Archive for the ‘Fermentation, Culturing & Curing’ Category

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‘Sourdough’ Oatmeal Porridge

Monday, June 20th, 2011

Served with blueberries & cream

by Catherine Haug, June 16, 2011

(All photos by C. Haug)

See also printable pdf version of this photo-essay: ‘Sourdough’ Oatmeal Porridge.

Last month I wrote a photo-essay on ‘Sourdough’ Pie Crust. It uses yogurt rather than sourdough starter to ferment the flour, since the leavening ability of sourdough starter is not wanted in a pie crust.

This same method can be applied to other baked goodies such as cakes, cookies, coffee cakes, and quick breads. And it can also be applied to cooked porridges. But why would you do this? (more…)

Posted in Fermentation, Culturing & Curing, Food-Nutrition-Health, Health | 12 Comments »

Lacto-Fermentation or Live Culture

Monday, June 20th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, June 18, 2011; updated August 4 & 28, 2011

ESP recently hosted a panel presentation at our August 2011 gathering, on the topic of lacto-fermentation (See Gathering Summary: Lacto-Fermentation, with Don Bates & Jeanette Cheney). But perhaps you’re not sure what that means, or why it is important for your health. If so, read on….

(more…)

Posted in Energy, Fermentation, Culturing & Curing, Health | 1 Comment »

Diet and Disease

Thursday, June 16th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, June 13, 2011

Our grandparents (or great-grandparents) understood a basic principle: You are what you eat. (Michael Pollen has added to that principle: You are what you eat eats). But somewhere along the way we decided we knew better, that we could eradicate disease with synthetic chemicals. Now we are beginning to understand that our grandparents were on to something (and those synthetic chemicals may cause more harm than good).

A recent article by Mercola is a case in point: Cancerous Cells Cannot Survive without This (referring to curcumin, from turmeric). His original title of the article was This Powerful Herb Changes Your Genes to Combat Cancer.  The hypothesis is that genes are equipped with switches that, when turned on, cause the gene to do one thing, and when turned off, to do another. And these switches are influenced by the gene’s environment. From the article: (more…)

Posted in Fermentation, Culturing & Curing, Food-Nutrition-Health, Health, Home & Ranch | Comments Closed

Cat’s Sourdough Learnings (How not to get a too-sour bread)

Sunday, June 12th, 2011

Sourdough Crock

by Catherine Haug

(all photos by C. Haug)

NOTE: see also my newer post: Feeding Sourdough Starter for more tips.

Ever since I brought my starter home (from our Gathering on Sourdough) and transferred it to its special crock (a gift from Ronny; see photo, right), I’ve been experimenting with whole grain bread.

Because I have problems with wheat, I started with a mix of whole grain flours: spelt, oat, barley and dark rye. But my bread was too sour for my taste. Ronny suggested I stick with wheat until I get it down. So, except for one tasting slice, I gave my subsequent loaves away to friends who can eat wheat.

See below for my photo essay. (more…)

Posted in Fermentation, Culturing & Curing, Food-Nutrition-Health | 10 Comments »

Cheese Making: Waxing the Round

Monday, June 6th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, June 5, 2011

(photos by Shelli Riedesel. & Catherine Haug)

Back in April & May, in preparation for the upcoming Cheese Making at Home, a Panel Presentation (June 15, 7 PM at Clementine’s), Shelli and I started an experiment to make cheese using pasteurized Kalispell Kreamery whole milk. I published our final success last month (see Cheese Making with Kalispell Kreamery Milk).  We made a small round of semi-hard cheese, and after pressing out as much water as we could over 10 days, we waxed it with beeswax.

See also printable version of this post at: Cheese Making: Waxing the Round.

(more…)

Posted in Fermentation, Culturing & Curing, Food-Nutrition-Health | 3 Comments »

More on Importance of Community

Sunday, June 5th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, June 5, 2011

Ronny (one of the presenters at the Sourdough gathering) and I have been conversing about my experimentation with my new sourdough starter, for making bread. I found an informational website: SourdoughHome.com that has some tips I’m trying out, and sharing my results and questions with Ronny.

This morning she sent me a wonderful email that I just had to share with all of you, about our community: (more…)

Posted in Community, Fermentation, Culturing & Curing | Comments Closed

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