Home ground flour

I recently got a new job (just changing firms) and as a congratulations present Peter got me a grain mill.

All purpose flour you purchase at the store only contains the most inner portion of a wheat berry. Grains contain three portions, the bran, the endosperm and the germ.  White flour is only the endosperm.  The bran and the germ contain most of the nutrients and fiber.   Generally, people with diets high in whole grains are thinner, at lower risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.  While it is possible that this is a coincidence, it seems unlikely.  Additionally white flour currently is enriched, with some of the elements which naturally exist in the wheat they take the white four from. 

Unfortunately even whole wheat flour from the store is likely to not have the full benefits of whole wheat flour.  The oils in the wheat start to go rancid within three weeks of grinding, and so many companies remove them from their whole wheat flour.  The best way to use four is to grind it and use it immediately.  This is why the grain mill is so awesome.  We just take white winter wheat (because it has the lower protein content similar to all purpose flour) and put it through the mill.

On the highest setting this produces a very fine flower, and 3 cups for every 2 of grain.   We will be trying other gains including quinoa for a gluten free option.  Be aware when cooking with fresh whole grain flower that it absorbs more liquid than all purpose flower. 

Peter Invents a New Cheese: Fortis Securus

For years Peter has wondered what would happen if you take a fresh mozzarella recipe and age it.  As it turns out you get something close to gruyere cheese which he calls Fortis Securus.

This cheese is strong, and melts wonderfully. It is great in home made French onion soup.

To make this start by heating raw milk to 90 degrees and stir in 1/4 teaspoon liquid rennet (diluted in 1/4 cup of water for each gallon of milk.  Set it aside for 5 minutes.  Cut the curd with a knife and heat to 105 degrees.  Remove from heat and stir for 2-5 minutes.  Scoop out curds and drain them in a colander.  Put curds into cheese press and press at 10 lbs for 15 minutes.  Let the cheese air dry until it has a rind, then put wax over it and let it age 2 months.  Eat and enjoy.

Spring is here! Spring is here!

After a light winter (sorry east coasters) spring is here in Utah shockingly early.

 This means our perennials are blooming, like cherries and the grapes are waking up. 

I missed the peaches blooming this year as I was at work so often and it happened so suddenly and early.  As long as it doesn't snow again we should have a great harvest. 

In the spring we also had to deal with our first broody chicken.  A broody chicken is one who is trying to get the eggs to hatch.  Unfortunately for her, without a rooster this will be a disappointing prospect.  Also when she does this it becomes much harder to get the eggs, as she is always sitting on them.  Lastly she will stop laying while waiting to hatch the unhatchable eggs.  The easiest way to tell a chicken is broody is that she will fluff up her feathers and will sit in the laying box all day. 

It is too bad but we cannot let a chicken remain broody.  Foe one, it is useless to her and us, and for two it will make the other chickens go broody.  To combat this we move her to a separate cage and make sure that cool air is able to blow on her chest.

Leaving her like this for a few days will help her reset.

Because spring is here so early we are able to put in our tomatoes.  Obviously it is not quite warm enough to put them in and just let them grow, so we plant them and put a wall of water around each plant.

The sun heats up the water and keeps the plant inside warm through the nights, which are still getting somewhat cold.

 

We have also planted our brussle sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower.  We look forward to a great harvest, particularly of tomatoes (which will hopefully make up for the terrible harvest last year) as the plants will have a few extra months to grow!

Kosher Pickles

I was shocked to learn that Kosher Dill Pickles are not in fact pickled.  They do not involve pickling or vinegar, but rather are fermented! 

I've really enjoyed reading about the history of these pickles, and learning to make them. These pickles were first brought to the US by eastern European Jews (which is why we call them kosher, it doesn't actually have to do with kosher laws as regular pickles would fit within those laws as well).  There was a time when the US wanted to ban kosher pickles as they were seen as limiting the assimilation of the Jews in New York.  While this didn't actually happen, and instead they became a staple of New York food, fermented foods are uncommon in the US.  As it turns out properly fermented food is about as safe as properly pickled or canned food, but is harder to make on a large scale and so is not often used. 

We are not yet sure how many cucumbers we will need to plant this year, particularly given that we still have a large number of dill pickles in storage, and so we are testing out Kosher Dills to find out if we want to make them as well.  While they are best when made out of small pickling cucumbers we used the only kind currently available.  To keep the pickles crisp you first must soak them in ice water. 

Then you add them to your pot with the required spices.  Generally this would include garlic (half a head, not peeled) and dill, as well as optional peppers.  Carrots and a green banana peel also help to keep the pickles crisp.  We also added radishes, because pickled radishes are delicious. 

Then we added the brine, which is 1 liter of water for every 3 T of kosher salt, the pickles must stay below the water.  This then sits until fermented (when the pickles start to get soft you put it in the fridge).  Some people use clear containers so the sun can get in, others don't.  Also some people top it with rye bread, we did not. 

In the end they were very much like New York Kosher Dills, but were still not as flavorful as our ordinary pickles, which we will be sticking to.