Bountiful Basket Review

This is the first time we have ordered a basket, and we found it to be quite bountiful. I noticed a few other sites reviewed their experience--here is one more review.

Advantages:

• It was very fast to order and pick up.
• I had to stop by my regular grocery store after, and I did a quick price comparison. We saved at least $6--and my grocery store has amazing produce prices.
• The rye bread (sourdough with a hint of rye and caraway) was good. We have no good rye bread available in this area unless we make it.
• The quality of the produce was good. The bananas were especially good. The zucchini was perfect. The pineapple was underripe, so I can't comment on quality yet.

Disadvantages

• I would have made different choices from the store. I rarely buy tomatoes in the winter. I like to pick my produce.
• I would be interested to know what is in the basket each week before I buy it--or at least know what has been in past baskets to get an idea of the variety.
• This is not a CSA, and my guess is that the choices are quite basic (no kohlrabi here). But then again, there were comice pears in the basket, and my local store never carries that pear.

I will order again, but I like to shop for produce, so I probably will not be a weekly customer.

Easter Egg Radishes

I pulled out the last of my radishes last week. Isn't this variety gorgeous?

Some favorite uses for radishes:

• green salads, especially with a rice vinegar dressing
• tacos
• dipped in mayonnaise and salt
• radish sandwiches

That's right. Radish sandwiches. The last two uses are from my mother, who had me eating radishes (often the more mild white icicle radishes) as a toddler with mayonnaise.

Russian Grandma Homemade Sauerkraut = Good

Why eat sauerkraut?

• You won’t get scurvy.
• Your digestive system will be very happy.
• And some people even claim your love life will improve. (This was what got Owl interested.)

But these are all just ruses to get you to try sauerkraut—created by people who know a very good secret: good sauerkraut is goooood.

My friend E.D. learned how to make this sauerkraut from a Russian grandma. I must admit, I was skeptical at first. As much as I love a good kitchen experiment, leaving some cabbage in a jar for a month sounded like bacterial roulette. But it works. Read about the science behind it here.

Russian Grandma Sauerkraut

What is most innovative about this recipe is the method of putting the sauerkraut in a manageable size—a quart jar. It requires no large stones on top of vats of fermenting sauerkraut.


Prep time: 15 minutes

Wait time: 3-6 weeks, depending on temperature

1 head green cabbage
2 carrots
2 tablespoons SALT, plain SALT—not iodized salt—sea salt if you are fancy
Wide mouth quart jar

1. Chop cabbage and carrots—E.D. does this with a knife. I use a medium grating disk on my food processor for ease. It needs to be fairly fine to get it into a jar.

2. Put cabbage and carrots in a big old bowl and mix salt into it. Of course, you will be wanting to know if you have enough salt because that is what is keep the bad bacteria at bay. A good test for this is to taste the salted cabbage. If you want to spit it out, then you have enough.

3. Let sit for 10 minutes. At this point, it will release water if you squeeze it.

4. Grab handfuls of cabbage and knuckle them down into the jar, pressing on the cabbage to make sure there are no air bubbles and that the water remains above the cabbage.With the amounts listed, the sauerkraut should fill the jar.



5. Put a jar lid and ring on. Put the jar on a plate and place in a cooler place (60-70ish degrees). It will release more liquid in the first week, which is why you want to have a plate underneath.

6. Let sit without disturbing for 3-6 weeks. This is a step you will just have to learn by trial and error. I usually open mine at 3-4 weeks, and that is perfect for my taste. It will continue to develop its sour flavor the longer you let it sit. But once you open the jar, it is done with fermentation.

7. After opening, refrigerate. (Alternately, if you are like E.D., you can make 11 jars at once and store through the winter in a root cellar. I’m sure Russian Grandma would heartily approve.)