#EdenCooks - Kefir and Oladi Pancakes - Monday March 18, at 8pm EST!

Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Kristi :)
Hello everybody! This is Kristi's husband.
[[
And where have you taken our Kristi

Seriously though, welcome Mr. Kristi!
03/18/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by bog
Hey, an event up my alley!

I culture kefir, sourdough, sauerkraut, giardinera, lacto-fermented salsa, hot sauce, yogurt, and kim chi, among others! Garlic pickles and lime-juice-fermented lime pickles are my favorites!

I LOVE FERMENTATION! <3
[[
Do you have a fermenting cave? I always struggle with counter space... I just have one sourdough (rye), one kefir, and one jar that's going to become diastatic malt right now. And my counter space already suffers!
03/18/2013
Contributor: Lildrummrgurl7 Lildrummrgurl7
Just woke up from a nap so I'm here now! Sorry I'm (a tiny bit) late.
03/18/2013
Contributor: Kristi :) Kristi :)
Quote:
Originally posted by Wicked Wahine
We haven't met before, but I just love your wife!
She said you and her fill the page...
03/18/2013
Contributor: Wicked Wahine Wicked Wahine
Antipova - I have so many different varieties of eggplants, tomatoes, sweet peppers, herbs..oh my, it goes on forever! Can't wait to chuck 'em all outside!
03/18/2013
Contributor: ZZ ZZ
Hi everyone! Tonight's topic looks pretty interesting, I'm glad I remembered. I haven't been able to make one of these since December.
03/18/2013
Contributor: Wicked Wahine Wicked Wahine
Quote:
Originally posted by Kristi :)
She said you and her fill the page...
She met her match in chattiness
03/18/2013
Contributor: surreptitious surreptitious
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
[[Ooh, how awesome is that? And I hope you're having a good time with your sig. other! And congratulations on graduating, too.
I am having a fantastic time, and I'm sad that I'm going to have to go home. I have a huge chunk of student loans left to pay off (thank you for the congratulations, but I am going to end up back in school once these are paid off, so I can't get too excited just yet), though, so unfortunately living in a country where you're not legally allowed to work isn't the best decision that I can make long term right now.
03/18/2013
Contributor: Wicked Wahine Wicked Wahine
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
[[
Do you have a fermenting cave? I always struggle with counter space... I just have one sourdough (rye), one kefir, and one jar that's going to become diastatic malt right now. And my counter space already suffers!
My cupboard & basement are my cave, ha ha.
03/18/2013
Contributor: Kristi :) Kristi :)
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
[[
And where have you taken our Kristi

Seriously though, welcome Mr. Kristi!
She's around the house, but we have company. I'm antisocial
03/18/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova

Hello Zasha, WW, Mr. Kristi, Lildrummergirl, and Surreptitious! It's good to see so many lovely people here.

Welcome to the March meeting of Eden Cooks! We're going to take a look at a few ways to culture milk, and I'll have pictorial directions for kefir, one of my favorite cultured milk types, mostly because of its versatility. Then I'll show a quick and easy Russian pancake recipe that uses kefir, but can also be made with other cultured milk. I've always been interested in cultures (for dairy, and for sourdough, and many others), because it's fun to watch things grow, and also it's a fun challenge to try to optimize growth because anything alive has many inputs that affect the quality of the product. So while it's easy to get a result even the first time, you can keep interested for a long time working to have the best tasting product possible.
03/18/2013
Contributor: Wicked Wahine Wicked Wahine
Quote:
Originally posted by surreptitious
I am having a fantastic time, and I'm sad that I'm going to have to go home. I have a huge chunk of student loans left to pay off (thank you for the congratulations, but I am going to end up back in school once these are paid off, so I ... more
Oh no, I will miss you, thanks for stopping by! I'm glad the Internet goes everywhere!
03/18/2013
Contributor: surreptitious surreptitious
I like the continued use of "Mr. Kristi."
03/18/2013
Contributor: Kristi :) Kristi :)
Quote:
Originally posted by surreptitious
I like the continued use of "Mr. Kristi."
03/18/2013
Contributor: Wicked Wahine Wicked Wahine
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova

Hello Zasha, WW, Mr. Kristi, Lildrummergirl, and Surreptitious! It's good to see so many lovely people here.

Welcome to the March meeting of Eden Cooks! We're going to take a look at a few ways to culture milk, and I'll have ... more
That's a good point about always being able to tweak things, learn & perfect, so it keeps your interest!!
03/18/2013
Contributor: surreptitious surreptitious
Quote:
Originally posted by Wicked Wahine
Oh no, I will miss you, thanks for stopping by! I'm glad the Internet goes everywhere!
I think that I bungled that reply. I meant that I'm going to have to go home to Canada soon (within the next couple of weeks), but it came off as if I had to leave the cooking lesson.

Sorry!
03/18/2013
Contributor: Kristi :) Kristi :)
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova

Hello Zasha, WW, Mr. Kristi, Lildrummergirl, and Surreptitious! It's good to see so many lovely people here.

Welcome to the March meeting of Eden Cooks! We're going to take a look at a few ways to culture milk, and I'll have ... more
I never tried kefir. How does it taste?
03/18/2013
Contributor: bog bog
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
[[
Do you have a fermenting cave? I always struggle with counter space... I just have one sourdough (rye), one kefir, and one jar that's going to become diastatic malt right now. And my counter space already suffers!
I have been lusting after one! Just a few windowsills and a little counter space. What is diastatic malt?

I am a TOTAL fermentation nerd, so I am totally pumped to already be learning something not ten minutes into this meeting!
03/18/2013
Contributor: Wicked Wahine Wicked Wahine
Quote:
Originally posted by surreptitious
I think that I bungled that reply. I meant that I'm going to have to go home to Canada soon (within the next couple of weeks), but it came off as if I had to leave the cooking lesson.

Sorry!
Gotcha
03/18/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova

And Bogs! I knew I was missing one

And sorry I was gone for the minute, I had to pull my ciabatta out of the oven.
03/18/2013
Contributor: bog bog
Quote:
Originally posted by Kristi :)
I never tried kefir. How does it taste?
Like yogurt, you can culture it for a LONG time and get it sour and thick, or just a little while and get a milder, milkier drink.

You can even culture it with coconut milk!! It's SUPER sweet if you do
03/18/2013
Contributor: Wicked Wahine Wicked Wahine
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova

And Bogs! I knew I was missing one

And sorry I was gone for the minute, I had to pull my ciabatta out of the oven.
did you sour the dough?
03/18/2013
Contributor: Lildrummrgurl7 Lildrummrgurl7
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova

And Bogs! I knew I was missing one

And sorry I was gone for the minute, I had to pull my ciabatta out of the oven.
Ooooh ciabatta. I'm jealous.
03/18/2013
Contributor: bog bog
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova

And Bogs! I knew I was missing one

And sorry I was gone for the minute, I had to pull my ciabatta out of the oven.
Ciabatta? /drools slightly
03/18/2013
Contributor: surreptitious surreptitious
I've never cultured anything before. I'm actually going to be making cheese for the first time tomorrow (which is milk-related, anyways). I'm excited to learn how to do all of this!
03/18/2013
Contributor: Kristi :) Kristi :)
Quote:
Originally posted by bog
Like yogurt, you can culture it for a LONG time and get it sour and thick, or just a little while and get a milder, milkier drink.

You can even culture it with coconut milk!! It's SUPER sweet if you do
Thanks!
03/18/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by bog
I have been lusting after one! Just a few windowsills and a little counter space. What is diastatic malt?

I am a TOTAL fermentation nerd, so I am totally pumped to already be learning something not ten minutes into this meeting!
That's not actually a fermentation, it's just a jar on my counter! I am re-hydrating some wheat berries, so that they can sprout, and then I will dry them out and grind them. Diastatic malt is an enzyme that converts starch to sugar for when a seed begins to grow... but it also converts starch to sugar so yeasts can have an extra-long growth phase when you have a long-resting bread.

I'm going to make bagels soon. And they will be the best.

(Also, I geared this meeting mostly for beginners, so feel free to chime in with extra knowledge you have---you could very well have more experience than me!
03/18/2013
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by surreptitious
I've never cultured anything before. I'm actually going to be making cheese for the first time tomorrow (which is milk-related, anyways). I'm excited to learn how to do all of this!

Neat, which kind of cheese? We'll have to have a cheese pow wow at the end of the meeting.

For commercial cultured dairy products, there are usually one of two basic classes of bacterial cultures used, and the resulting food is different depending on fat content. What sorts of cultured dairy products do you folks use? And why do you like them?

Taste, and to reintroduce good bacteria when you're on antibiotics (or are suffering from a yeast infection) are both important common reasons. But cultured milk products are also good because they're easier to digest---people with lactose intolerance can usually digest kefir without a problem.
03/18/2013
Contributor: Kristi :) Kristi :)
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
That's not actually a fermentation, it's just a jar on my counter! I am re-hydrating some wheat berries, so that they can sprout, and then I will dry them out and grind them. Diastatic malt is an enzyme that converts starch to sugar for when ... more
Kefir on Wikipedia link
03/18/2013
Contributor: surreptitious surreptitious
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova

Neat, which kind of cheese? We'll have to have a cheese pow wow at the end of the meeting.

For commercial cultured dairy products, there are usually one of two basic classes of bacterial cultures used, and the resulting food is ... more
I'm starting with mozzarella - I was going to make bocconcini (my spell check tried to correct that to "convincing"), but it's apparently not easy to find water buffalo milk. I'm excited to make all sorts of different flavors, though!
03/18/2013