Sauerkraut

I stopped making sauerkraut over the summer because of house construction. At first I thought my family would be moving out of our house, but then that didn't happen. Then I decided with all the distractions of the construction project, that I just wouldn't do sauerkraut as well.

I started my first batch since March in November. I did my standard recipe.

5 pounds cabbage (shredded on a mandoline)

1 apple

2 tsp sea salt per pound of cabbage/apple

2 tsp caraway seeds

4 weeks fermentation time

I gave some of the harvested sauerkraut away as xmas presents. Then I started another batch of kraut just before xmas. I took some of the fresh kraut and started two small batches in which I added some ground red chile. I tasted the brine and it was delicious! I harvested one jar three weeks later and the spice level of the sauerkraut was negligible, but the flavor was pretty good. If I want more spice, I'll either have to add more at the beginning or use a different/ hotter spice.

Gin Infusion: No. 2

This is my second attempt at a gin infusion. The first one had way too much cardamom for my taste. This second batch has half the cardamom, uses twice the orange peel, and replaces the licorice with fennel. I liked the result a lot more. It's not like the gin you get from the store. It's a lot more aromatic.

Fermented Brussel Sprouts

It's Brussel sprout season so I fermented some with some carrots and caraway seeds. I was hoping that they'd taste like sauerkraut. They were very bubbly during their time on top of the fridge and they were pretty powerful in their odor (Jordan thought they were quite foul), but they didn't taste like sauerkraut. They were pretty good though. I ate them all up.

Licorice Carrots

I had some licorice root left over from the gin infusion that I made so I added some to a batch of fermented carrots. They turned out to be delicious! (But I'm partial to licorice.)

Gin Infusion Harvest

I harvested the gin infusion after four days. While it was definitely gin, I felt that it was to heavy on the cardamom and licorice. If I make it again, I'll dail those ingredients back a bit.

Here are all the ingredients after I strained them out.

Here's the gin in the jar.

Here's the gin in a class.

I have also tasted and am eating the gin fermented carrots. They are delicious! I'm definitely going to make more of them.

Cherry Sour

I filled up a 32oz growler with Odin Brewing's Cherry Sour Ale. It was pretty good. Nice and sour. But it was also very pretty!

Gin

I fermented a batch of carrots recently with juniper berries. That batch turned out deliciously! It got me thinking about using the same ingredients as gin to do a batch of fermented veggies. I started a small experimental batch of gin carrots today. It'll be about seven to ten days before I get to taste it. 

And since I had the ingredients... I am making a small batch of gin botanicals infused vodka (I'm making my own gin). The jar of vodka smelled like gin after only thirty minutes! I get to taste this in about three days. I can let it go longer if I want a more intense flavor.

I found the recipe for homemade gin here.