Family Farm Recipes

[barre]

Cooking-from-scratch is a lost art, but more critical than ever to assure the integrity of elements & energy that you put into your body. We’ve done it all from hi-protein competition cuisine to raw food veganism and everything in-between. We’ll share our culinary secrets here, but we want to hear from you. This forum is about healthy, tasty & functional recipes for carnivores & plant-based folks alike. We’ll reserve dietary ideology debates for other forums.

• This discussion was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by  barre.

Discussion

[Sonya]

Perfect timing! Because of mobility issues I’ve been reliant on help with food preparation and more convenient meal options but have been having a bit of a life revamp recently and have been eating a gorgeous home made borlotti bean and chilli veg stew almost every day for the last week! Fresh chillis have been a revelation, especially my home grown ones, in terms of layers of flavour and not just heat. Tonight I had to have a supermarket heat up cannelloni instead. It was an expensive, posh one that I used to really enjoy but in just that one week my taste buds have been retrained and it tasted sweet and processed and, most importantly, lacking in “life”. I started veg growing last year and again the flavours and life force are a completely different eating experience. I wish everyone could have an experience of eating some real, organic food; once tasted you can’t go back and obviously on a nutritional level it’s a whole different world. So looking forward to getting some inspiration from this group ?

[barre]

Thanks for getting this forum off to a great start! I would encourage all foodies here to also share how their changing taste buds ran course with larger life changes. Deb & I discuss this often as we look back on the many phases we shared over 50 years, and our shifting foraging habits along the way. BTW … taste buds, as with all sensory organs, both project & receive. Because they are appraised of the needs of every bodily tissue, all essentials that come their way will elicit a yum. These programmed buds project information via salivary glands informed by circulating cell debris, and any incoming resonance otherwise just won’t taste that good. Great to have you here!

[Annette & Damien]

Hey there! I’m excited to share culinary creations on this forum.

My passion for food and health in general, began in my early 20’s when my body became very “sick and hypersensitive” to almost everything I ate. I had multiple lifelong digestive issues that I could no longer ignore, and an intense kidney infection that helped catapult me into my self healing journey. I began researching Chinese medicine, homeopathy, and Ayurveda. I tried many diet, supplement, and detox protocols. My approach was mostly trial and error. I was determined to figure things out myself without any outside intervention. Those early years proved to be transformative, mostly because I was moving into a direction of self-healing and self-reliance. I’ve tried it all. Today, I feel the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been.

Damien and I are passionate cooks. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in New York, and is a retired chef. The movable feast is a way of life for us. We are passionate about activating ingredients through soaking, sprouting, fermenting, etc. We enjoy recreating classic dishes and baked goods into a more modern culinary delight. We look forward to sharing, and learning new things from this forum.

[Jolin]

i am looking forward to learning about your culinary delights. I love to cook and also choose to eat organic healthy food and love being creative in this way. So post some of your favorite creations!! ?

[Suzanne]

I have been a recipe cooker for a lifetime. Only recently have I been able to do more “right brain” cooking. When I’m not in the garden, I spend hours in the kitchen making everything from scratch: from bread, to dog food and treats, vanilla, Mayo, bone broths, everything. I love it. Watching cooking videos has helped me gain confidence. I started canning this season, not because I have big harvests to preserve, or because I like canned food, but rather to build my Armageddon stash. I refuse to buy more appliances, so another freezer for food storage is out. Either I dehydrate it or can it. Big surprise. The other day while walking the dogs, I ran into an old acquaintance. She said she’s in her kitchen 5 hrs/day doing exactly the same thing. DIY All scratch. So nice to find another Soul enjoying their “Winter” years (we’re both 76 yrs) doing the same things. Gardening, cooking, eating and washing dishes. ❤️

[Sherri]

For gluten free folk or not. I’ve recently created a gf sourdough start then was fortunate enough to find this recipe for bread. The boule is most impressive and a total game changer in our home. Also, aside from requiring attention and forethought it’s no-knead and pretty easy to make. I purchase as many organic, sprouted flours as I can find for the ingredients. I’m certain our gluten partaking family and friends would not know the difference! I’m happy to share any tips, etc. https://www.bakerita.com/gluten-free-sourdough-bread/

bakerita.com

How to Make Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread • Boule & Loaves!

The Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread Guide to help you make the best gluten-free sourdough of your life, with tons of tips, tricks, & techniques!!

[barre]

Deb & I were just talking about baking sourdough bread … great timing. Most gluten intolerance is due to hybridized grains, and not fermenting (pre-digesting) bread dough. As you already know, sprouted grain flour digests as a vegetable rather than a grain … we either sprout, dehydrated & grind our own, or purchase from One Degree, our favorite sprouted flour company. Thanks for the recipe!

[Sherri]

Thank you Barre, I hadn’t heard of One Degree. I appreciate your input on gluten intolerance and definitely understand about the hybridization issue. I was told I’m not able to digest gliadin. Let us know if you end up doing sourdough, it could be a good discussion here as sharing ideas of good ways to use the discard would be helpful. Farmhouse on Boone is a good website for starting and using a starter.

[Kev]

Hey y’all!.. I saw that others have introduced themselves here, and I proceeded to do the same, but as brevity isn’t my strong suit, I got out of control with it.. Ridiculous!.. ? ..So here’s the abridged version..

Grew up in the ‘70s in the midwest and ate the stuff typical in that region in that time – mostly processed, out of boxes or cans, the infamous “TV dinners”, Jello, Kool-Aid, corn syrup on waffles – you get the picture.. Did have some real food though – hamburger, chicken fried in shortening, etc.. And my favorite – lima beans with ham hock and cornbread.. ? ..As kids, we were mostly left to fend for ourselves, so good thing I have a natural instinct to cook.. And a voracious sweet tooth too..

Life-long cook here of many many different types of food – my favorites being Indian, Ethiopian & Thai.. Have also gone through it all – from vegetarianism, to veganism, to raw foodism, and sprouting, and bread baking, and back to meat.. Love to try new things in the kitchen!.. My own little alchemy lab.. I can spend 3 hours or more just working on dinner.. Love it..

Knowing that I’m homestead-bound, I taught myself the art of fermentation, with the eventual goal of doing a great deal of food preservation.. I make krauts & kimchi, kombucha, kvass & kaanji, as well as fermented nuts & seeds (which I used to do way back in the raw food days).. And recently I’ve been experimenting with making vegan sweet treats..

So in this group I’ll probably be sharing some of my kraut and kimchi creations.. I cook up some good and interesting combinations, but I’m also gonna be focusing specifically on basic things that are readily harvested from a garden, things that may be a bumper crop.. (Example: I recently did a kraut with purple cabbage, green beans, zucchini, and coriander seeds, and it was off the chart delicious – all things easily grown in N. America)..

Peace, y’all..

[maryschurr]

Oh my, so many people after my own heart! I have recently been baking again. Einkorn sourdough using Jovial’s Einkorn flour from Italy. Many with gluten issues can eat this with no problem. The recipe I use is the founder’s that she came up with for her daughter who had issues with gluten. It is a little more complicated sounding, but I am hoping it may help my husband who is having an occasional heartburn issue that seems to be bread related. I was buying organic sourdough for him.

I love the fermentation intro…I’m dehydrating almonds right now that I soaked to make almond butter for my husband (and I eat a bit of it too!). I do the same with all our nuts and seed. Have a beautiful cabbage from the farmer’s market to make kraut. Kiev, have you read the Art of Fermentation? It’s quite a large book! I had heard about it though Dr Cowan. Excited to hear more about your cooking adventures and food preservation techniques. I understand Amandha V. bought something to freeze-dry food, so I am curious how that is working out and what the equipment actually is. Loving this platform!!!?

[Kev]

Hi Mary!.. I’ve heard of “The Art of Fermentation”.. That’s the book by Katz, yes??.. Haven’t read it.. When I got into krauting, I just looked at a couple basic recipes, saw they were essentially the same and then just went from there, and then I learn and work it out as I go.. There’s a basic guideline I use, in terms of salt-to-weight-of-veggie ratio, but that can vary a little, so I just go on instinct and don’t fuss too much about it.. The important thing to me is combinations, and how different veg and spices work together.. I’ve lost track of all my recipes.. Just yesterday, I thought I’d put some Shishito peppers in a kraut, and threw one together with “what I had on hand”, which was green cabbage and purple carrots and onions.. Why not??.. And I just finished up one with carrots and frozen green peas and black pepper, which I will be tasting today.. Lol.. Why not??.. That’s my ode to school lunches..

A little advice on krauting, if you’re just getting started – manual pressing is a good idea just in terms of the learning of the art and understanding the science and interactively observing the process, but I also highly recommend lids with springs that hold everything down and in-place, so you can just set it and forget it, maybe check on it every once in a while.. I swear by these springs & lids – so handy.. The Ball company makes them..

I learned not too long ago the benefit of soaking nuts before eating them, to get out the components that aren’t so great for the gut.. I haven’t been consistent with that, and I really want a dehydrator so I can get that production going..

If you want a really excellent recipe for a fermented “seed cheese” full of lacto-bacteria, it’s relatively simple, so lemme offer it to you.. Take equal parts of raw sesame seeds and raw sunflower seeds, and grind them into flours in a coffee grinder.. (Of course you can soak and then dehydrate them first, as you do).. Then mix them in a bowl with water and a lacto-bacterial culture.. Put the mixture in a mason jar with a loose-fitting lid and let it ferment for 12 hours (possibly a little more, depending on ambient temperature).. A good ferment will lead to the volume of seed mixture doubling in size, so filling the jar half-full is a good rule of thumb, although this phenomenon doesn’t always happen.. And when you see carbon dioxide bubbles forming in the mixture, you know you’re on-track.. Then store in the fridge when you like the taste and have fermented it long enough.. And the sesame-sunflower combination is bitter from the sesame, and sometimes tastes like a hard cheese of some sort, like parmesan.. (And, any nut or seed can be fermented this way — pecans, hazelnuts, pistachios, and pumpkin seeds are all delicious!.. Flavors change in interesting ways)..

And also, here’s how you create a lacto-bacterial culture (very easy): put a small amount of a whole grain in a jar with water.. I use whole wheat berries, and you could use whole oat berries also, or whatnot, but I’ve only ever used wheat, so that’s what I can attest to.. Just let it sit at room temperature for 12 hours or a little more.. (I put a sprouting lid with holes in it on the jar so the water is exposed to the air, but a loose-fitting towel would be fine).. You know you’ve captured lacto-bacteria when you see slightly-cloudy water, with a faint sour/acidic odor, and when you tap the jar, bubbles will come up out of the grain at the bottom.. All indications that you’ve caught some critters.. Pour off the water, and that’s your lacto-bacterial starter culture.. You can store it in the fridge for a while, but not indefinitely, as I have found.. This all sounds complicated, but really quite simple..

And finally, I too heard Amandha V. recently make reference to her new freeze-drier, and it caught my attention as well.. I was like, of course, that’s an important food preservation technique.. I’m sure she’ll talk about it again and let us know what to look for in terms of equipment.. Any advice on a brand of dehydrator to look for, one that’s relatively affordable??.. So many options, and potential duds..

[maryschurr]

Kev! Oh wow, you have given me some homework! I have made kraut before, but I’ve not tried the combinations you have mentioned! That could be fun. Yes, that is the book. I don’t own it, but I have read his smaller one and borrowed the big one from the library. Your seed cheese sounds interesting…I will have to give that a try. As to a dehydrator…I don’t have one, but I’ve received some recommendations and will see if I can locate them. The name escapes me right now, but seems like it begins with a Tri… We have a warming drawer that I use with a thermometer and that works fine for me most of the time. Let me know if you catch more about Amandha’s new toy!

[Kev]

Ah yes, I’ve tried to use my oven set on the lowest setting, but that was too warm and too difficult to control for dehydration, so I gave up on it..

Yes, lots of kraut ideas.. Here’s an idea to think about — I started using apples in the mix for a bit of sweetness.. Really good.. Have yet to venture into other fruits, but surely will.. It gave me confidence that preserving apples/fruit in this way is viable if you have an apple/fruit tree on your land..

[Author]

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