Testing Round 2

Kimchi round 2 came out much better than round 1. It was definitely less spicy. My husband was even able to eat it. His exact words were, "Its good if you like that kind of thing". Thanks for being supportive hunny!

Kimchi Round 2

For my second batch of Kimchi I made a few adjustments to the recipe. I decreased the amount of red chili flakes from 3 tablespoons to 1 tablespoon. I also did not food process the chili flakes. I thought I might control the heat level by not crushing them. The new and improved recipe looks like this:

Ingredients:

1 Napa Cabbage

3 Carrots

1 Onion

1 Apple

3 Tablespoons minced Garlic or 6 cloves

1 Tablespoons Red Chili Flakes 

3 Tablespoons Ginger

3 Tablespoons Salt

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 Tablespoon Soy Cause 

Testing Kimchi 1

After letting my first batch of kimchi ferment for 4 days myself, my husband and my daughter decided to give it a try. It was incredible hot! It was so spicy I would consider it inedible. My husband went as far as spitting the food out into the sink and runny for some water. I suppose I will lessen the amount of chili flakes I put in the next batch!

Explosion!!!

In the original recipe I read for my Kimchi it stated that you needed to unscrew the lid and let the CO2 out. Otherwise, the pressure would build up. Well I forgot to do this on my first batch of Kimchi. One day I came home and I noticed my kimchi was leaking. Not just a small amount. It was leaking all over my countertop and on to the floor. I instantly remembered that I hadn't opened the container to let the pressure out. So I immediately untwisted the lid. As soon as I did this it exploded everywhere! As if you shook a bottle of soda and opened it. What a mess! So now I have been sure to open my Kimchi in sink daily. Lesson learned!

Kimchi Round One!

Kimchi is a food that I have always been interested in. It has such a wonderful, unique, delicious flavor. I have always wanted to attempt to make it, and I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was!

Ingredients:

1 Napa Cabbage

3 Carrots

1 Onion

1 Apple

3 Tablespoons minced Garlic or 6 cloves

3 Tablespoons Red Chili Flakes 

3 Tablespoons Ginger

3 Tablespoons Salt

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 Tablespoon Soy Cause 

Start by adding your garlic, red chili flakes and ginger to the food processor. Processes these ingredients until well blended. If you don't have a food processor you can also use a mortar and pestle. 

Add the contents of the food processor to the bottom of your bowl, along with the salt, sugar, worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. 

Now the chopping begins! Chop all your vegetables and add them to the bowl. 

I had a little help along the way...

She is actually quite a good helper!

(Theres that little hand!)

Once all the ingredients are in the bowl mix them together for 4-5 minutes. 

Leave the bowl on the countertop for the next couple of hours, stirring occasionally. The vegetables will start to get soft and juice will accumulate in the bottom of the bowl.

Penelope, our bunny, really appreciated the leftovers!

Once the mixture has set for a few hours you can put it in a glass container. You want to make sure to push the Kimchi all the way to the bottom of the container. Continuing doing this every time you add more. The juice will rise to the top. Leave an inch head space. 

Thats the finished product! Now leave the jars on the counter for 2-4 days. After that your Kimchi should be ready. Once you open it keep it refrigerated. 

This was a lot of fun and actually quite an easy process. Im hoping it turns out delicious! Im already thinking in my next attempt I might add less red chili flakes. The little bit I tried in the bottom of the bowl was quite spicy! 

Antique Fermentation Crock

This weekend I visited a local auction. I was very interested to find that they were auctioning off a wide variety of antique crocks. I was completely compelled to buy one! I have a love of antiques to begin with, but I felt intrigued to learn more about how people used these crocks for pickling and fermenting. I ended up buying two. One is a large 20 gallon crock, which I was told would have been used for pickling.

The second is a smaller one gallon crock, which would have been used for fermenting.

I'm not sure that I'm daring enough to try fermenting in them now. Although it would be quite interesting to compare it to the fermented product produced in a glass container. I hope you are all as interested by these as I was!

Hello! A little bit about me

Hello Everyone!

I thought I would introduce myself. My name is Addie. I just graduated from the Vermont Tech LPN program and will be moving on next year to the ADN program. I live in Albany, Vermont with my husband, Tanner, my 19 month old daughter, Kennedy. 

(Me, my husband and my daughter)

We have a variety of animals. Two dogs named Jackson and Nala. An angora bunny named Penelope. A cat named Walter. We also have 13 chickens that provide us with fresh eggs daily.

(My daughter with a few of our chickens)

(Me and our bunny, Penelope)

I really enjoy country side living. I love gardening and raising my chickens. Every year I pickle and can, make jellies and jams, and I bake bread often. 

(last years pickles)

Since I have experience pickling and making breads I wanted to try something different for this fermentation project. I have always wanted to try eating and making Kimchi. This seems like the perfect opportunity to do that. 

I am new to blogging. This is my first blog ever. So bare with me while I learn. I am looking forward to this project. I like anything creating and crafty, so this seems like it will be right up my alley.