Medicinal Use / vegetarian recipe

Lacto-fermented veggies are very easy to make, full of good for you probiotics and are a nice balance to the rich, warm foods we have begun eating for the fall and winter.  Sauerruben is made just like sauerkraut, only instead of shredded cabbage you'll be thinly slicing baby turnips. This method is a very easy way to preserve the end of harvest bounty by making it even more nutritious and flavorful.  The sauerruben will last for months in the fridge, if you don't eat it all in the first few weeks! Ingredients: -Salt, 2 tsp per pound of veggies. -Turnips, sliced or shredded. After much experimenting, I prefer sliced when using smaller, tender turnips. The turnips in this picture are delicious sweet, tender Hakurei turnips from our friends at Woven Roots Farm in Lee, MA. Options per Quart mason jar- 1-2 clove garlic and/or 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes and/or 1/2 tsp caraway seeds Or get cray-zay and spice it up with everything!   [caption id="attachment_776" align="aligncenter" width="538"] Clean bottles filled with water make great weights to keep the veggies under their brine.[/caption] Method: -Weigh your sliced turnips and measure out 2 teaspoons of salt for each 1 pound of turnips. -Add sliced turnips into jar, sprinkling salt as you go. The salt draws the water out of the turnips creating the brine it will ferment in. Weight top, mashing the veggies a bit to compact them and encourage the brine to form.  We used empty, cleaned beer bottles filled with water to weight the turnips and keep them under the brine. -Keep the veggies submerged under the brine or risk nasty things happening. Add a little water if you don't get enough liquid from the veggies. -Store them at room temp somewhere where possible overflowing brine won't cause problems, like a counter top with a pan under the jars to catch spills. -Wait a few days, admiring the lovely bubbling. Taste every now and then. -Put in the fridge to stop further souring, or keep them out for maximum sour awesomeness.

Drinking vinegar for its myriad health benefits goes back to ancient Greece, no wait, even further, to 5000 BCE when Babylonians were using date palms to make vinegar.  Warriors throughout history have used vinegar mixed with water for strength and energy. Vinegar drinks and vinegar tonics infused with herbs, roots, flowers, you name it, have been around for many centuries.  In New England farmers have been making a drink called 'switchel' to keep them hydrated and ward off heat stroke during the long, hot summer days: "They drank a quenching beverage that functioned much like modern Gatorade: switchel, also called switzel or haymaker’s punch. It contained water, a sweetener—either molasses, maple syrup, honey or brown sugar—ginger, and cider vinegar. All the ingredients (except water) happen to be sources of potassium—an electrolyte. Molasses is especially high in potassium." Read the rest of this article HERE! Apple Cider Vinegar is an incredibly medicinal food since it contains several different beneficial acids plus beta-carotene, amino acid, bone building minerals, enzymes, magnesium, potassium, pectin and tannins.  No wonder humans have been using this super food since we figured out how to preserve apples in the form of vinegar! Here are my three favorite vinegar drinks, aka, switchels, to help keep you cool and healthy this summer: Dana's Pomegranate Switchel

Ingredients to make one cup of Switchel concentrate:

• ¼ cup of Fire Cider
• 3 Tablespoons fresh ginger juice
• 3 Tablespoons pomegranate molasses
• 1 Tablespoon raw honey

Shake well to combine all ingredients.

Serve about 2-4 ounces of concentrate over ice, top with soda water to make a pint.

Store leftover Switchel mix in the refrigerator.

Citrus Switchel

Makes 2 servings-

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or Fire Cider
• juice from 1/2 a grapefruit
• 1 1/2 tablespoons, or more to taste, raw, local wildflower honey
• Soda water or plain water
• 2 lime wedges

Combine the first 3 ingredients and makes sure to dissolve al the honey.  Fill two pint glasses with ice and split the switchel mix between the glasses.  Top with soda water and garnish with a lime wedge. Dr. Earl Mindell's Switchel- from his book 'Amazing Apple Cider Vinegar' which is also where I got some of the information for this blog post.  Makes 2 servings- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or Fire Cider 1 1/2 tablespoons black strap molasses 2 cups warmed water (to melt the molasses) Combine and pour over ice.

One of the coolest bloggers in the Berkshires has done a great write up on Fire Cider, including a new version of the Hot Toddy recipe and a contest where you can win a Fire Cider Gift Box!  It's as easy as leaving a comment on her post and you are entered to win!  Here the beginning of Alana's post, click the link to read the rest on her blog:  EatingFromTheGroundUp.com "Oh, Fire Cider. Where to begin? Let’s start in the Fall of 2011. My friend, Gina, asked me to be a judge at Hancock Shaker Village’s Harvest Festivalfarmers’ market, which basically involved wandering through the shortbread and local honey, trying to take myself very seriously. Sadie helped, trailing along after, whispering about this and that product over my shoulder, peering at my scribbled notes. I found Amy, Dana and Brian at their little card table, sandwiched on either side by the cloth-wrapped soaps and homemade jams and jellies one usually finds at such a market. I was drawn right to the table for so many reasons–that there were three people under 40 I did not recognize (laugh if you will, but anyone who’s grown up in a small town will understand) and they had this relaxed and glow-y rockstar effect going for them. They were surrounded by little bottles with the most amazing label, and yes, yes, I’m a sucker for a good label. And in the air around their stall, I could pick up notes of ginger, and lemon, and… was that horseradish? Whatever it was, it all came together to create a sort of tractor beam that pulled me in. I was transfixed. Continue reading → http://www.eatingfromthegroundup.com/2014/02/fire-cider/#more-7004