Saturday, April 28, 2012

The Fabled and Storied Peanutbutter Cabbage Mix RECIPE


Pickleers, we've recently uncovered the notes we took when assembling the famed Peanutbutter kraut mix. This particular batch outshone all other cabbage mixes by many long ways, it was truly spectacular. Subsequent attempts at reproducing such a gastronomic delight fell flat, and woefully so. Such as the pickle party we threw at Brooke's apartment, the one that left her place terribly cabbage-funked. The product was edible but only for the dedicated cabbage fans. 

Part of our troubles were likely temperature related- cabbage seems to like cooler pickling temperatures. And cabbage seems to bring its own inoculants to the party but one of the things we did different with the Peanutbutter mix was to add a couple commercial culture starters (like these: http://products.mercola.com/body-ecology/culture-starter.htm). We fermented this batch in a ceramic crock and a few glass jars, in December 2008, and let it ferment for a week (7 days). Here's the recipe! 

- purple cabbage (2 small heads), 7 lbs. 
- green cabbage (4 medium heads), 15 lbs. 
- beets, golden and red, 5 lbs.
- broccoli, 2 stems
- carrots, 4 lbs.
- onions, 4 lbs.
- red kale, 1 bunch
- dried seaweed, 3 cups (rehydrate it in brine)
- celery, 1 bunch
- mixed greens (a share from the Gunderman Farm)
- gala apples, 2
- ginger, 1/2 lb.
- garlic, 1 head
- commercial culture starters, 2
- sea salt 4 Tbs per gallon
- yogurt whey and vinegar, 1 cup per gallon
Grate everything and mix it up, we used a big, plastic storage tub. Yields 5 gallons. Refrigerate after decanting into jars, should last a couple years and get better every day!