Fermenting Stuff
We have been fermenting a lot of grains, and good ideas, at Macbiehill Farmhouse. A four-day Baking for Community course ended yesterday, with (sourdough) cultures being exchanged between Scotland, England, Bulgaria, Brazil and Ireland.
We adopted some Kefir 'grains', which are fermenting whole organic milk whilst multiplying their complex mix of bacteria and yeasts merrily in the kitchen. The resulting yoghurty drink - blended with a syrup of summer berries and served chilled - has been a huge hit. Influenced by nutritionist Colette McMahon, with her mantras of 'get the oils right' and 'soak the grains first' I've also added 'energy balls' to the Bread Matters coffee breaks. As soon as my new moulds arrive I will dignify these with the title 'energy bars' but for now it's just balls.
Here is the recipe.
You don't need to weigh anything. Use any measure for the 'scoop' - tablespoon, jug, bucket - according to how many people you're feeding, in these ratios:
Soak two scoops of dried apricots with one scoop of crystallised ginger and one scoop of sunflower seeds in pure orange juice, overnight.
Drain off any excess liquid that hasn't been absorbed.
Add one scoop of cashew nuts.
Whizz the mixture in a blender until it is only slightly lumpy.
Shape it into small balls and roll them in dried coconut to coat them.
If the mixture is too soft to shape, chill it in the fridge first and/or add more nuts or seeds.
Variations: Almost any dried fruits, seeds and nuts, coated in chocolate.
It is still Lent, of course, so the Lenten Greens recipe posted this time last year is back in fashion; and we've eaten our first green salads of Japanese broccoli, wild rocket, a volunteer lettuce, Mizuna and Mibuna from the polytunnel.
We adopted some Kefir 'grains', which are fermenting whole organic milk whilst multiplying their complex mix of bacteria and yeasts merrily in the kitchen. The resulting yoghurty drink - blended with a syrup of summer berries and served chilled - has been a huge hit. Influenced by nutritionist Colette McMahon, with her mantras of 'get the oils right' and 'soak the grains first' I've also added 'energy balls' to the Bread Matters coffee breaks. As soon as my new moulds arrive I will dignify these with the title 'energy bars' but for now it's just balls.
Here is the recipe.
You don't need to weigh anything. Use any measure for the 'scoop' - tablespoon, jug, bucket - according to how many people you're feeding, in these ratios:
Soak two scoops of dried apricots with one scoop of crystallised ginger and one scoop of sunflower seeds in pure orange juice, overnight.
Drain off any excess liquid that hasn't been absorbed.
Add one scoop of cashew nuts.
Whizz the mixture in a blender until it is only slightly lumpy.
Shape it into small balls and roll them in dried coconut to coat them.
If the mixture is too soft to shape, chill it in the fridge first and/or add more nuts or seeds.
Variations: Almost any dried fruits, seeds and nuts, coated in chocolate.
It is still Lent, of course, so the Lenten Greens recipe posted this time last year is back in fashion; and we've eaten our first green salads of Japanese broccoli, wild rocket, a volunteer lettuce, Mizuna and Mibuna from the polytunnel.
The green tomatoes from last year's crop have nearly all been eaten, in the form of a variation on 'zucchini' loaves (see post February 2013) and this green tomato chutney we made last autumn.
Andrew has been slowly-fermenting and baking with Mulika wheat, grown in East Lothian.
If you haven't read Scotland: The Bread yet, here's a loaf, and a link, for you.
Andrew has been slowly-fermenting and baking with Mulika wheat, grown in East Lothian.
If you haven't read Scotland: The Bread yet, here's a loaf, and a link, for you.
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