Sometimes, breakfast requires a little something special: a touch of melted 99% chocolate mingling with ground linseed and nuts atop fermented millet and sorghum porridge.
Simple lunch: Lard-fried local egg on homemade millet/sorghum sourdough accompanied by salad. All topped with a dressing made with a lot of raw garlic (mad on it at the moment, have you seen the article in my profile link?!) and then I took great pleasure in sprinkling our homemade black salt on the yolk.
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As I type I realise all the work that went into this ‘simple’ plate: The walk to pick up the eggs, the rendering of the lard, the honing of the #lectinfree sourdough, the making of the Russian salt…and more. Maybe that’s why sitting down to eat it puts such a smile on my face?
I love making Boza, the Turkish ancestral fermented drink. Here it is on day 2 of the fermentation, taken out of it’s warm spot for a stir and a photo.
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I make it thick, so the gas produced by the fermentation creates these little spaces in the mix. It’s a sign of the fizziness and delightful sourness to come.
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3 more days to wait, then I can let my 6-year old loose on it!
Chocolate-Coated Garlic!
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From the moment I saw this, I knew I had to give it a go. I did 3 raw cloves and 3 fermented cloves. All covered with Lindt 99% chocolate.
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Garlic is an astounding medicine…but all its power is lost in cooking. European cultures have included it raw in dishes for eons.
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Click on my profile for an article detailing how to make this and giving you 3 other ways to eat raw garlic that are joyful, not medical.
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And for the record, I could only manage half a raw chocolate-coated clove, but I loved the fermented clove ones and so did my hubby and son!
I love making curd cheese. It’s delicious, yes, that’s important, but, just as importantly, it’s a lazy cheese!
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All I do is leave the #rawmilk we get from @aziendaagricolapodereruggeri out. When I notice that it has separated, I pour the liquid through a muslin-lined funnel into a jar.
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What drips through is whey (check out my #wheysoda story to see what I do with it), what’s left is the cheese. I tie up the muslin and leave for another day, then I mix in herbs, garlic and black pepper.
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Then I eat it!
There aren’t many foods more amazing, yet seemingly humble, than garlic. It truly deserves the title of super food. Our ancestors knew of garlic’s medicinal power long before science explained the hows and whys. For centuries it has been lauded … Read More
Millet and sorghum are both grown in Italy, so were my default for creating a #lectinfree sourdough. This is the best combo so far: 50/50. The bread is made soft and sweet by the sorghum, but given structure and tang by the millet.
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250g millet flour
250g sorghum flour
10g psyllium husk
120g millet sourdough starter
9g salt
500g water
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I mix the flours and salt together. When the starter is peaking, I gel the psyllium in the water for 25 mins, then add in the starter. I mix all this into the dry ingredients and then leave overnight in the fridge. In the morning, I take it out, leave till room temp, the pan it up and proof for an hour and a half. 200C for 20 mins, then 175C for 35 mins and it’s done.
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This is only my third attempt at a #lectinfreebread, but 2 years of making soudough has helped. Still, my next attempt will be 75/25 in favour of sorghum…we’ll see how that turns out.
We made home-cured bacon! It is good. The first taste was, as captured here, with bread, a bacon sarnie. Next, I’m turning my attention to making a Tuscan flat bread with bacon bits hiding inside.
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Gratitude to @lavalledelsasso for the pork belly, @farmandhearth for reminding me it’s something you can do at home and @rivercottagehq for the instructions.
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If you need me, I’ll be somwhere licking my lips…
It’s not Sicilian lemonade. It’s got more fizz (check out my story to see just how much!) and it’s got less sugar. But it *is* really lemony.
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This is homemade whey soda, in a vintage bottle I picked up for pennies just before we moved to Italy. It’s pretty apt home for these lemon bubbles.
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I created this soda by fermenting goat’s whey (left over from cheese made using milk from @aziendaagricolapodereruggeri) with sugar and flavourings – in this case a lot of freshly squeezed lemon.
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I found out recently that whey is a good source of #glutathione, which has tonnes of healing properties. My hubby has been taking some to help him recover from a nasty burn. Now I get to give him it straight from the goat, via some magical fermentation, in a tasty, tangy form. And I thought I was making it for a bit of fun. Result.
