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Recently I attended an event at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. It was a great event with a lot of other businesses who are also in love with the fermentation process. I kept hearing the word ‘fermentation’ and getting excited! Typically I’m the only people talking about the amazing world of fermentation and here I was with a bunch of folks who were equally excited!
For the event I made a few dishes to exemplify how to use fermented foods like kimchi and sauerkraut. I was expecting a few people to be interested in my products and I was also expecting as many to not try my delicious samples (and make a face like they were disgusted). I was astonished when all my samples disappeared in the first half hour! Everyone knew about sauerkraut and kimchi and they were so excited to try my samples and my dishes! People were even disappointed that they could not purchase the Potato Salad with Red Kimchi right there and then! This is for all those folks who loved the samples and want to make it for themselves! Check out the Find our Products page to find Fermentology products near you. Massaged Kale with Purple Kraut Ingredients: 1 bunch kale 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar pinch sea salt ¼ cup Fermentology Purple Kraut Directions: De-stem your kale. You can use the stems in a soup, stew or stir-fry, they also make great chew sticks for dogs, cats or chickens. Rip the kale into bite size pieces, about 2”x2” and place in a large bowl. Drizzle olive oil and lemon juice or vinegar, add salt. With clean hands begin to mix and mash and massage and crush the kale leaves. You should see the leaves darken in color as at the acids break down the cell walls. Taste your kale and adjust your oil, salt and acid to taste. You will see a little bit of liquid created from the salt pulling water from the cells too (a process called homeostasis). You should only need to massage the kale for a few minutes, then add your Fermentology Purple Kraut. You do not need to drain the kraut but feel free to coarsely chop it, if that’s what you’re into. Then you can walk away for a few minutes (like while you prepare the rest of your meal) or you can eat it right away. Letting the kale rest will allow the acid to continue to break down the cell walls. This process is important because it’s difficult for the human digestive system to get nutrition from the fibrous leaves of kale and other greens. Once massaged and the kales takes on it’s lovely dark green color more nutrients and vitamins are accessible. I like to get creative with additional toppings, favorites include goat cheese, olives, red onion, fresh ground pepper, sweet bell peppers, diced apple, raisins, toasted pumpkin seeds, shredded carrot and nutritional yeast. Potato Salad with Fermentology Kimchi Ingredients: 2.5 pounds potatoes (I like Yukon Gold but your can use any) 1 pint Fermentology Red Kimchi, drained and coarsely chopped, reserve the liquid for later ½ cup your favorite mayonnaise Directions: Bring 2 quarts of water to boil, or enough to cover the potatoes. Chop potatoes to 3/4” cubes and boil until soft. Drain and place on a baking sheet to cool. Mix your kimchi and mayo in a large mixing bowl. Once the potatoes have cooled and are no longer steaming, mix them with your kimchi and mayo. Mix and taste. I like to add almost all of the kimchi liquid but it’s up to your taste and tolerance to spicy flavors. Chill or serve immediately. Try it on a sandwich!
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 It’s easy to incorporate more ferments in to your diet, below are some ideas to get you started:
Soups and stews can benefit from the umami flavors in Kraut and Kimchi:
Dinner Ideas
Refreshing Summer Salad
This is a versatile salad that’s perfect for the warm months. It’s a time saver, you can make the ingredients ahead of time and then use it with tacos, fritattas, soups, eggs, in lettuce or collard wraps, or in burritos. Ingredients
Cook your beans and your grain (or paleo favorite), mix with your veggies, herbs and favorite fermented vegetable. Dress with EVOO, freshly ground black pepper, maybe a little vinegar or lemon juice. Toss and enjoy!  I get this question a lot. It’s ok. I understand. In starting this business I spent a great deal of time choosing the container to package my kimchi and sauerkraut. I finally settled on the 16 oz plastic containers. But I frequently get this question, and this post is meant to explain my decision. I’ll give you my pros and cons that I used in coming to my decision and in the end, make your own decision. If you disagree or think I’ve got something wrong, please e-mail me! I give careful consideration to all suggestions and advice.
+++Glass PRO: Most ferments are sold in glass containers. Glass can be recycled, indefinitely, into other glass containers or downcycled into products like fiberglass. It’s very inert, glass particles don't leach into the product contained. Plus it looks great. CON: Glass is fragile and likely to break if dropped. It’s heavy so it requires more energy than plastic to transport. It’s fairly expensive (about $1.00 per container without label). ===Plastic PRO: It’s light in weight. Most types of plastic can be recycled (check with your local recycling). It’s significantly cheaper than glass (about $0.45 per container). If dropped, it often won’t break. CON: Plastic has a percieved unhealthy reputation; it’s made from oil sucked from deep in the earth. It’s processed. We know that plastic can be carcinogenic if it is exposed to direct sunlight. >>>More on the breakdown of plastic. When plastic is in direct sunlight, UV rays (which make up the spectrum of light that falls to earth) can break bonds between carbon molecules. Once broken those molecules can leach as the plastic begins to breakdown. If plastic is kept out of direct sunlight it will break down very slowly and provide carcinogenic levels on par with glass. Given the above I chose to use plastic as a cheaper alternative to glass that would be a bit more durable. I try to make my ferments available to people in food deserts and to educated folks about the benefits of probiotics. Many people I meet at my neighborhood market do not have access to probiotic rich food and I want to make it affordable for them. Perhaps in the future I will be able to buy glass containers (with plastic lids) in such quantities that is costs the same as plastic. Those are my reasons for making my decision. Please let me know if you have any feedback. Fermentology.foods@gmail.com  This is one of those recipes that has been handed to me and I absolutely love it. This recipe comes from a fellow vendor. I'll admit that it's a bit of a process, but it's worth it. Each step takes only a few minutes of actual attention, so as long as you can be mindful of your ferment, you'll have success. Folks tell me they love to eat this with sandwiches. Personally I love to eat this on torn hunks of freshly baked whole wheat bread. Of course, feel free to increase or decrease any of the ingredients (especially the garlic and carrot).
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AuthorAmy Peddie has been fermenting since 2006. Originally from Greensboro NC she has traveled all of the United States, often with active ferments. She now resides back in Greensboro where she enjoys spending time with family and gardening. Archives
November 2018
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