I've gotten all excited about healthy microorganisms. First I read this book, and most of what he said made a lot of sense, but the ideas about how our modern diet is so lacking in beneficial bacteria really stuck with me. So then I got this book out of the library and it's RAD. It inspired a trip to the thrift store in search of old crocks. I then embarked on my first adventure in using fermentation to preserve foods with the help of beneficial bacteria and fungi.
First we gathered up a bunch of beets from the garden, Early Wonders and Chioggias.
We washed and peeled them, saving all the scraps for the grateful chickens.
I buzzed them through the Cuisinart into shreds, and added salt and anise seeds that I had roughly ground up.
Then the shredded beets, salt and seeds were pressed into this crock that we thrifted for about a dollar, and I set a plate with a jar of water on top of the beets to keep them pressed down. Over the next day or two the brine was expressed from the beets and I added a little bit of extra salty water to keep the level above the plate. It should take between 1 and 4 weeks for the flavor to fully develop. You can snack from it as it's "brewing," and then once the full flavor is developed you pop it in the fridge to slow the fermentation and it stays in there quite a long time. I snuck a little taste after about a week and it mostly just tasted like salty beets, not too much "saur" going on in there yet, but I'm excited to see what happens in the next few weeks! Stay tuned for more adventures in fermentation; I've got plans for pickles, yogurt, and maybe fruit kimchi!
