Functional Foods - Part Three - Dairy Kefir Cheese

Dairy Kefir is very different to Water Kefir and the thought of drinking a cultured, fizzy (after a second fermentation), dairy product doesn't inspire me too much however cultured cheese does!

At some stage I will give the Dairy Kefir drink a go as there were some really nice flavour combinations for a second fermentation and I will work my way up to making, and trying those!

You can buy Dairy Kefir Grains that multiply, a lot like the Water Kefir Grains do, however I decided to start out with the Mad Millie Dairy Kefir Kit as it comes with some cheese cloth, a 1L Jar a mixing ball and 2 sachets of the Kefir Grain that can be used up to two more times after your initial fermentation.  You can buy replacement sachets, as well as the kits from Mad Millie.  This is also where I buy the artisan salt (I use in recipes that ask for Kosher salt).  If you are interested in starting a food project Mad Millie is a good place to start as they provide fantastic help and guidance with youtube videos and facebook.  There products are good quality and if you follow the instructions you end up with a pretty good product!  I have tried a few of their products and have been a very satisfied customer.

Anyway back to Dairy Kefir Cheese...

This was fantastically easy.  You put the milk in the jar, add the mixing ball and a sachet, put the lid on and shake.  Leave a couple of days then when set, pop into the doubled cheese cloth, tie it to a spoon and hang to dry for a couple more days.

I used normal "blue" milk and ended up with a cheese very much like a cross between feta and sour cream.  I stirred it and added a little salt, actually my hand slipped and I accidentally added a little too much but it still tastes just fine.  You can use this cheese wherever you would usually use cream cheese or in my case I have been using instead of sour cream.

That was my second whoopsie!  My first was not retaining a quarter cup of the mixture so I could make another batch from the same sachet!  I will remember next time as this cheese is fantastic and so easy to make.

Functional Food - Part Two - Fermented Food

Okay so next up in the Functional Food journey is Fermented Food.

The first thing I decided to try is Kimchi.  For this one I caved and bought the Fermenting pot that Mad Millie sells.  This is not a necessary accessory and there are plenty of sites providing alternatives but I figured I try doing this with the Mad Millie Fermenting Pot.

I also used the recipe provided for Kimchi that came with the pot as I figured it had been tried and tested and... well... I figured I couldn't get it too wrong!

The top picture is that of a Napa Cabbage which the recipe called for two.  There is a lot of waiting time with the cabbage part as it first needs a 15min salt massage then needs to soak for 1-2 hours.  All the recipes I read called for Korean Red Chilli Powder which turns out is a little difficult to find online in Auckland.  I finally found a place which had some and of course the smallest amount I could buy was 500gm...  Yep 500gm is A LOT of red chilli powder but as most recipes call for at least 4 tablespoons I figured it would be ok.  Yes this is on the assumption that I am going to actually like Kimchi!  Here is the funniest part, when I was in Korea in '88 I refused to touch the stuff.  To be fair I was fairly young and wasn't quite ready to expand my taste palette but it's never too late to give something a go. 

When mixing the red chilli to the ginger, garlic, sugar and fish sauce you end up with a thick spicy paste which smells quite tasty but no I was not going to try it as I would be way to strong n spicy to taste it at this stage!

I added soaked and then rinsed cabbage to the spring onions and radish then using gloves I mixed through the chilli paste and once mixed I added to the Fermenting pot then packed it down and added the weights to keep the veges down.

Now its a matter of waiting for three days until the first tasting then it'll be a bit longer until it's ready.  A lot of functional food is waiting and tasting until things reach the taste profile you enjoy.  This is something that really draws me in as making foods to how you like them lets you explore and stretch your own taste palette instead of relying on what can be commercially made.  Now there is nothing wrong with buying ready made as it saves plenty of time however there is something really nice about making something from scratch.

The next thing I want to try making after Kimchi is Sauerkraut but for now I am just going to patiently wait for my Kimchi and maybe move on to part 3.

Functional Food - Part One - Water Kefir

I have been looking for more ways to be healthier and seeing as how much I love food I decided to look for some ways to combine the two.

I started reading about functional food.  Food that isn't just great to eat and good for you but also contains health-giving additives. 

I can lose hours on pinterest exploring and learning, it is a wealth of information.  Pinterest are now pitching themselves as the worlds catalogue of ideas, and it's a well deserved title.

I found four particular things that caught my eye, there is a fifth but that'll be a wait "n" see as it is dependant on another part.  Anyway one of the first things I have being trying to let go of is soda.  It is a difficult one, mainly as it is just so easy and cheap when it comes to grabbing a cold one so the first up is Water Kefir.

A lot of you may have heard about Kefir, as in the dairy kind, however Water Kefir grains use a sugar, fruit, water combination to work.  The process itself is done in two fermentations, and here I mainly cover the first fermentation.

The hardest part to date was to find a supply of Water Kefir Grains.  I finally managed to source some and they turned up in a couple of days with some great instructions, Kefir grains, sugar, sultanas and a little baking soda and some suggestions on what type of vessel I would need as well as a suggestion on where to source the container/vessel.  Fantastic service for anyone starting out!

I was a little nervous starting out as the grains are living and need to be looked after and cared for in the right way and if you do it right these beautiful little grains will multiply and you end up with an unlimited supply.  My little beauties have already doubled their population within a couple of days and one brew.  I have a second brew of a first fermentation already underway.

It is fine to drink after the first fermentation and it does taste good however everything I read suggested a second fermentation for a flavoured bubbly drink.  There are so many suggestions for flavouring, which is usually a combination of fruits and/or herbs.  I settled on a ginger and pear combination and peeled and cut up a pear and grated a little ginger and popped a little of each in six, 500ml bottles with the swing top lids, then filled each bottle leaving an inch of air at the top.  These will sit out for a couple of days then they will go in the fridge to slow down/stop the fermentation process ready for drinking.  The second fermentation also boosts all the good stuff even more.  I am really looking forward to trying this combination so look out on face book for an update when I finally get to try my first batch!

When it comes to functional foods it is really important to introduce these to your system gradually and work your way up to larger serving sizes.  Also a good point to note is Water Kefir has a alcohol level of around the 1% or less but you are not going to be drinking gallons of the stuff, remember everything in moderation!  As I have had a lot of changes to my diet over the last couple of years I am starting out slow with a gulp or two a day of the first fermentation and will work my way up to larger servings to make sure I don't have a bad reaction to what is a really cool part one of my Functional Food journey!

Below are a few photos from the Water Kefir journey so far...  Anyway I must go as I am currently working on Part Two and need to get back to it!

Update: Jump forward a couple of days - For my second fermentation on my first batch I tried Pear and Ginger, it has lovely delicate bubbles and a light Pear and Ginger flavour.  It is delightful and I am part way through my second bottle and I have another four bottles chilling to use up.  I cut back on my brew from a 3L to 2L as six, 500ml bottles is a lot so figured four bottles every couple of days will be much easier to handle, especially as it has a limited shelf life of a couple of weeks in the fridge.  I have just bottled up my second batch this time I am trying a bottle of Lemon and three bottles of Pineapple.  Really looking forward to trying these.  I didn't have many ripe lemons so could only manage the one bottle of the Lemon.

I am loving Water Kefir as an alternative to soda and knowing it is good for me just makes it that much better.

 

Well Hey There Y'all

I know, I know it's been a little, okay yes quite a long stretch since my last post!

I'm not a fan of hot weather so I tend to do not much of anything over summer as heat just makes me more grumbly than usual.  Yes I can hear you saying summer has been over for quite some time so all I can say is I needed a break.  When I look back over my posts I learnt a whole lot of new skills and hobbies in a pretty tight timeframe and well I guess I really needed a little bit of a breather.

So why the post now?

I have stumbled across a new hobby which I am just starting to gear up for.  I won't be selling any of the stuff I'm making this time round as it is all based about functional food, feeling better and healing the gut.  I will however be taking y'all on the journey with me as I go as I try out different recipes, methods and yes showing you what happens when things go wrong!

The first hurdle I came across was sourcing everything I needed in little ole New Zealand!  I find we can be a little bit behind when it comes to DIY and trying out some of the latest "trends" sweeping the globe, we seem to prefer someone else to do the hard work for us.  However, in saying that there are a good few people out there that are curious and need to try new things and/or want to control every ingredient that goes into or onto their bodies and so after a bit of hunting, research and scouring blogs I managed to find every bit and piece I needed (I hope!).

I am still occasionally making lotions, soaps and I fell in love with the shampoo bars I made.  I finally ran out 6wks ago so I made myself a new batch which should last me about 11 months.  I also finally made up a recipe instead of using someone else's... not sure I can call it a lotion but it's somewhere in-between a lotion and a balm and it's wonderful on the face and body and although it takes a little time to sink in it has done wonders for my complexion.  I even use a tiny amount on my hair in the morning to help with controlling the frizz I call hair, in saying that the shampoo bar and this lotion/balm combo is better than anything I have ever bought from a store.  For those thinking about switching to a shampoo bar be warned it takes about 6 weeks for your hair to recover from the store bought stuff but stick with it as the end results are worth it!

Anyway I will be back to blogging again and hopefully you might enjoy the journey with me or if you decide to try yourself, avoid the pitfalls I fall into!

So stick around and all will be revealed in the next couple of weeks.

(Although anyone that follows me on Pinterest might have an inkling already!)