Low energy food preservation

Dinner, Aug 2018

I'm taking the easy route for food preservation this summer:  air drying, salting, fermenting and pickling.  I'm trying to do a little every day.

Air drying

As I've written previously, I air dry chard and a few other greens and herbs.  I string them up or lay them on trays on top of my fridge.  In this weather they take about a week and then they're stored in glass jars in the cupboard.

Salting

Every few days I pick a small handful of French beans and salt them away into a small jar.  There's not been enough at once for a meal, but I've managed to fill one jar and start another, bit by bit.  I first chop them into bite size pieces, and then layer them into the jar alternating with a layer of salt.  They'll need a half hour soak before adding to stews or curries this winter.

Too many jars? Aug 2018

Fermenting

So much sauerkraut!  Every summer cabbage I've grown, plus two I've been given, has had the dark green outer leaves cooked and eaten, the excess frozen, and the pale inner leaves made into kraut.  My fridge overfloweth.  I've made several jars of kosher dill pickles too, both with (gift) cucumber and (my own) zuccini.  There is also a small jar of fermented turnips and a large jar of cauliflower from earlier in the summer, and I'm experimenting with a jar of salsa fresca.  They all go in the fridge while it's warm;  if any are left during winter they may be able to live at room temp in our drafty house.

Pickling

The only pickled veg I've done so far are two small jars of beets.  I've done a bottle of thyme vinegar (good in gravy and stews), several bottles of mint sauce (minted malt vinegar) one of basil vinegar--a wonderful base for salad dressings (the mint sauce is great for dressings too).