Fruit n' Nut Pork and Greens - Chuleta de Cerdo y Acelgas con Pasas y Pinones

This meal is just a way of dolling up simple pork chops with a side of simple sautéed spring greens

The meal itself is a nice variation on the Northern European theme of pork and brassica like our bacon and cabbage or Dutch Rookwurst and borecole.

The greens are the main part of the meal, based on a Catalan dish called Acelgas con Pasas y Pinones.

Normally its made using chard and other greens sweetened with raisins and crunch added from nuts.

It’s a seasonal meal for me as I used the pine nuts left over from the nettle pesto and tidied up the leaves on my Tipperary Turnips and winter cabbage’s. I use a real mix, a medley of greens.

This meal serves 3-4.

The Pork could not be simpler. Its flavours are based on sage and onion stuffing.

You will need:

2 pork chops cut into cubes about 2cm

2 good sized apples, cored and cut into good sized chunks

About half an onion, roughly chopped

Tablespoon Donegal Rapeseed oil

About one and a half teacups course breadcrumbs (about 2 slices of well done toast through the blender)

Teaspoon dried sage

Teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 180 deg. C

Retain half a teacup of  breadcrumbs

Place all the other ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Oil a dish with Donegal rapeseed oil

Chuck ingredients into the cooking dish, pour over the remaining breadcrumbs

Put in the middle of oven for 45 minutes/1hour until nice and golden.

I always throw a few spuds in the top of oven to bake or to roast depending on how I feel at the same time as the pork, saves energy and washing up

For the Acelgas con Pasas y Pinones you will need:

12oz-1lb of Garden Greens like chard, cabbage, turnip or beetroot tops. Later in the year I would use kale
These are cut chiffonade (see note)

4 tablespoons raisins 

3 tablespoons pine nuts  

2 tablespoons Donegal Rapeseed oil 

About half an onion (whats left from the pork dish really)

2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Preparation

Cut the greens chiffonade.
In a medium pot, bring a pint of water to a boil. Add greens, stir to submerge, and boil gently, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring several times to make sure the greens are cooking evenly.

After 10 minutes, drain greens in a colander (press on them once or twice with the back of a spoon to remove extra water) and set aside.
Soak raisins in a small amount of the hot water and set aside.

I generally take a break at this point, let the greens drain until you relax, maybe get a baked dessert ready etc. and wait while the pork cooks off

About 10 minutes from when you expect the pork to be done, continue with the recipe.

Heat a large dry heavy pan and toast pine nuts over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until light brown. Do not walk away while they are cooking or they might scorch. Remove nuts from pan and set aside.

Heat the Donegal Rapeseed oil in same pan and sauté the onion for 3-5 minutes, or until soft and just beginning to color. During the last minute of this cooking time, add garlic and oregano, so as not to scorch the garlic.

When onion-garlic mixture is done, add drained greens to the pan and stir to combine. Drain raisins and add them, cooking on medium and stirring a minute or two to evaporate any extra water that has accumulated.

Stir in pine nuts and serve with the pork and potato’s, and as the pine nuts came from the nettle pesto, why not use a little of that to garnish the spuds.

Traditionally of course the meal is cooked using olive oil, and Catalan olives are fantastic - but this is local, regular farm food. They use olive oil simply because it is available, so I really feel we should try cooking with our own rapeseed oil to reduce food miles and support our own farmers.

It is for that reason as well that I source most of my shop bought meat from McGeoughs Butchers in Oughterard or Seamus Mannion in Clifden.

As always, please feel free to leave a comment, I love the feedback 

*Note - Chiffonade:

This is a technique in which leafy greens are cut into long, thin strips. 

This is generally accomplished by stacking leaves, rolling them tightly (a technique I am sure many readers are familiar with) then cutting across the rolled leaves with a sharp knife, producing fine ribbons.

"Chiffon" is French for "rag". To chiffonade simply means to turn into rag-like strips, as seen in the pictures.

Stack

Roll

Slice

Luscious Lobster Ravioli

The recipe I developed to stretch lobster also works well with crab as a much cheaper alternative, or prawn tails, and is just as delicious.
Also, save any shells left over as the basis of a bisque, further stretching your Euro.

As a poster Lá an Lúbáin at politicalworld.org called it, Gliomach Sínte, stretched lobster

There is an illustrated guide on how to humanely kill a lobster at the end of the post so reader discretion is advised.

Quite simply, the whole concept of a kitchen garden is to deal with what you have at hand, and what is available.

Lobster, an utterly delicious food, but ridiculously expensive. Lobster, for me, is a very welcome gift from local fishermen, and it normally comes around Easter or Christmas. 
So, with a little imagination, two small lobsters can go a long way - and produce a rich, warm meal rather than a salad.

The thing is, we have been conditioned to serve the food on the shell with a salad and a light sauce, and that is perfect if you can afford it - but if your feeding more than 4 a half lobster each, then it gets very pricey very quick.

This recipe is loosely based on Lobster Newburg - which is quite apt in my case. Lobster Newburg was invented by Ben Wenberg, a Ships Officer.
He demonstrated the dish to New York restaurant manager Charles Delmonico in about 1876.
After refinements by the famous chief Charles Ranhofer - author of the Epicurean - the creation was sold in the restaurant as Lobster à la Wenberg and became very popular. 

An argument between Wenberg and Charles Delmonico caused the dish to be removed from the menu.
To satisfy patrons’ continued requests for it, the name was changed into an anagram - Lobster Newburg.
Lobster Newburg is related to the better known Lobster Thermidor, but Thermidor only appeared in the 1890's.

FOR THE PASTA

It could not be simpler, you do not need a pasta machine you might use 6 times a year, all you need is a rolling pin. 
2 cups flour 
2 large eggs, whole 
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 
1/2 tsp. sea salt 
3 tablespoons water 

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and process for 30 seconds.
Check consistency and add a small amount of flour is pasta is too wet, or a small amount of water if pasta is too dry. Whizz for another 30 seconds to incorporate any additions.

Turn dough out onto a pastry board, large chopping board or work surface sprinkled lightly with flour and knead by hand for a minute or two, until smooth.

Place the dough under a bowl to rest for 20 minutes before rolling, or refrigerate, tightly wrapped in plastic and stored in a plastic bag if not using right away.

Use within a few hours for best results.

Roll pasta out. Fold dough over and roll through again, gradually making the pasta thinner as it becomes smoother; dust lightly with flour as needed, but not too much.

It helps to brush off excess flour with a pastry brush.

When pasta is thin enough it is ready for use in making ravioli.

Use the pasta sheets as soon as they are rolled; dry pasta sheets don't seal as well at the edges as fresh sheets, causing the ravioli to separate when cooking.

If your pasta sheets have dried out, brush the edges with an egg wash or water (where the pasta is crimped together).

For this recipe you will need at least two sheets of pasta. The first one made can be draped over the back of a chair on a clean dishcloth, the second - base layer, can be left on the board - but make sure the board is well floured. You do not want this sticking when you lift.

This pasta dough is also great for fresh lasagne sheets.

FOR THE FILLING AND SAUCE

2 lobsters (1 1/2 to 2 pounds each)
3 tablespoons olive oil
250 ml (1 teacup) white wine
125 ml (1/2 teacup) sherry or Madeira
500 ml (2 teacups) heavy cream
salt
cracked pepper
pinch of cayenne
pinch of nutmeg
Beurre Manie (uncooked roux - See footnote 1)

For Ravioli parcel
Cooked Lobster tail meat
Freshly chopped chives 
Pinch of paprika 

RECOMMENDED EXTRAS

I love to add a good tablespoon of chopped tarragon to the sauce, it really adds to the flavour.
Recently I also added mussels and cooked them in the sauce, they look fantastic, their dark shells surrounding the ravioli parcels.

 PROCESS

1- kill the lobster** (See footnote 2)

2- Turn the lobster around and cut the tail and body in half long ways.
Cut the tail into sections.
3- Remove the claws and reserve.
4- Along the center of the lobster are three kinds of viscera, the dark green are the stomach and intestine that can be scraped out and discarded.
The yellow green and red coral are the tomalley and the roe which are delicious and may be left in.

COOKING THE LOBSTER TAIL

Heat the olive oil in a heavy based pan.
Sear all the lobster tail meat pieces until bright red.
Remove lobster tail meat from pan - at this point you can start to de-glaze the pan (see further on) and cook any extra shellfish.

FOR THE RAVIOLI

Mix the cooked lobster tail with the chopped chives and paprika, and place on the ravioli sheet, about a tablespoon per parcel.

If you want extra zing, a little chili or a squeeze of lemon juice can be added.
Again, be sure that the surface under the base pasta sheet is well dusted with flour and will not stick to the work surface.

Then apply a light eggwash beween the food clusters and drape over the second sheet.

Press down between the food parcels, then using a glass or a cookie cutter cut carefully around them.
Crimp the edges with a fork to seal.
5 minutes before the sauce is ready, drop the ravioli parcels in boiling water. They will float to the surface when cooked.

If you are in any way nervous about the parcels splitting, you can also use a steamer or fish kettle, although this will make the pasta a little dry, but it's still nice

FOR THE SAUCE

While preparing the lobster ravioli packages, put the white wine on the pan to deglaze.
Reduce by half

If you have mussels, cockles or other shell fish, you can also add these to the wine during the reduction process to cook.
I now always use mussels as it adds to the presentation

When the wine is reduced remove and put aside any extra cooked shellfish.

Add cream, Madeira/Sherry and seasonings, add the lobster claw meat to the pot and cook until the meat is cooked through, about 8 minutes.

Whisk in beurre manie a little at a time until sauce begins to thicken.
Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes.
Return any extra shellfish 5 minutes from the end of cooking, the same time as you start to cook the ravioli parcels.
Adjust seasonings and serve sauce over cooked ravioli, surrounded by the extra cooked shellfish.

This meal is very rich, and very adaptable. If you don't like the idea of making ravioli parcels, use the fresh pasta to make tagliatelle instead, and serve all the lobster meat over the pasta as a sauce, this will stretch the lobster meat even further. 

Note 1* BEURRE MANIE
Best advice from Spectabilis of politicalworld.org
Beurre manié sounds fancy but its easy to have in store. Put a couple of ounces of butter in a bowl and melt it in the microwave or in a pot.
Then add the same volume of flour, stir well and cook again until it bubbles.
If you let it cool and store it in the fridge. It keeps for ages.
It will make a lump-free sauce in a minute - just flake into any boiling liquid- milk, stock wine or whatever - and whisk.

Note 2 ** KILLING A LOBSTER

This is the most humane way to kill a lobster.

This is a living creature, and deserves to be dispatched as quickly as possible to reduce stress.

The main thing is to be quick, clean and confident - don't mess about. 

This job is one that is best left to a 10 inch chefs' knife, and one with a good deal of heft.

Make sure the rubber bands around the claws stay on during this process, as you don't want to be dodging the claws while cutting up the lobster. 
Also, I would advise that you place a dishcloth under the animal for extra grip if at all nervous abour slipping.

To kill the animal as quickly as possible, you are going to cleave the brain in half.

You must first cut it in half down the center of the head part of the body. 

You will find a crease in the shell that will give you guide and purchase.

In one movement pierce the shell to the cutting board and cleave forward between the eyes to finish the cut.
This kills the lobster as quickly and painlessly as possible.  

New season cooking plans and Irish escargot

Well folks, its that time of the year again - time to get planting. From what the media says, food prices are going up anyway.

One thing I am looking forward to is more cooking. Just got off a ship with a lot of Catalan food, and was introduced to a great cook book on that subject by my mate Lance's girlfriend - Regina, a formidable, very influencing and creative cook who generally does much larger meals than I do, i.e. with more people to serve, amazing to watch - and the mix of north African /Portuguese/Catalan and more northern European foods is the direction in which I am trending

Its a lucky coincidence I put cardoon and Jerusalem artichoke down this year in the new perennial bed.

Its a lot of what could be called local peasant type food, so should be easy enough to adapt to what we can grow in Ireland, in particular those of you with polytunnels.

What I think attracts me most is the amount of varied fish meals.
I'm already planning to salt my own Pollock to create a home made, locally caught version of Bacalao with a bit of research.
I can already do salted mackerel - a real old Connemara staple.

Another Catalan staple was pickled oily fish like sardines and tuna - for which I hope to substitute herring and mackerel.

The other thing I liked was the way they do snails Escargot - or Cargols as they are called in Catalan - should be an interesting year. The way I see it is why they can get away with eating my salad plants when I could be eating them with salad plants.

Galway Gougere

Gougere is a specialty of the Burgundy region. Traditionally, gougere's are made with gruyere, the well known swiss cheese with the holes - but other cheeses are sometimes used.

With recent cheese give-aways** in Ireland, perhaps I should start concentrating on recipes of this nature!!
This recipe is a real recession buster - This recipe is a great way to use up left over chicken, and makes a change from the normal chicken leek or mushroom pie. With Christmas coming, I think it is also a way of using up turkey next month.

Its a lovely warm velvety oven dish for the winter, and with the oven on the go you may as well take advantage of that to roast or bake veg to accompany the meal.

Its what I'd call 2nd or 3rd phase chicken, first you have the roast, then you strip the carcass for this or a pie - then you have the carcass for stock, soup and not forgetting some of the other croft residents - cat food.

Essentially it is a rich, flavoured crust made from Choux pastry, used either for savory wraps or open pies.
Very easy to make, especially with the assistance of a blender on slow speed.
With this recipe, as always, I have incorporated Irish flavours and aspects to it like cheddar, and in this case the use of buttermilk does add a lot to the final dish.

If you use this recipe, or adjust it to suit your own tastes, please take the time to leave comments and thoughts here, I do appreciate the time and effort

I used Cuinneog buttermilk and butter. For me it is supporting a small family company from our next door county, and as I have said before - I always try to support small Irish companies.
More importantly, for me, the flavour and the product are simply far superior to other mass produced brands on the market - fermented longer than usual and free from preservatives etc.

The main flavours to the filling of this dish are lemon and French tarragon.

I grew tarragon in the garden herb patch, and it is an underused herb in Ireland.
French tarragon is grown from root divisions, just like horseradish - whereas Russian tarragon is apparently grown from seed
Tarragon is easy to grow in any sunny spot well drained spot. It can be grown with other plants in a flower bed or border, given a little room to itself as it is not a great competitor.

INGREDIENTS
For the Choux Pastry:
300ml - ½ Pint Cuinneog buttermilk
(traditionally the French use water, but the buttermilk makes it a richer pastry)
175 gm - 6 oz plain flour
100 gm  - 4 oz Cuinneog butter or margarine
50 gm - 2 oz Finely grated cheese
(I used cheddar, but gruyere is the traditional type)
4 eggs, lightly beaten
Pinch of salt.

For the filling:
225 gm cooked chicken, diced
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh Tarragon (or 2 tsp dried)
1 tsp mustard - or ½ tsp mustard powder
1 pint white sauce* - easy to make yourself yourself

1 tsp paprika to garnish

METHOD

CHOUX PASTRY
Place the buttermilk in a pan with the butter and heat gently until the butter melts,.
Bring to the boil.
Remove from the heat, add the flour and salt.
Beat in the flour quickly to produce a smooth paste which comes away from the sides of the pan to form a smooth ball as shown in photo above.
Set aside to cool slightly.

Personally, I remove it from the pot to the blender and then use the pot to make the filling - saves on washing up.

The following can be done by hand, but I just use a blender on slow speed.
Gradually beat in the eggs to give a smooth glossy finish.
Fold in the grated cheese.

This mixture is spooned or piped around the side of a greased ovenproof dish, an oval dish is easiest.

FILLING
Make up the white sauce*
Add tarragon, mustard, lemon and chicken, stir in
Simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes (while piping/spooning in pastry to dish)
Pour into the centre of the dish.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes
Sprinkle with paprika - serve hot.

The Gougere is shown here served with baked garden veg, Very simple and energy saving recipe.
I just sliced some parsnip and carrot - roughly chopped an onion, two cloves of garlic crushed and herbs (root parsley, thyme, fair whack of salt and some pepper)
Chuck them in a shallow oven dish with some olive oil, cover with tinfoil and put into the oven when you start to preheat it for the gougere, the cooking time for the entire meal takes about 50 minutes that way.

*White Sauce
Ingredients to make white sauce
50 gm/2 oz Cuinneog butter or margarine
50 gm/2 oz plain flour
600ml/1 pint milk

Melt butter on a low heat in a pan
Add flour and blend in with butter
Add milk, whisk.

=============

**I cook in part to relax, and I do try to keep politics and recreation apart.
However, with recent developments and the great cheese give-away in Ireland following cuts in social welfare and the public services, an ITF / EU intervention we were told was not happening or going to happen. That was until we saw talks were taking place on BBC, Al Jazeera, CNN, Sky news et al.

Then RTE mentioned talks a day later, and despite denials it looks as if a massive bailout will go ahead, one for the banks that is that will cost us, and the next two generations.
Further cuts due on December 7th there may be more cheese payouts to the general public in lieu of money and services, so I figured it was time to use cheese in something.

As with the foot note on sugar in a previous posting in August, sometimes its only after you write about something that the full truth comes out, as it did recently with Tainaiste Mary Caughlan and the debacle she oversaw that was the sale of our sugar industry.

Connemara Lambs Liver with wild Irish mushrooms a la mode Mygar

This is a liver dish, but please do not be put off by that. Many kids and even adults have an aversion to it, perhaps because of its texture, colour or presentation at the butchers - but it is the same stuff which the same people will pay a lot of money for in it's processed form - pate.


The other reason may well be that the only liver people in Ireland have had was an over cooked, dried out attempt at liver and onions.


Liver is probably one of the most economic and yet undervalued cuts.
It is filling, versatile and being packed with Iron it is particularly beneficial in the diet of teenage girls who may have some degree of anemia. But this is a way of serving it that most people enjoy.

In keeping with the previous post on onions, I had planned to do a staple - liver and onions - but this is just a little more exotic.

This recipe is basically Hungarian, with a few little alterations from myself, its tasty, filling, attractive and very economical. True to its eastern European origins its heavy on paprika and peppers.
To give it an Irish twist I used a little barley flour and some wild mushrooms - but this is entirely optional.

The wild mushrooms are in a way not only Irish but a nod to eastern Europe - Poland in particular.
This is the time of year that Polish friends of mine tend to become as maudlin as Russians.
With their continental climate, they normally have a long, dry September/October period.

What gets them down is the rain we get here - in particular at this time of year. They call this period of time the Golden Autumn - where it is virtually a national obsession to go into the forests and pick mushrooms.

Other European cultures have a strong interest and knowledge of wild mushrooms, we Irish have a fear of being poisoned - with some justification.
On mainland Europe children are taught how to identify and collect wild mushrooms at an early age.
But we are taught that if it is not a field mushroom then it should be avoided at all costs.

If you want to learn about mushroom hunting in Ireland then its worth contacting Bill O'Dea who has been holds annual mushroom hunts. He also organizes the occasional trip outside Ireland.
For details go to http://www.mushroomstuff.com/
If you don't know your mushrooms, then shop bought ones are a safe option.

Normally served with a veg risotto rice, I just went with some small herbed potato's.

This meal serves 2

INGREDIENTS
300 gm Liver - chopped (lamb is the most subtle flavoured)
100 ml cream
1/2 small leek, finely sliced
1 Bell pepper, red, diced
3 heaped tablespoons flour
3 teaspoons Paprika
2 teaspoons barley flour
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste
Optional
150 gm Sliced Mushrooms
1/2 finely chopped red chili.

Allow 30 minutes for small spuds, so get them down in some salted water.

Take the flour, Paprika, salt and pepper. Put into a clean plastic bag and mix well.
Add the chopped liver and coat it well with the mix. This is the method I use for coating any meat or veg with seasoned flour.

Fry the leeks, garlic and chili gently in some butter until they are soft.
Add the coated liver and cook through. The smaller you cut the liver, the quicker this will be.

To me liver is cooked when the centre of a sample piece is dry and pink, it is important not to over cook it.

When the liver is cooked through add the sliced mushrooms and diced bell pepper, sweat them off until they have softened - about 50% cooked.

Then add the cream, which picks up a lovely colour from the paprika and reduce the heat.
Leave for about 5 - 10 minutes to reduce a little and the bell peppers are cooked.

All of the above takes about 20 - 25 minutes, so you are timing it for the potato's.

When they are done, just strain them - put them back in the pot with some butter, freshly chopped herbs and salt. I used Atika parsley, chives and a little dill leaf. Whirling them around in the still warm pot gives a nice even coating.

I plated this up with home made Blackberry Chutney, and it really sets off all the flavours of the meal.
The texture of the liver, for those who might find it a little different is well complimented by the mushrooms, so in a way this recipe is all you ever wanted to know about liver but were afraid to ask about.

I found the slight sweetness of Cabernet Sauvignon also complimented the meal.

I hope you enjoy this recipe - and please take the time to comment on any thoughts or suggestions.

Connemara Kapusta

This is a Ukrainian style preserved cabbage.
But this method is the same as for Zuurkool, Sauerkraut, Kimchi and other fermented veg recipies.

You will need a fermenter or a very large crock, glass or enamel container

Non iodized salt
Sterilised bottles, filled with water
Sterilised plate to fit container

A sterilised tealight if you want to copy this method.

The basics are salt and cabbage.
I used 2.3 KG of cabbage and 4 tablespoons of sea salt.
You can make as much as you wish as long as you use the ratio of 5 lbs. cabbage to 4 Tbs. salt.
If you plan on refrigerating and not jarring use 3 tbs of salt, not 4.

I added:
Half a cooking apple, grated - the sugar speeds up fementation.
Half a teaspoon of Juniper Berries
Half a teaspoon of Carraway seed
Some tips here to prevent problems with your sauerkraut:

Never use aluminum utensils! Absolute cleanliness is necessary for a good result.

I made a fermenter with the help of Home Brew West to make my sauerkraut. But you can use a glass or enamel coated container or a large crock.

Clean and scald the container well!  I washed everything in Milton Fluid first, then rinsed by pouring boiling water into the container and swishing around for no less than 30 seconds

To prepare the cabbage, remove and discard the outer leaves. Wash and drain and then cut the cabbages into halves or quarters while removing the core in the process.

1) Shred Cabbage - I use a food processor for speed and ease. If you shred by hand, make sure the shreds are no thicker than 2 Euro coin

2) Mix, with wooden spoon or very clean hands, 2.3 KG / 5 lb of shredded cabbage with 4 tablespoons of non iodized salt like seasalt, maldon salt or Kosher salt - do not use regular table salt.

Toss and mix thoroughly until salt dissolves.

Step 3) When juice starts to form on cabbage from tossing - Pack the cabbage firmly and evenly into a clean crock, glass or enamel container. Press firmly to encourage juice formation.
You can also give it a bit of a pounding, I use a rolling pin, the blunt end.

Leave it for an hour or so to let the liquids seep out of the cabbage.

Step 4) Make sure the liquid covers the cabbage completely!
This does not always happen unless the cabbage is fresh from the garden, and red cabbage seems to have less water than green.
You can prepare additional extra brine by putting 1 1/2 Tablespoons of salt into 950 ml of boiling water. Dissolve salt and cool brine to room temperature before adding to the pot of cabbage.

Step 5) Once cabbage is immersed in brine water, place your sterile plate and weights on top

I used sterilised bottles filled with water but you cab use a large food grade, plastic bag filled with brine water and lay on top if cabbage.
Use 2 large bags, one inside the other with a couple of litres of cooled brine water inside.
That way if the bag breaks it will not water down the cabbage into a tasteless mess.

The cabbage must be well sealed all around with the bag, so no air can get in and contaminate the sauerkraut with unwanted yeasts or molds!

Step 6) If using a fermenter the put on the lid and wrap clingfilm round the edge.
If you dont have a lid first seal off with clingfilm, then a heavy towel or cloth tied securely into place.
Do not remove this until fermenting is complete!

It really does need to be airtight as it is oxygen that spoils the food.
Now, one little trick I came up with for the fermenter was to remove all oxygen is very clever, straight out of intercert physics, even if I do say so myself, and easy - but you need to be careful.

I took a but a lit Tealight candle into the fermenter before closing.
I then closed the lid and sealed off with clingfilm as above.

On the first attempt the candle created a new unplanned "observation" window that I had to seal again with clingfilm and silicone.

But the second attempt worked. The trick is to keep cold water running over any hotspot the candle creates.

21% of air is oxygen, so that got burnt off by the candle that extinguishes itself when the oxygen runs out - and also creates a partial vaccum in the fermenter. Doing this burt off approx. 2 litres of oxygen.

In addition to getting rid of O2 there is another benefit. You can see this on the s-bend airlock that I got from Home Brew West, that difference of level on both sides confirms that I have an airtight seal.

I am actually happy to have an observation hole now and will incorprate that into my next fermenter, but get some plexiglass or glass instead, the clingfilm repair job will do for now.

Step 7) Put in an area where the temperature will not be above 25c degrees. Fermentation will begin within a day, depending upon the room temperature.

Step 8) Fermenting does not take long, but this is
If room temperature is 24c degrees allow 3 weeks for fermentation.
If room temperature is 20c degrees allow 4 weeks for fermentation.
If room temperature is 18c degrees allow 5 weeks for fermentation.
If room temperature is 15c degrees allow 6 weeks for fermentation.

NOTE: If temperature is above 25 degrees, the cabbage may not ferment and could spoil.

Step 9) Once fermented taste to see if your required tartness exists. Tartness will weaken as you process by jarring so make sure it is a wee bit more tart than you like!
If you refrigerate only rinse and toss with cold water to attain the tartness desired.

This is a great staple for the cupboard. I love it with smoked sausage, I guess its because I really liked rookwurst and zuurkool in the Netherlands.
There are good smoked sausage available in Ireland at the supermarkets, Lidl in particular.
Another one that I get locally is delicious, made by McGeough's in Oughterard 

Making a cheap sterile anerobic fermenter for Zuurkool, Sauerkraut, Choucroute, Kiszona Kapusta, Kimchi etc.

One of the things I set out to do at the start of the year was make Zuurkool - Dutch Sauerkraut - and a Ukrainian type of pickled cabbage. Sauerkraut is made by a process of pickling called lacto-fermentation. I wont bother going into details here.

Fully-cured sauerkraut keeps for several months in an airtight container stored at or below 15°C.

Neither refrigeration nor pasteurization is required, although these treatments may prolong storage life. However, pasteurization will destroy all of the beneficial digestive enzymes and lactic acid bacteria, as well as the valuable vitamin C content, so it greatly diminishes the nutritional value without any significant benefit.

This type of preservation is something you find right across Europe, and it has various names.
In Alsace and Lorraine in France it is generally called Choucroute. In Germany Sauerkraut, in Holland it's Zuurkool. You will find Kiszona kapusta all over Eastern Europe.
Even in Asia this type of preservation is popular, perhaps the most well known being Korean Kimchi.

Recipes for Zuurkool will come later, the first thing we need to do is prepare the equipment.

Basics, airtight food grade container with an airlock and bung from homebrewwest

The Sauerkraut types we get in Ireland are frequently just pickled in vinegar and filled with preservatives. Real Sauerkraut is very tasty and very, very healthy.

Captain James Cook always took a store of sauerkraut on his sea voyages, since experience had taught him that it was an effective way to fight scurvy, even they did not understand vitamin C fully in those days.
This allowed Cook to map the world and bring most of his crew home safe - quite a feat in those days.

German sailors continued this practice even after the British Royal Navy had switched to limes, earning the British sailors the nickname "Limey" while the Germans became known as a "Kraut's".

The rebranding of French Fries as Freedom Fries in recent times in the US is not a new idea.
During World War I, due to concerns the American public would reject a product with a German name, American sauerkraut makers relabeled their product as "Liberty cabbage" for the duration of the war.

The main problem we have here in making it is the equipment required. It is easy to make, but we Irish are used to buying it in jars or having it with hot dogs.
We are not quite sure how its made - and from the taste we assume it is pickled in vinegar. It's actually fermented.

There are several specialist crocks available on the continent specially made for this with an air tight water lip seal, the best known being the Harsch brand from Germany.

However, the cost of shipping such heavy and delicate items to Ireland from the continent is prohibitive.
So, I had to figure out a way to create anaerobic fermentation  without the costly equipment.
To create this type of fermentation, you need to allow for the release of CO2 while at the same time prohibit the intake of O2 - much easier said than done.

Thats where Homebrewest.ie comes in. A small Irish company, based in Barna, Connemara.
They provide a great service and free shipping, and great advice even for madcap customers who turn up out of the blue asking for advice on how to ferment cabbage.

www.homebrewwest.ie/index.asp

I knew that brewers are experts in fermentation, and so with their help and advice, I came up with a plan.



If you go to a chipper or a restaurant, they will normally have catering sized food grade containers for things like Mayonnaise, Curry powder etc. - You are going to have to blag one.

So, once you have a food grade plastic container and an air tight lid - your half way there.
It's then a question of bodging together your anaerobic chamber.

First, use a pen to draw the narrow end of the bung on the bucket lid and centre it up.

The centre the wide end over the initial circle. Draw around it - this will give you minmum and maximum diameters.

Cut between the circles, always staying closer or even on the inner one. Insert the bung with the airlock fitted.

Insert the bung with airlock already fitted.

Now, you will see that the bung pushes down the plastic, making it proud on the inner side of the lid, pull it back a little to make that area recessed.

That allows the silicone to settle on the inside of the bung sink and sit easier.

Then use some silicone to seal it fully on top and on the bottom.

It is not only cabbage you can ferment in the chamber, it can be used for other veg like turnip, gherkins etc. It can also be used for curing meat - not sure about fish - and fermenting mash to make into beer or spirits.

Each use will be explored in due time, but if others use this design - please comment here or let me know