckled pup?

 I thought about makin' em into paste, but that was too much work and I didn't have that many.

OK, let's get down to it:

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, oil the foil generously.  Add sliced tomatoes and top with home made (ideally) breadcrumbs seasoned with oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, etc. and top with capers and a bit of the brine from the caper jar.  Spray or brush with olive oil on top.  Bake at 425 until soft and starting to brown, this is around 20-25 minutes.  Check them periodically to make sure you don't burn 'em!

You can also roast some plain slices with just olive oil and salt if you like. I did.

 Meanwhile, get your big pot of water on and get it ready to boil some pasta.  I used perciatelli for this, I also love the long fusili, the ones as long as perciatelli, but I couldn't find any at the store, they're persnickety!

While your 'maters are a roastin' and your water's a boilin', saute up some whistleberries, uh, I mean, chickpeas (one tin can, drained and rinsed) and marinated artichoke hearts (one jar, drained, but save some of the oil to saute everything in!).

I use the oil from the marinated artichokes to saute the chickpeas & hearts.  I also added the fresh juice of one organic lemon, some Kosher salt, and a few sprinkles of garlic powder (you should use 2-3 cloves of chopped garlic, but I was fresh outta real garlic!).  Saute on medium-high heat until chickpeas and artichoke hearts are starting to brown.  

Once your tomaters are done roastin, add them to the chickpeas & artichoke hearts:

Mix it up good!

Add as many tomatoes as you like until you get the consistency of a nice sauce.  I actually added two trays worth of roasted tomato slices to this sauce.

Your pasta should be done cooking at this point, but before you drain it, dip a coffee cup in there and retrieve yourself about 1 cup of pasta water (to thin the sauce if needed).  Now drain your pasta, and add the pasta to your sauce in the pan on the stove.  Saute for about two minutes to help the drained pasta absorb the sauce and fully incorporate.

Put your Toasted Boots on!

Now, I'll be! Don't it look like a little creature got to makin' his business on top of that tomato? Well, don't you worry.  It's just some roasted capers!

Vai, vai! Sprigati!

Next up, freezin' stuff, fermentin' stuff, or takin' a trip to the next town over!

Homesteadin' it October 1st through October 31st, 2012

CSA 2012: Boxes #3 and #4 and Zucchini Fritters!

Here are some of my creations from Weeks #2, #3 and #4 of my local, Certified Organic CSA, as well as the pictures of my CSA boxes from Weeks #3 & #4. 

Organic Zucchini Fritters over Organic Red Leaf Lettuce w/ Organic Radishes & Scallions and a Mustard Vinagrette.   Combo of Week #3 and Week #4 boxes.

 Gorgeous, home made pie crust (to house a Week #2 Greens & Scapes pie, below)

Organic Swiss Chard & Beet Greens Pie (from Week #2's box).  I used the recipe for my Green Leek Pie using the Chard/Beet Greens and Scapes in for the leeks.  That rosy glow is from the beet greens & red chard, isn't it lovely?

Organic Chickpea Salad w/ Organic Garlic Scapes, Celery & Carrots (also from Week #2).

 The Bounty from Week #3: Organic beets, chard, red leaf lettuce (3 heads), zucchini, broccoli, cabbage and my favorite, scallions!

 I love scallions and these were amazing! 

 Organic Broccoli Soup!

 Organic Zucchini Fritters.

 The Bounty from Week #4 (this week's box): FIVE heads of lettuce (sheesh!), beets, collards, something I'm not sure of (that head of something on the far left, maybe a funky, heritage escarole?), collards, oregano, chard, zucchini and even more GIGANTIC scallions than last week!

 Told you the scallions were gigantic!

I still have a lot of stuff left, namely: scallions (a ton of scallions!), lettuce, three beets & their greens, and some zucchini. Oh heck, and some radishes from Week #2, and that head of cabbage and that head of I don't know what it is...uh oh! I did freeze about four cups of grated zucchini (I grated all of last week's zucchini and froze all of what I didn't use for the fritters).  

What to do, what to do...now that this heat is breaking, I will probably make another pie :-) and some salads or something.

What are you guys making with your CSA bounties?  

Party Prep

So, I made the Linguine (I used Fusili lunghi) with Basil-Cilantro Pesto and Artichokes from Veganomicon last night:

I saute the canned artichokes in olive oil, red onion and garlic for a good while until they get nice and toasted. This time I also added a can of white beans and sauteed those (with the artichokes) as well for added protein and nutrition.  They kinda fell apart and coated the noodles, adding interest to the pesto. I love this dish.

And my niece's first birthday is this weekend, so for her party, I am bringing Happy Birthday Gingerbread :-)

 I used the recipe from Vegan Lunch Box, and added the chopped, crystallized ginger on top.

Tomorrow I will dust it in organic powdered sugar for that lovely first snow effect.

 And I made Tamari Roasted Chickpeas from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan. 

I call these "popcorn peas," because they are kind of addictive like popcorn.  They will be a nice little snack for the party.

I used home made, from scratch organic chickpeas (pressure cooker, baby!) and organic, local (from my yard!) rosemary.

Can't wait to see my niece tomorrow!

What are you guys doing this weekend?  Do you have any special recipes planned?