Supper Ideas: Cleaning Out the Fridge...Of Veggies, At Least

When my mother and I decide that there are a lot of veggies in the fridge that have been sitting there for too long, we really know how to use them well. This was the meal we created.

Starting on the left, going clockwise: Sweet and smoky beans (with chipotle peppers and maple syrup), molasses rye cornbread, maple glazed roasted carrots and parsnips, buttery sautéed kale with onions, and roasted sunchokes (also known as Jerusalem artichokes) and garlic.

Making a Basic Mead

My first experiment with fermenting drinks was about a quarter-gallon of mead I made in the late fall, yet despite really liking it when I drank it young (or "green"), it took me until a couple of weeks ago before I started another batch. I blame the gloominess of winter that kept me from experimenting much with food of any sort for a couple of the coldest months. But as spring arrives, I'm feeling differently, reading a birthday present I received a couple of weeks ago entitled The Art of Fermentation (which I previously started after borrowing from the library, and which was what inspired me to start fermenting anything), and wanting to make lots of fermenty things.

This batch of mead was a whole half-gallon, and I like it even better than my first batch! While I'm still not quite ready to age it until dry (I don't yet have the patience, equipment, or space to do so, though I'm planning on changing that this summer), I can talk about what it's like to make green mead. The flavour is delicate, sweet, with a nice bit of alcoholic flavour, a touch of yeastiness, and a lovely light effervescence.

My mead! Doesn't it look tasty?? Trust me, it is.

And making it could not be easier.

Equipment needed:

1. A jug/carboy, mason jar, or really any non-reactive container that can be covered in some way, by a lid, or even a cloth held on by an elastic band. Anything that keeps fruit flies and dust out would be good, I believe!
2. A funnel, if you're using a container without a wide opening
3. A measuring cup or other smallish jar
4. A spoon 

Ingredients:

1. (Preferably) Raw (unpasteurized) honey
2. Dechlorinated water (from a well, bottled, or boiled then left to sit for a little while, which since the main water I have access to is chlorinated, is my usual method.)

I use a ratio of approximately 1 parts honey to 6 parts water, but that is VERY approximate. Sandor Ellix Katz states in The Art of Fermentation that a ratio of anything from 1:1 to 1:17 and beyond can work and has been used successfully, so it seems more than anything it's a matter of personal taste!

As you can see in the photo above, I use jugs, though unlike pictured I put that amount of mead in a 1 gallon instead of half-gallon jug while it's actually fermenting, because as it ferments it gets really bubbly, and is prone to overflowing and making a sticky mess when in too small a container. So leave plenty of room for bubbles!

I like to use crystallized honey or the end of jars that have been shoved to the back of the cupboard, basically the bits of honey that are hard to get out, especially old, or otherwise not being used. My first batch I used clover honey. My most recent batch I used mostly buckwheat honey, and I LOVE how it turned out! It's important if you're using a container that isn't open to the air and thus open to wild yeast, that you use raw honey, so that the honey itself can provide the wild yeast necessary for fermentation. 

A lot of info I've seen encourages you to sterilize everything and be VERY AFRAID, but all I've done (and all Sandor recommends you do) is make sure everyone is washed in hot and soapy water. So clean is important. But sterilizing things isn't necessarily needed.

I pour the honey and dechlorinated water through a funnel and into my jug, tighten the lid, and shake until honey and water are well combined (no honey on the bottom when you stop shaking). I then loosen the lid and leave on the counter, shaking multiple times a day, whenever I think of it. It's really important to loosen the lid whenever you're not shaking it. If you don't loosen it, pressure from the fermentation process could build enough that the glass literally explodes. Not good.

It'll start getting really foamy/bubbly after a few days, and continue to bubble for something like 1-2 weeks (also really approximate). When the bubbling subsides, and it only gets a little foamy when you shake it/the bubbles fade very quickly once you've put it back down, it's done. Once it no longer bubbles much, it should be put in the fridge and drunk. If it's left out, even with continued shaking, with so little bubbling it might mould on top.

That's for just fermenting until green. At that no-longer-very-bubbly stage, you can then go on to transfer containers, put on an airlock, later rack and siphon, etc. But since I have no experience with ageing fully, I'm not going to talk about it.

I wanted to share my process and enthusiasm, but please remember I am NOT an expert. I've only done this a few times, and if you're serious about doing it yourself, I'd strongly suggest looking at other sources (especially my previously mentioned inspiration, Sandor Ellix Katz!). If you work solely off of this post and my instructions, I take no responsibility if something goes wrong. I can't emphasize enough that I'm still very much a beginner.

That said, I've found making a green mead to be ridiculously easy, rewarding, and super tasty! I'm just scratching the surface, and looking forward to making mead with different fruits and herbs, ageing it until dry, and making other alcoholic beverages. Fermentation is super exciting to me, and I can't wait to make a ton of other tasty things! I hope that you decide to try some fermenting of your own. And mead is a very good place to start for a beginner, as I can personally attest to!