i often find it’s difficult to sit down for even just a bit during the summertime to share my thoughts with you in this space. with these august days oh so full in the garden & in the kitchen, i’m lucky if i can even fit in a shower!
but with rain coming in & a decently checked off to-do list, i thought i would carve out a moment or two to sit with you & share a handful of my favorite recipes for putting up the garden bounty. it’s what’s on my mind right now as i am sure it’s on yours, too. there’s always a basket of produce waiting on me, which is indeed such a gift.
i’ve blogged about most of these recipes, but it’s always nice to have one place to go & find my most used recipes. happy canning & preserving!
– my easiest, go-to tomato sauce: this sauce can be used with pasta or on pizza. it’s very versatile. the recipe is a slow-cooker recipe, but i’ve also cooked it on low atop the stovetop.
– heather’s salsa: i’ve made lots of jars of this salsa this summer & we love it. i look forward to popping open a jar of this fresh tomato goodness with tortilla chips in the dead of winter.
– the most delicious sweet pickles: i love this simple cucumber sweet pickle recipe from smitten kitchen. it’s straight-forward & easy. simply pop them in the fridge when you’re finished – they’ll last for a couple of months.
– pickle everything with this go-to recipe: okra, sugar snap peas & more… i use this recipe as my go-to for quick pickling almost everything from the garden.
– canned dilly beans: we love dilly beans! can them & enjoy them in the winter with a good meat & cheese plate. don’t forget a good loaf of homemade bread, too.
– our family favorite cucumbers & onions: this is a summer potluck go-to & a favorite dish among my family. simply combine ingredients & let them mingle for just a bit before serving. it’s a delicious, fresh addition to almost any meal from grilled burgers to salad.
– chop & freeze almost everything from the garden: to freeze berries, peppers, fresh corn & more, simply wash & chop (if necessary) your produce. lay on a baking sheet & allow to freeze completely. once thoroughly frozen, place in a labeled plastic freezer bag & store in the deep freeze until ready to use. tip: i keep a deep freeze supply list on clipboard hanging from the wall next to our deep freeze so we don’t lose track of what’s inside.
– my favorite crustless zucchini pie: skinnytaste’s zucchini pie is a favorite of ours. i made a few for freezing this summer with our extra zucchini & they will make the perfect quick & affordable dinner this winter. to process the zucchini, i pulled out our food processor, which makes the work much easier.
– my favorite basil pesto: i love this basil pesto recipe because it does not use nuts, which cost a small fortune when you’re processing the quantity of pesto we do. once my pesto is made, i freeze it in small jars & ice cube trays. once the trays are frozen, i remove each cube & place them all in a labeled plastic freezer bag.
let me know if you use any of our go-to recipes for processing & preserving your garden bounty!
love,
natalie
Luke here. Every year I look forward to harvesting cabbage from our garden so that I can make sauerkraut and kimchi. I absolutely love making these vegetable ferments! They are fun to make, delicious to eat, and really good for you! Plus, they are a great way to make use of excess produce from the garden.
In this blog post I’ll walk you through making sauerkraut and I’ll also throw in a link to my favorite kimchi recipe in case you want to get adventurous!
Sauerkraut is incredibly simple to make. All you need is cabbage and salt! You can add other ingredients like caraway seeds, juniper berries, carrots, or beets, but really all you need are those two ingredients. In reality you also need some microbes to make the fermentation happen, but they come with the cabbage so you don’t have to worry about them!
In case you’re not familiar, traditional sauerkraut is made though a process called lacto-fermentation, where lactic acid bacteria and yeast consume sugars in the cabbage to create by-products of lactic acid, carbon dioxide, and wonderful flavors. It’s the microbes that do all the work, but you have to make sure you create the right environment for them to do what they do best!
Here’s what you need:
Note that 5 lbs of cabbage yields roughly 1 gallon of sauerkraut
– Cabbage
– Fine sea salt*
– Caraway seeds**
*roughly 1/2 Tbs of salt per pound of cabbage
**optional, roughly 1 tsp of caraway seeds per pound of cabbage
Start by slicing the cabbage as thinly as you can manage and chop into pieces about 2-4 inches long. A vegetable mandolin really helps with this, but I’ve always just used a large chef’s knife. Weigh out the cabbage to determine how much salt to add. Measure out 1/2 Tbsp of fine sea salt for each pound of cabbage. Add the sliced cabbage into a bowl in layers sprinkling each layer with salt to evenly distribute all the salt you measured out.
Next you need to bruise the cabbage by squeezing it or pounding it with a wooden kraut pounder until water squeezes out and the cabbage turns slightly soggy. Now you can mix in the additional ingredients like caraway seeds. I use 1 tsp of caraway seeds for each pound of cabbage because I really like the flavor and it reminds me of rye bread. But you could add juniper berries, sliced apples, beets, or carrots instead. Whatever you think will taste good!
After your cabbage is bruised and additional ingredients are mixed in, pack it into a glass jar by pressing down on the cabbage as you pack to squeeze out all the air bubbles. This is where a wooden kraut pounder really comes in handy to help you press down the cabbage, especially when you use a large jar. You can sometimes find these wooden pounders at antique malls, but we also sell them in our shop. I like to use quart jars for my kraut, but you can use any size. Just make sure the size is appropriate for the amount of kraut that you are making.
Continue to pack the jar until full. Press down the cabbage so that the liquid brine rises above the level of the cabbage. Finally, check for air bubbles in the cabbage and try your best to squeeze out the bubbles or pack the cabbage in tight enough that the air escapes.
Now its time to lid your jar. I am 100% sold on these stainless steel Kraut Source lids that we now carry in our shop. They make this step so much easier and less messy than the alternative. It is rare that I come across a kitchen gadget that is this elegant and effective.
But if you don’t have a Kraut Source lid you can still make great kraut! You just need a smaller glass jar or weight that will fit inside the mouth of your mason jar to weigh down the cabbage while your kraut ferments. The key is to keep that cabbage submerged under the salty brine so that mold doesn’t grow on the exposed cabbage leaves. This is something the Kraut Source lid does for you, but with a little creativity you can find something in your kitchen that will do the trick. If you do not have one of our lids, a trick is to fill the smaller jar with water so that is is heavy enough to weigh down the cabbage. And I would recommend covering the top with a kitchen towel or cheesecloth so that flies don’t get in your kraut.
Now just wait! Let your kraut ferment at room temperature (65-75 degrees F) for 5-7 days or until it tastes just right. I would recommend sampling your kraut every day to taste how the flavor changes over time and to know when it’s time to halt the fermentation.
When the kraut is done, just put a lid on it and pop in the fridge. This will halt the activity of the microbes and keep your kraut preserved for as long as a year. But hopefully you’ll finish it off before then!
If you can’t get enough and need more recipes and fermentation inspiration check out these two books by Sandor Katz. They are the best! I got my kraut and kimchi recipe from Wild Fermentation. His newer book, The Art of Fermentation, includes some great backstories on how these delicious foods were discovered. Michael Pollan has called Katz his “fermentation guru” so that says enough!
And as promised, here is my kimchi recipe taken from Wild Fermentation.
Happy fermentations! Reach out if you have any questions!
– Luke
this summer i am on a mission to make the perfect homemade popsicle.
i’ve always wanted to make my own popsicles & this summer felt like the perfect time to invest in such a hobby. i was first introduced to the art of the homemade popsicle by stephanie of 3191 miles apart (her blog post here is great for recipes!).
for my first popsicles (shown above), i dug around in my freezer & fridge for ingredients already on hand. i concocted a honey-infused raspberry & blueberry vanilla yogurt popsicle perfect for hot days by the pool or in the garden.
to make this popsicle, simply warm up a cup or two of mixed frozen berries on the stovetop with a tablespoon of honey. mix until the honey is fully dissolved throughout the fruit. with your popsicle molds at hand, add a couple of spoonfuls of honey fruit into your molds. then add a spoonful or two of yogurt & top it all with more honey fruit. allow popsicles to freeze until they’re solid. eat & enjoy!
popsicle molds can be found most anywhere during the summer season. my molds were gifted to me (thank you, mother-in-law!), but i do love stephanie’s mold found here (the simple wooden popsicle stick is so classic).
next up – watermelon mint & lemon lime! yum!
have you made popsicles before? please share your favorite recipes!
love,
natalie