the Homestead Journal

Category: Kitchen

Preserving, fermenting, baking the harvest.

  • Sourdough on a weekday

    Sourdough on a weekday

    Most sourdough recipes are written like you live in a cooking show. This one is written like you have a job. Here is the schedule that has worked for us for two years.

    The schedule

    Feed the starter Tuesday morning. Mix the dough Tuesday night. Cold-proof in the fridge Wednesday all day. Bake Wednesday evening when you walk in the door. Total active time: about 25 minutes spread across two days.

    The fold

    One stretch and fold an hour after mixing. That is it. We used to do four folds. The bread does not care.

    When it is done

    Dark crust, hollow tap on the bottom, smells like a bakery owes you money. Cool it on a rack for an hour before cutting, even though you do not want to.

    It is the bread we actually bake. Which is the only kind that matters.

  • The pantry plan we map out every February

    The pantry plan we map out every February

    Every February we sit down with the empty pantry and the seed catalog at the same table. That conversation decides what we plant. Here is how it works.

    Count backwards

    How many quarts of tomato sauce did we use this year? How many jars of jam went out as gifts? Multiply by 1.2 (we always underestimate). That is the number that drives the tomato and berry plantings.

    What we always run out of

    Tomato sauce in February. Pickles in March. Jam by May. Honey by June. We plant accordingly.

    What we always have too much of

    Zucchini relish. Apparently you can only eat so much zucchini relish. Cutting back to one batch this year. Maybe.

    Planning the pantry in February is the only reason October does not eat us alive.

  • A small-batch sauerkraut we make every fall

    A small-batch sauerkraut we make every fall

    We do not make twenty-pound crocks. We make one quart jar at a time and finish it before the next head of cabbage is ready. It works for us.

    What you need

    One head of green cabbage. One tablespoon of non-iodized salt. A clean quart jar. A small jar that fits inside the big one (as a weight). That is it.

    How we do it

    Shred the cabbage thin. Mix with salt in a big bowl. Scrunch it with clean hands for five minutes until it is wet and limp. Pack into the jar, push down hard until the brine covers the cabbage. Weight it down with the smaller jar. Cover with a cloth.

    When it is done

    Two weeks at room temperature, away from sun. Taste it at day ten. When the sourness is right, lid it and put it in the fridge. Keeps for months. Never lasts that long.

    We eat it on everything. We eat it standing in the fridge with a fork.