Yup. Period started today. Ugh. Not feeling 100% today. Hopefully by tomorrow I’ll be much better.
Went to a PCC Cooks class last night. This one was about Fermented Fall Flavors.
As part of the Wahl’s paleo protocol, I’m supposed to be eating fermented foods on a regular basis. Problem is, I just don’t like the taste. I prefer savory foods to either sweet or sour.
One of the things that the chef said last night was that fermented foods are not supposed to be a side dish, or a main dish. They’re more like condiments that you have with a meal. That makes more sense to me.
On the one hand, I’m much more likely to eat something that’s sour if it’s just on the side. On the other hand, I tend to eat really simply. I don’t do sauces or condiments on a regular basis.
However, I’m going to try a couple of the recipes, to see if I can make something that I like, something that I can just add to either a salad or to my soup.
The other reason why I like going to these classes is because I always pick up some really great tips. Last night was no exception.
One of the recipes was for fermented garlic. (Which, on its own, is pretty nasty.) Someone asked about using the pre-peeled garlic that you can get in the store. She said not to use that for fermenting, as it has preservatives and so won’t ferment right. What she suggested instead is to get one of those jars of pre-peeled garlic, like what you can pick up at Costco, wash the garlic, dry it, coat it in oil, then roast it. When it’s finished, stick it in the freezer.
I don’t know if I’ll do that or not. Again, I don’t cook that much. But that sure is a handy way to have roasted garlic regularly.
The other suggestion was to take a large piece of ginger, stick it into the food processor and chop it coarsely, then freeze that, so you can always have fresh ginger on hand. I might take it a different way – I use a lot of dried ginger in my tea. I might try that, and use fresh/frozen ginger in my tea.
The garlic aioli that the chef made from the fermented garlic was a good dressing. I would probably omit the honey as it was way too sweet for me. Maybe I could make that up and just have on hand to add to dishes as a way of getting more fermented foods into my diet…
I don’t know. Thinking is kind of difficult today. Will worry about it later.
Hopefully your Tuesday is going really well!