One tomato, two tomato

Key Lime Pickle

Sat, 18 May 2013 23:22:16 -0500

When I hear the word “pickle” I instantly think “dill” or maybe “bread & butter.” I don’t think “lime” or “miso” or “mango”. My idea of a pickle is the distinctly Euro-American kind that I grew up with. But there’s a world of pickles out there! The Indian Lime Pickle being just one.

After my big batch of Seville Blood Orange Marmalade and jar of Preserved Meyer Lemons, I wanted one more citrus fling before the season ended. On a whim I picked up a big bag of key limes. A key lime icebox pie later, I still had ton of limes. What about a pickle?

Much like preserved lemons, lime pickle is a salted and fermented affair that’s highly flavored with curry spices and hot chiles. The result was nothing short of amazing. This pickle gave me culture shock, kinda like the first time I ate kimchee. This is a pickle??? The bite of the lime zest, pucker of the juice, heady scent of the key limes combined with hot, gingery-spiced, sweet and sour goodness leaves your mouth in a whirl. The only reasonable response is “More, please.”

Seed Starting for Beginners

Sun, 5 May 2013 20:57:39 -0500

I’ve been gardening for a long time. And while I’ve planted my fair share of seeds directly into the garden, I have never really started seeds indoors. Minnesota’s growing season is so short that starting seeds indoors or purchasing seedlings is practically required, otherwise you just won’t make it to harvest before the first frost. Every season I feel like I only have one shot to get it right or it’s back to 6 months of winter. No pressure! So after a humbling discussion with my community garden neighbor and veteran seed starter that went something like this “Oh yes, I start all my plants from seed myself,” he said. “Don’t you?” It was time to learn how to start seeds.

My seed list included cool season crop cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, head lettuces, and warm season veggies eggplant, tomatoes and hot and sweet peppers. The seed starting supplies and equipment included 36 cell and 4 cell seedling trays, tray covers, seed starting mix, watering trays, tray risers, a water mat, a warming mat, a two bulb fluorescent shop light with a warm and cool bulb and popsicle stick markers.

I started my cool season crops as well as my eggplants and peppers on March 1st. The cool season plants need to be planted 6-8 weeks before the soil can be worked in the spring, which can be before the last frost. Eggplant and peppers are extremely slow growers and they need up to 10 weeks to get to a decent size. My tomato plants went in two weeks later. Check with your local university extension office or gardening club for the average last frost date and recommendations for the best time to start seeds. Then compare that with the suggested seeding time on the back of the seed package. Cool season crops go in up to a month prior to the last frost. Warm season crops can go in the ground a few weeks after the last frost when the soil is warm. And remember that many cool season seedlings can also be planted in the ground in late July for a fall harvest. Yep, even in Minnesota we can jam in two rounds of crops. Cool season veggies and tomatoes are the easiest seeds to start indoors, so if this is your first time, try those for starters.

After you’ve chosen your seeds and set your calendar, set up your seed starting area. I used open wire shelving with the adjustable shop light hanging above and the cells, trays and warming mat below. I plug the light into a timer and set it to 16 hours a day light and 8 hours dark. Plants need a dark period to properly process nutrients in their leaves. Keep the light about 1 inch above the plants, adjusting it up as they grow.

Kitchen Sink Sourdough

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 17:51:30 -0500

During these last gasps of winter, I’ve been cultivating sourdough starter. Making sourdough is a comforting, familiar routine for me. My current sourdough is a frugal, unfussy affair that ferments with just about any kind of starch. Instead of fretting about a consistent flavor profile, I worked with what was on-hand. I began with equal parts of spelt flour and water that I left to ferment on my kitchen counter. Then as time went on, I added leftovers and spare handfuls of this and that; little oatmeal, some steamed rice, a handful of rye flakes, teff, rice flour and cornmeal. Extra mashed potatoes are next on my list. My sourdough has everything in it but the kitchen sink.

Sourdough has a storied history in my family. The tale goes that when my Mother was newly married to my Dad, he worked as a cow-hand on a remote cattle ranch in Southeastern Oregon. The what was once the historic MC Ranch was on the high plains with few trees, constant wind and harsh winters. People in that part of of Oregon are hard and hardy. This did not describe my Mother. She did not like horses, or cows, or frankly winter. She came from a small, warm little town near Fresno, California, where things were a bit more civilized. The women of the MC Ranch were tough, burly and a little intimidating. So when they gifted her a jar of their sourdough, my Mother accepted with a gulp. The women explained that sometimes when you were on a cattle drive and it was cold out, it was best to keep the jar of sourdough in your sleeping bag, otherwise you would not be having flapjacks in the morning. So my Mother kept the sourdough starter. And slowly but surely, she figured out how to use it. My Mom grew more hardy, less intimidated, much more daring. Sourdough has that effect.

While I was in college, my Mother gifted me a jar of that sourdough. I’d like to say that I still have it, but college students aren’t the most mindful bunch. I lost it somewhere between undergrad, moving to Los Angeles and a couple earthquakes. But I’ve I never lost that story, nor the food memories that go with it. I’ve started and lost lots of sourdough batches over the years, using new ingredients in different cities, each with a unique flavor. But one thing never changes. Sourdough is a hardy survivor. You can make it just about anywhere, with just about any starchy ingredients. All you need is time. And a sleeping bag.

UPDATE! I will be contributing this bread to the to the Food Blogger Bake Sale, Saturday, May 4th 12:00n-3:00pm at Kitchen in the Market at Midtown Global Market, 920 E Lake St #107, Minneapolis, MN 55407. It’s a fund raiser for the Share Our Strength’s “No Kid Hungry” campaign. So come support a great cause and by my buns!

Unmolded Cumin Jack Cheese

Sat, 6 Apr 2013 20:32:26 -0500

Behold! It’s time to unmold (pun intended) the Cumin Jack Cheese with Smoked Paprika that I made back in January. After the cheese was coated in smoked paprika and the surface had dried for several days, I coated it in red cheese wax and tucked it into my wine fridge. Because the cheese is inside the wax, I did not have to add humidity to the fridge as I do for charcuterie and unwaxed cheeses. The cheese aged for just over two months. With Jack you can age it as little as a month or as much as six months. My Jack is made with whole milk, so the resulting cheese should be semi-soft. This is the first cheese I’ve waxed, and I was quite excited to see how it turned out.

The cheese is fantastic! It has a creamy, buttery consistency with earthy, dusky flavors from the cumin seeds and a smoky, sharp kick from the smoked paprika. I immediately made a corn tortilla quesadilla with the cheese and it was perfect. This cheese melts like a dream, turning a lovely pink hue. Next I tried it on a sandwich with some dill pickles, mayo and mustard. I think I’m in love. And the best part? I’m wrapped the remaining cheese tightly in plastic wrap and put it back in the wine fridge to continue aging. This cheese will just keep on getting better. If I can stop eating it.

A Note on Aging Cheese: I have many projects brewing in my house. Beer, wine and cider in the basement, kimchee, sour dough and kefir in the fridge, cheese and bacon in the wine fridge. A wine fridge is perfect for cheese and cured meats because they love it at an even 54-56 degrees. But wait, why isn’t the wine in the wine fridge? Frankly my beer, wine and cider won’t fit in the wine fridge because they are in 5 gallon containers. I could age the cheese in the basement, but my wine fridge is quite a bit cleaner and a more easily controlled environment. Some day I’ll build a proper cellar, but for now, the wine fridge is the ticket.

Dried Strawberries

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:07:45 -0500

Strawberry season is in full swing! Well, not in Minnesota. My strawberry plants are still sleeping under six inches of snow. But strawberries are plentiful in Florida, Louisiana and California right now. And while we do have to truck them into the state, the season makes them fresh and affordable. Last week at the market four pounds of strawberries were selling for $5.99. I call that a bargain. We ate two pounds and dried the other two, knowing that we just couldn’t eat them all that quickly before they went bad.

Dried strawberries are just heavenly. Their fragrance is delightful, filling the air with a zesty berry scent. We snack on them as well as add them to oatmeal, muesli, peanut butter sandwiches and green tea. They make the perfect addition to quick breads and frostings, adding a little berry kick to every bite. I can’t wait to make these with my extra garden strawberries this June. Their flavor should be even better.

Winter Cure of Preserved Meyer Lemons

Sat, 9 Mar 2013 12:41:42 -0600

Preserved lemons are the darlings of the citrus season. They make the perfect counterpoint to a dreary winter's day by adding wonderful bright flavors to slow cooked dishes like beans and grains, braised meats, salads, pancakes and sweets. And they make a fabulous addition to a martini.

Most preserved lemon recipes call for leaving the lemons mostly whole, but you use only the peel. To save a step and make them a little quicker to use in week night meals, I juice the lemons then scrape out the membranes. This way I can grab a peel and go, without having to deal with the pulp. A recipe for Lentils with Hot Paprika and Preserved Lemons follows the instructions for preserving the lemons. The dish is a perfect antidote for the winter blues.

Mussaman Corned Beef

Sun, 3 Mar 2013 10:10:24 -0600

You know that feeling you get when the many places you've been and the many tastes and smells you've experienced suddenly collide in a single moment out of time? Mussaman Corned Beef is fusion deja vu. I was in Thailand many years ago and had the wonderful experience of eating Mussaman curry in a cafe overlooking the ocean on an island in the Gulf of Thailand. Now combine that with snowy cold winter Sundays from my childhood spent eating our farm-raised and cured corned beef for St Patricks Day on our little ranch in Northern California. It's time travel, or taste travel if you will. Last Sunday night as I took a bite of bright pink beef, inhaling the fragrantly spicy Thai broth, one voice in my head said "Far, Far Away" and the other said "Home."

Mussaman Corned Beef is a fusion of Southern Thai inspired Mussaman (already a mashup of Muslim/Indian/Thai) meets traditional Corned Beef (also a blend of American/German/Irish). If you've had Mussaman curry before, you know it's a creamy, spicy, yellow affair of coconut milk, beef, potatoes and curry powder, laced with Thai aromatics. My recipe has everything except the coconut. I've left the spices whole in the same way that traditional pickling spices are whole, with the exception of the curry powder and turmeric. The spices are surprisingly similar in both versions, but the aromatics like lemongrass, shallots and fish sauce, put this recipe squarely center of both camps. While there are a lot of ingredients and steps, but each you can take your time with each section of the recipe and cook at your own pace. I truly hope you try this dish and enjoy the experience as much as I did. The resulting corned beef was fantastic.

Apple Dust and Dried Apples

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 11:00:43 -0600

I am constantly creating new healthy items that are easy to pop into lunches or have for snacks. Since it’s the middle of winter, my local apple orchard isn’t exactly open. But my coop had several bags of “seconds” organic apples for only 99¢ a pound. Time to fire up the dehydrator.

My latest endeavor is apple dust and dried apples. I got the idea for apple dust from drying leftover tomato skins from canning. The skins are dried in the oven, then pulverized, and used to sprinkle on pasta, pizza, rice and beans. Why not do the same for apple peels? My dust (more like bran) had a lovely pink color from the apple varieties I used and a light apple flavor. The best part of the dust is the kick of fiber, antioxidants and nutrients found in apple peels. Don’t let them go to waste! I like to add apple powder to yogurt, oatmeal, pancakes and muesli. The actual dried apples were pretty good, too. They barely lasted a week in my house.

Seville Blood Orange Marmalade

Sat, 9 Feb 2013 19:56:59 -0600

I am the only one in my house that likes marmalade. But I don't just like it. I love it. I have one shot a year at capturing a little citrus heaven and I don't want to miss it. That and I’ve been watching to much Downton Abbey. That show makes me crave the stuff! Stephanie A. Meyer of the blog Fresh Tart aptly said that I was a "marmalade dork." Le duh. Besides, everyone needs some sunshine in winter.

This year I'm blending classic Seville oranges, which I've never used before, with my favorite blood oranges. Seville orange peels have an amazing floral aroma that I’ve never tasted in other oranges, but with sour juice. Most of the flavor is in the peel. Blood oranges have a lip-smacking raspberry flavor and fantastic maroon colored flesh. Together the two fruits make a dark red-orange marmalade with a unique fruity flavor and aroma, followed by a towel-snapping bite.

Curry Spiced Tofu

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 12:26:28 -0600

Several posts ago I made my first tofu from scratch. The process, while a bit time consuming, was pretty easy. Then a few posts later, I made Cumin Jack Cheese, a monterey style jack studded with cumin seed and covered in smoked paprika. And a thought struck me. How come I never see flavored tofu? We add all sorts of things to cheese like peppers, fenugreek, caraway, herbs, dried tomatoes and other spices. But tofu is always sold plain. That’s rather strange. Since I’m making mine from scratch anyways, why not season it first before pressing? Then it will not require marinading before I cook it. Eureka!

Inspired by a recent curry dish my sweetie made, I crafted a finely spiced tofu that would be perfect for Indian, Thai and other South East Asian style dishes, or just some fabulously seasoned veggies. I made soy milk the weekend before using part of the original tofu recipe, then stored the milk in the fridge. Using toasted cumin, mustard and coriander seeds, plus garam masala and cardamom, I created a soft curry spiced tofu.

Grass-Fed Beef Jerky

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:10:00 -0600

Grass-fed beef is perfect for jerky. Naturally lean, the rich mineral flavor of the beef shines through. Luck for me Santa left a fab new dehydrator under the Christmas tree. (Thanks Mom & Ron!) I fondly remember the venison jerky my Dad used to make. He would marinate the jerky in teriyaki sauce or red wine, then dry smoke-dry it over a low fire on the BBQ. Rich, tangy and chewy, the whole family loved it. It didn't last long in my house.

For my grass-fed beef, I made two kinds of jerky, one with smoked salt, maple and mustard, the other with dark soy and garlic chili paste. The smoked salt added major dimension to the meat with a pleasant sweet-sharp tang from the maple and mustard. The dark soy sauce, which is like soy molasses, was sweet and savory, with a nice kick from the chilies. Both jerkies were meaty and lightly chewy. Jerky makes an excellent lean-protein snack. It will be perfect for camping, hiking and on mushroom forays. If it lasts that long.

A note on food safety: Many dehydrator books tell you that you "must" pre-cook then dehydrate meat at 155 degrees for safety reasons, fully cooking it. But my preference is the traditional route. I dried my raw beef at 90 degrees. Is there a risk? Some. But I know where my beef is from, how it was raised and processed. Using whole muscle cuts has a much lower risk of bacterial contamination than using ground meats. Salted, thin slices cure fast, minimizing exposure to harmful bacteria.

Cumin Jack Cheese

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:31:24 -0600

I wish I had a cow. Then I could make cheese all the time with an endless supply of fresh milk. When I was a kid we had neighbors with a milk cow. If we wanted fresh milk we just stopped by the pump house along side the main road and picked up a couple of gallon jars. The first few glasses of milk were the best, since they were loaded with the cream from the top. That milk would have made dynamite cheese. When I retire, mark my words: I'm getting that cow. But since live in small house in Minneapolis, my Cumin Jack cheese will be decidedly urban, made with milk from my co-op.

Jack is a great cheese to make at home. It takes an afternoon and can be eaten in just a months time. While it takes several hours to make, the actual work is pretty minimal. You don’t need a cheese press as the weight applied to the cheese is very light. The finished cheese is waxed and aged for one to four months, depending on the desired sharpness. When made with whole milk, Jack is a semi-soft cheese. This version is spiced with cumin seeds and smoked paprika. My goal was to create a creamy melting cheese laced with earthy, smokey flavors that would be perfect on a cheese board, tacos or in fondue.

Garlic Sausage Ravioli

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 12:00:45 -0600

What to have for Christmas dinner? Ah, the eternal question. It should be special, communal and hearty, but not so complicated that you can not enjoy the day. Ham is traditional fare in our family, but we were a small group this year and I already made ham for our Winter Solstice Party. The week before Christmas I picked up a half a hog, one hundred and twenty pounds of local, pasture-raised pork from Snake River Farms Minnesota now grace my deep freeze. So clearly is had to be made of pork.

Garlic Sausage Ravioli seemed like a delicious solution. Although there are lots of steps in the process, we could make the garlic sausage ahead of time, then assemble the ravioli on Christmas day while lounging around in our pajamas. My partner's family has a long tradition of doing hand-made ravioli for Christmas, so he was game. Making ravioli is a lot like making tamales - it's much more fun with help (and wine).

The results were wonderful. The sausage was savory and delicious, packed with garlic and wine, pairing perfectly with fresh milky ricotta cheese, nutty parmesan and pungent romano. The hand-rolled pasta, made bright yellow with farm fresh eggs enrobed the filling. The cooked ravioli was dressed with a rustic tomato sauce made from my summer canned tomatoes, and sprinkled with a little extra parmesan cheese to finish it off. Heaven. Good thing we were still in our pajamas because sleep wasn't far behind dinner.

Scotch Whisky Juniper ham

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 16:23:00 -0600

It’s time to embrace Winter. The cool weather sends us indoors, the oven keeps the house nice and warm, and herbs and spices sent the air. This year I threw a party for the Winter Solstice to celebrate the longest night and the blessed return of the sun in the New Year. Since my friends have come to expect charcuterie at my parties, I cured an easy festive holiday ham for the table.

This ham is made with pork loin spiced with juniper, black pepper, maple syrup and smokey scotch whisky. My smoker is out in the snowy yard, so the scotch whisky adds a little smoke without me dawning my snow boots. The pork loin was only two pounds so it cures in just a few days. It can be cooked well ahead of the party and stored in the fridge. This ham works well served hot or cold, sliced thin with pickles or condiments on the side. I served it with sparkling semi-dry Lambrusco and a bit of Beer Mustard.

Rendering Pastured Pork Lard

Sat, 8 Dec 2012 23:04:44 -0600

Rendering your own lard is a snap. Lard does wonderful things to food, making pastries flakey, deep fried foods crispy and sautés profoundly flavorful. But the most important component of good tasting lard is the source of the pork fat. Mine was from local, pastured pigs, which means those pigs roam and forage for much of their food, making their fat not only tasty, but high in vitamin E and Omega 3 fatty acids. This lard is nothing like commercial, shelf-stable blocks from the store. This fat is fresh, unctuous, delicious and quite healthful.

Last January I had the pleasure of attending the winter lard rendering at Snake River Farm Minnesota, near the small town of Becker. I had been looking for a local farm from which to source our beef and pork. Having grown up on a farm, I appreciate the quality and satisfaction that comes from raising and eating your own meat. Farmer Tom Barthel raises grass-fed bison, beef and pastured hogs at Snake River, selling them directly to consumers. I emailed Tom and he invited me to the farm to have a look during their annual lard rendering. He recommended that I bring a couple of mason jars so I could take some fresh lard home with me. Who can say no to that?

When we arrived at the picturesque farm, we were greeted by a team of horses ready to pull a sleigh. Inside their barn we found the lard rendering in full swing. Friends and family manned pots of ground pork fat that were gently melting on a big wood fired stove. As the lard liquified, it was ladled off into jars through some cheese cloth. When as much lard as possible was rendered, the remaining “cracklins” were fried until crisp and added to scrambled eggs for visitors, along with freshly deep fried doughnuts, french and sweet potato fries. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. The lard is very clean tasting with just the barest hint of savoriness.

Needless to say we coveted our three jars of lard we took home. Below are very easy instructions for rendering lard at home. If you don’t have access to a local farm, check out your local butcher shop. They will know how to get leaf lard or back fat. Leaf lard is the interior fat on a hog that sits right by their kidneys. It’s unsaturated fat and is very soft, melting at low temps. Back fat is saturated and very hard, melting at higher temps. Most people suggest using leaf lard for pastries and breads and back fat lard for deep frying. Honestly, I’m not that picky. I’ll just take lard any way I can get it!

Cranberry Mustard

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 18:16:53 -0600

My giant jar of Stout Beer Mustard finally ran out. Always one to try something new, I pondered what kind of mustard to make next. There are so many possibilities! But with the holidays around the corner and a jeweled bag of Wisconsin cranberries in the fridge, a festive mustard was in order. Could cranberries and mustard go together? The trick was to find the right balance between bitter, sour, sweet and salty.

As you might imagine, this mustard was destine to hit my Thanksgiving table and dress the leftovers there after. So I wanted this mustard to be more accessible to kids and guests, and not hit them over the head. My solution was to make a rustic cranberry jam with only half the sugar and combine that with yellow mustard seeds soaked in apple cider vinegar with a little beer. A pinch of salt was my only seasoning. Instead of blending the mustard seeds I left them whole, which made for a great texture and much milder flavored mustard, somewhere between a chutney and a mustard. This spread paired perfectly with tangy goat cheese on crackers, as well as made for an excellent turkey sandwich.

Cranberry Mustard Recipe
By Tammy Kimbler

Ingredients:
1/2 cup yellow mustard seeds
2/3 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup amber beer
1 cup whole cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt

Instructions:
In a glass jar, soak yellow mustard seeds in cider vinegar overnight. They should swell to almost a full cup. Add more cider vinegar if they seem dry.

The next day, bring the cranberries, sugar and beer to a simmer on the stove. When cranberries begin to pop, cook another 5 minutes. Add the mustard seed mixture and a pinch of salt. Taste the mixture. If it seems to sour or bitter, add a couple teaspoons of sugar. When the balance suites your taste, remove from heat and return the mixture to a glass jar. Cool in the fridge. The flavors will meld when cool. Makes 3, 1/4 pint jars. Store in the refrigerator. And try not to spread it on everything in site.

Single-Serving Crockpot Yogurt

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:46:12 -0600

Yogurt is a staple in my house where we make it by the half gallon. But constantly dipping a spoon in to the big container turns the yogurt into a slimy, runny mess. I’m encouraging my daughter to eat more yogurt, but one look in the tub yields an instant ‘No thanks, Mom.’ Enter, the single-serving yogurt jar. I had never tried making these before without a yogurt maker, but thanks to the arrival of a crockpot in our house, now was the time.

I mixed up a batch of yogurt like I usually do, using a bit of leftover yogurt and whole milk, but then pouring the mix into little jars. I left a little head space in each jar so I could toss in granola, muesli, fruit, nuts or jam later. Then the jars went into a water bath in my crockpot. I wrapped the crockpot in a fluffy towel and waited 6 hours. Into the refrigerator it went, and viola! Portable yogurt.

I used cute little 1/4 pint jelly jars for my 6 year old daughter, who can grab them for breakfast, lunch or a snack whenever she likes, and 1/2 pint jars for the adults. The individual containers are reusable and the yogurt stays fresh and firm for several weeks. Best of all, I used non-homogenized milk, creating a yummy cream top layer. We tore through our first half gallon in one week!

A Cheese Makers Guide to Tofu

Thu, 8 Nov 2012 14:35:27 -0600

While I may be known for my meat-curing, dairy-loving ways, I really enjoy tofu. I blame college. I spent my college days at UC Santa Cruz, the vegan capital of the world. Vegetarian food was cheap and easy to find in Santa Cruz and tofu was the protein of choice. I also had a modern dancer for a roommate, so we frequently had tofu in the fridge. Since then, tofu has been a consistent ingredient in my cooking, from the usual stir-fries to marinated, BBQ-sauced slabs cooked on the grill. Tofu soaks up flavors, herbs and seasonings better than meats. And while Americans still seem to be wrestling with this Asian ingredient, I think making your own is the perfect antidote for mass processed food.

Tofu is not cheese in the traditional sense, but the process for making tofu is remarkably similar. DIY tofu is hot this year on the blog circuit. After reading many posts, I've adapted the process for the cheese maker, using several gallons of soy milk and all the usual equipment. With my cheese press, I was able to make extra firm tofu in 1 hour with an even, consistent texture. For the price of 1.5 lbs dried organic soy beans ($6), 3 tbs of nigari, the coagulant for tofu (10¢), I made 3 lbs of extra firm organic tofu. That's only $2.10 a pound for high quality protein with no preservatives. Of course you can still make this without a cheese mold or press, by using a colander, plate and big can of tomatoes for the weight. The tofu will taste great, but the texture will be softer. Either way, this is a great project to try at home.

Apple Sour Cherry Cider

Fri, 2 Nov 2012 15:20:08 -0500

On a lovely fall day a few weeks ago, my foodie compatriots Molly McNeil and Meighan McGuire helped me make a big batch of Apple Sour Cherry Cider. I’ve recently become fascinated with preserving food by making booze. I find cider to be particularly interesting because after the prep, the yeast (tame or wild) does all of the work for you. I’ve read numerous articles on cider and perry (pear cider) making, both American and British, and it is truly an age-old art form. Tart apples and sour cherries are two of my favorite cooking fruits, so making them into an alcoholic beverages seemed the right path, particularly because both are grown locally in Minnesota. What better way to enjoy a season’s harvest than in your glass?

I met up with Meighan and Molly to buy 16 pounds of tart apples at the Kingsfield Farmers Market in South Minneapolis. Our beautiful Haralson apples came from Havlicek’s Orchard in Webster, Minnesota, who sells at farmer’s markets and has a pick-your-own operation. The 10 pounds of sour cherries were picked in June and frozen. They came from Molly’s uncle’s orchard, Minnesota Peach. What a match up!

The overall process of making the cider was pretty simple. We cored and shredded the apples, blended the pitted cherries, dumped it all in a bucket, tossed in some yeast, sugars and water and put on the top. I don’t have a fruit press, so this was my solution for dealing with the fruit. I think it’s going to work out just fine. Our bucket of cider “must” started to ferment in under 24 hours and two weeks later, it’s ready to “rack” off into a secondary fermenter to mellow out a bit before we get back together and bottle it. Of course it also takes a lot of patients. But the idea of ready-made bubbly booze sitting in my basement just makes me happy.

After we finished making our batch of cider, Molly and Meighan helped me to bottle a test gallon of cider I’d made a month ago, so we could try out the equipment. Bottling is also simple, if tedious. You add a little extra sugar to the batch to get your yeast going again (sometimes you need to add more yeast as well), then you put the cider into pressure proof beer bottles and apply new caps. The yeast then produces carbon dioxide, which is trapped by the bottle and absorbed back into the liquid. Viola! Natural carbonization. See, the yeast does all the work. Except the bottling. If only the yeast would bottle it for me. Thank you Molly & Meighan for the help & the photos!

Lobster Mushrooms

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:19:15 -0500

Lobster mushrooms are the strangest edible fungi that I’ve yet encountered. Unlike their camouflaged cousin the morel, lobsters are like a stop sign. Look at me, I’m over here! And once you find one pocket, others are sure to follow. On a recent trip to a local state park, we found these mushrooms everywhere. We were hunting in an oak forest with lots of leaves and buff on the ground, after a rain. The lobster mushrooms were hard to miss, their color popping them out against the gray-brown leaf litter. Unfortunately I only had my field guide on me for reference, which has the ominous warning for lobsters that says that if you can’t identify the host, don’t eat them. We picked a bunch, but ended up tossing them because we didn’t have a solid identification.

The next day we drove up out of the valley into cell range, tweeted a fellow forager, and confirmed that it was highly unlikely that this was anything but an edible lobster mushroom, especially if the area was populated by their common hosts. Damn! Back we hiked to the same area. Now we started looking for the host mushrooms, Russulas and Lactarius. These related mushrooms are both found under trees, with whom they grow symbiotically. Russulas are often red, brown and green topped, all with white gills and brittle flesh. Lactarius, also known as milky caps, are very similar, although they exude a milky latex from their flesh and gills. Both range from choice sweet edibles to acrid poisonous varieties.

Lobster mushrooms are actually two fungal organisms. One is the host, either Russulas or Lactarius mushrooms, that has been overrun with a parasite, namely by a microscopic ascomycete fungus, Hypomyces. The Hypomyces infects the young fungi, transforming them into a roughly textured, dense, deformed, orange-red, edible mushrooms. Yep, you heard it right. The Hypomyces fungus renders even the poisonous varieties of these hosts completely edible. And it gives off the heady aroma of cooked seafood, and tastes like it, too. Amazing! Hypomyces has been known to rarely infect other poisonous mushrooms, but they look nothing like lobsters.