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

Squash Mac & Smoky Italian Collards

There's an awful lot of cooking and storing involved in keeping up with seasonal produce at peak harvest time.  You have to prepare the bounty (wash, dry, peel, chop), then cook it, then eat some of it and preserve the rest (freeze, can, dry, etc.).   It is an incredible amount of work, the volume of produce is at its peak threatening to overwhelm even the most casual bystander.  But, don't throw up the sponge!

After preparing and roasting my squash and washing and chopping my collards, I finally got to make a meal.     

It was as fine as cream gravy.

Squash Mac

Advance Prep Needed: Roasted Squash

*1.5 cups raw nuts 

*Cashews, walnuts, pecans, etc. or a combination.  I used 1 cup cashews + 1/2 cup pecans.

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 clove garlic

1/2 to 1 tablespoon sweet, white miso

1 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/8 tsp nutmeg

freshly ground pepper, several grinds 

(I never measure pepper because I always use fresh and just grind it into recipes as needed)

3 cups seasonal squash, roasted:  2 cups for the sauce, 1 cup for assembly

(My small butternut and medium acorn squash yielded 3.5 cups roasted)

2 cups hot pasta water

(I prefer to make my pasta sauces with blended nuts and pasta water rather than almond or soy milk thickened with arrowroot.)

1 pound of pasta, cooked 

(any kind, but a wagon needs wheels, don't it?) 

1/2 Cup Perfect Pepitas or French Fried Onion Pieces (I used Wegmans brand)

About 1 tablespoon vegan butter 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil (I use my 8 quart stock pot) for the pasta.  It takes about 20 minutes to heat a large pot to boiling, at least it does in my house, so you can start your sauce recipe below.  

Prepare the sauce:  

For a high speed blender (such as a VitaMix):  Add all ingredients except pasta water and reserved one cup of cubed squash in the order listed (cashews first, and so on, so nuts are down closest to the blade) to your high speed blender.  Now, you gotta wait for your pasta water. Once water is boiling, salt it, and add pasta.  Wait until your pasta is about halfway through it's cooking time (so some of the gluten is available in the water) and scoop at least two cups of the water out with a Pyrex measuring cup (or a coffee cup!) and set aside.  At this point, you'll have about six minutes left to make the sauce before your pasta is done cooking, and, guess what? That's enough time!  

Add 2 cups of that hot pasta water to the ingredients in the blender, cover (and put a dishtowel over the top in case of spurts) then blend on high for about 60 to 90 seconds, using the tamper as needed to get out air pockets.  Once sauce is thoroughly blended, turn off blender.  Your pasta timer is probably going off, now.  When it's done, drain your pasta and return to the cooking pot.  Add sauce and stir to coat until it is the consistency you prefer (some people like more sauce, some less).  

For a food processor:  Add nuts through pepper, and pulse to blend, scraping down periodically, until well combined.  Add squash and pulse/scrape until combined.  Add some pasta water a tablespoon at a time and pulse and scrape until the paste loosens a bit.  Then, with the motor running, drizzle in the rest of the water through the opening at the top of the processor and process until smooth.  This is kinda like making a pesto, folks.  

Arrange in a greased baking dish with the reserved 1 cup of squash cubes:

Cover with about 1/2 cup of French Fried Onions or other crunchy topping of choice, like Perfect Pepitas  and dot with little pieces of vegan butter.  Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes, just until the top is crispy and the butter is melted.  

The sauce yields about 4-5 cups of sauce, total.  I had leftover sauce, so I put it in an ice cube tray to freeze for use later this winter.

Serve with Smoky Southern (Italian) Collards or any green of your choosing.  Enjoy!

Now your wagon's ready to roll!

Tomorrow I pick up our next CSA box...

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