Sauerkraut

N. likes to ferment things. She has previously tried making sauerkraut, and was quite pleased with the results. (J was not -- he is not a sauerkraut fan, though.) Her method is taken from the book Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz.

Ingredients:

One head of cabbage

One carrot

Some salt

Some caraway seeds

Method:

Shred the carrot and cabbage with the food processor, using the slicing disc attachment for the cabbage.

Season with caraway seeds and salt

Pack ingredients deeply into a glass jar, pressing them down firmly as each layer is added

Place a heavy weight, e.g. as smaller bottle full of water, inside the jar, to ensure that all the cabbage is submerged in its own brine.

Cover with a clean cloth and secure cloth with a rubber band.

Leave the filled jar for 1-4 weeks before eating. Feel free to sample a bit along the way, as tempted.

Update: On Nov 30, 10 days after the fermentation began, the sauerkraut was amazingly delish.  Thus, it was jared and refrigerated.

Remade on:
2013-12-8 this batch, sadly, went bad, possibly due to insufficient salt :(
2014-1-9

Apple Oven Cake

We hosted a party this fall.  As decor, we bought large red apples.  They looked shiny & cute, but their taste left a lot to be desired.

Soon after the party, N. came across this recipe in an old issue of Sunset, and a use case for the sad apples was found:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/apple-oven-cake-10000001924665/

The apples were sliced:

Sauteed in cinnamon butter:

And turned into a delish frittata-like entity.  The lemon juice was key to good taste.  A bit less sugar would have been ok.

Pork Shoulder - Sunday Roast

J. decided to brave the pork shoulder roast again today.  This was roughly the recipe that was followed:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Six-Hour-Pork-Roast-102530

The project started with 6.3lb bone-in fat-on pork shoulder (Boston Butt):

The pork stayed in the oven for 5.75 hours.  In the last hour, potatoes and brussels sprouts were added to the pork juices:

The final results were delicious:

Remade on:

Feb 21, 2016

Kale Chips

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/soy-sesame-kale-chips-50400000121018/

Remade on:

2013 -11-28 for Thanksgiving at the S. household; popular with 3 toddlers

Weeknight Gazpacho

Made something inspired by this:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/easiest-garden-gazpacho-50400000126552/

Added some ingredients from this one (evoo, oregano, etc.):

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Moms-Gazpacho-105096

Served with BCT (cucumber in place of lettuce).

Cornbread

In anticipation for tomorrow's pig fest, we decided to make cornbread.  We chose a fancy 'Science of Good Cooking' recipe that involves putting fresh corn kernels into the batter.

Here's the recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/the-perfect-cornbread-203776

It was so delish, we could hardly hold off on eating it.

Remade on:

2013-11-28 for Thanksgiving at the S. household

2014-11-26 for Thanksgiving at the S. household (made the formal version as above, and a casual version with chopped fuyu persimmons in place of corn kernels)

Baked Mini Potatoes

We got some little red baby potatoes at the Farmers' Market on Saturday and decided to prepare them simply for Sunday's breakfast:

They were sliced in half, covered in grapeseed oil & salt, baked at 400F for ~40 min, which may have been a hint too long.  Served with cilantro pesto from the Afgani stand at the Farmers' Market.