D.I.Y. Delicious: Recipes and Ideas for Simple Food From Scratch (21 page)

There are a few life-changing aspects to joining Rachel’s secret porridge society: Homemade porridge is healthful, incredibly tasty, very easy, super-cheap, and fun!

I wasn’t allowed to read the manifesto, but she generously shared with me her basic philosophy of porridge. From that I was able to gather enough information to start to experiment and to pass on some valuable knowledge to you.

First thing: You absolutely need a Crock-Pot or slow cooker. That’s what makes the process effortless, good, and fun.

All you do is put your chosen combination of grains in the Crock-Pot with some water before you go to bed, and you’ll wake up to something wonderful. No time involved. So instead of trotting off to work with your little packet of bland, instant oatmeal to microwave, you can truly nourish yourself with delicious whole grains, which you can just as easily microwave. Your day cannot fail to go well with a belly full of hot porridge. One batch makes a lot, but you can portion it into perfect grab-on-the-go meals to reheat all week.

Start with the grains: Use any whole grains you want, including steel-cut oats; oat groats; kamut; brown, black, red, or white rice; wheat berries; farro; quinoa; amaranth; even hominy. Use what’s local to your area and what you like. Combine them in different proportions to get exciting textural variations.

I like to start with one base grain, like rice or steel-cut oats, then add a smaller proportion of one very chewy grain, like wheat berries, kamut, or hominy. Then I add an even smaller proportion of something fluffy and small, like quinoa or amaranth. Proportions are variable and fairly foolproof. If you like a thick porridge, use approximately 1 cup grains to 3 cups water. For a thinner porridge, use approximately 1 cup grains to 4 cups water. I recommend starting with more water until you see how different grains perform in your particular Crock-Pot. Look at the
recipes
to get an idea for proportions. Start by cooking on low. It should be sufficient for most grains.

If you want to get really adventurous (and more nutritious), add a few tablespoons of legumes like adzuki beans, lentils, or mung beans; or use some raw diced winter squash or sweet potatoes. You can also add flax seeds or chia seeds at this point.

Sometimes I make savory porridges and sometimes sweet. Sweet porridges benefit from cinnamon or other sweet spices added during the cooking and they’ll smell so delicious they’ll help you get out of bed!

“When your alarm clock goes off and you’re not excited
to get out of bed, your breakfast isn’t delicious enough.”
—Rachel Cole

I hope that some day Rachel publishes her porridge manifesto. But until then, we’ll have to make do with our own creativity. After you figure out your grain combo, think about what to add afterward: sweeteners (if desired), liquids or dairy additions, crunchy additions, and stir-ins. Mix and match from the
lists
and have fun creating your own.

SWEET

TIME REQUIRED:
5 minutes active; 7 to 9 hours passive

YIELD:
4 to 6 servings

4½ cups water

cup brown rice

cup Bhutanese red rice

cup wheat berries

¼ cup quinoa

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon Brown sugar for serving

Milk for serving

Strawberries, sliced, for serving

Combine the water, brown and red rice, wheat berries, quinoa, and cinnamon in a Crock-Pot and cook overnight (or for 7 to 9 hours) on low. Serve with brown sugar, milk, and strawberries.

SAVORY

TIME REQUIRED:
5 minutes active; 7 to 9 hours passive

YIELD:
4 to 6 servings

6 cups water

1 cup steel-cut oats

½ cup hominy, soaked for at least 8 hours and then chopped coarsely

¼ cup amaranth

Poached egg for serving

Cheddar cheese for serving

Simple Tomato Salsa
for serving

Combine the water, oats, hominy, and amaranth in a Crock-Pot and cook overnight (or for 7 to 9 hours) on low. Serve with a poached egg, Cheddar cheese, and Salsa.

Your homemade porridge is endlessly customizable. For a traditional sweetened breakfast porridge, choose desired add-ons from each category below and enjoy. A savory porridge might include fresh cheese, yogurt, sausage, eggs, or anything else you can think of.

SWEETENERS

• Honey

• Maple syrup

•
Plum-Verbena Jam
or other homemade or store-bought jam

• Brown sugar

• Agave syrup

LIQUIDS AND DAIRY ADDITIONS

•
Yogurt

• Soy milk

•
Almond Milk

• Cow or goat milk

• Coconut milk

•
Fresh Whole-Milk Soft Cheese

•
Crème Fraîche

CRUNCHY ADDITIONS

•
Granola Your Way

• Toasted nuts or seeds

STIR-INS

•
Roasted Peanut Butter
or
Raw Almond Butter

• Fresh fruit

• Dried fruit

• Coconut flakes

Simple Wild Sauerkraut

Sarma: Serbian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Sauerkraut

Spicy Kimchi

Spicy Soft Tofu Soup with Kimchi

Lacto-Fermented Baby Beets

Wild Salvadoran Curtido

Bread and Butter Pickles

Italian Table Pickles

Pickled Kohlrabi and Turnips with Cardamom

Simple Dal

Spicy Pickled Green Beans

Potato Salad with Pickled Green Beans and Hard-Cooked Eggs

Garlicky Cucumber Pickle Relish

Black-Eyed Peas with Stewed Okra and Tomatoes with Garlicky Cucumber Pickle Relish

ALMOST EVERY HUMAN CULTURE incorporates a variety of pickled or fermented vegetables into meals. Traditionally used as a way to preserve foods, extend shelf life, and add flavor, pickled and live-culture foods can add interest, texture, and excitement to the simplest meals. Examples of common fermented foods include cheese, kimchi, salami, sourdough bread, and wine. Wild fermented foods are made by adding salt to vegetables to inhibit spoilage while the vegetables are left out at room temperature to allow the wild yeasts and bacteria in the environment to colonize the food. These wild organisms multiply rapidly as they work to preserve the foods. They also contain beneficial organisms that are thought to improve digestion and general well-being, and they taste great. Pickles are preserved through the use of vinegar and salt and can be made with a wide variety of vegetables. Different kinds of pickles abound throughout the world, including common pickled cucumbers, Japanese pickled radish, and Indian mango pickle.

This chapter includes a variety of pickles and wild fermented vegetables along with suggestions for using them in or alongside other recipes in the chapter. Small-batch pickling and fermenting is the focus, but readers who wish to preserve larger quantities for shelf-stable storage can adapt the recipes by using the processing chart in any good canning book (see
Sources
).

Sauerkraut is often thought of as a German dish, but the first sauerkraut was probably created in China. Before refrigeration, it was a great way to preserve fresh vegetables for traveling workers and armies. The technique is easy and lends itself to a variety of different vegetables. Once you’ve made this a few times, you’ll want to experiment with different vegetables and embellishments. On the ’kraut continuum, on one end, there’s just cabbage and salt. On the other end, you’ll see many other types of vegetables (and sometimes fruits), including whole cabbages, turnips, or beets (I’ve even seen people ferment mashed potatoes). In the middle, you have something like this: mostly cabbage, a few different vegetables to add interest, and some whole spices or aromatics. I like to play with garlic, ginger, or other types of whole spices. In the winter, when the kale and daikon radish are at their best, I will add them instead of carrots and turnips. Think of this as a nice basic ’kraut to help you build skills and confidence
.

TIME REQUIRED:
15 minutes active; 5 to 10 days passive

YIELD:
1 quart

1 medium head green cabbage (about 1½ pounds), quartered, cored, and sliced as thinly as possible

2 to 3 carrots, grated on the large holes of a box grater

3 to 4 red turnips, grated on the large holes of a box grater

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon mustard seeds or fennel seeds, lightly crushed

Put all the vegetables in a large bowl along with the salt and mustard seeds. With clean hands, toss and squeeze the vegetables until they start to soften and release their liquid (about 5 minutes). Pack them tightly into a 1-quart, wide-mouthed, glass mason jar, pushing down on them with a wooden spoon or your fingertips with as much force as you can until the level of liquid rises above the vegetables. Put a smaller jar inside the glass jar and push down on it to keep the vegetables submerged. Cover with a clean towel and secure with a rubber band. This is to allow the ’kraut to breathe while keeping bugs out.

Leave out at room temperature for about 5 days. Check once daily to be sure the vegetables stay submerged, pushing down on them if needed. If you see a foamy scum, simply skim it off. Taste daily, starting on the third day. The sauerkraut is ready when it tastes good to you. This could be anywhere from 3 to 10 days. When it’s to your liking, fasten the lid and transfer it to the refrigerator. Sauerkraut will last for months in the refrigerator. It doesn’t really go bad, but older ’kraut can become unpalatably soft, almost mushy. Some people like to cook it when it gets to that point—in a bean soup or with sausages and potatoes.

This is pretty much the version my mother made when I was growing up, but there was no recipe, so my sister and I re-created this one from our flavor memories. Even though my mother didn’t, I’ve added Simple Wild Sauerkraut because I happen to love it, and I know many people bake their stuffed cabbage with sauerkraut. For a real Balkan bacchanal, kick off dinner with an appetizer of
Ajvar
and
Easy Yogurt Cheese
served with
Whole-Wheat Sesame Crackers
or crostini. This recipe nicely illustrates how, with very little money, you can feed a lot of people gorgeous, filling, nutritious food
.

TIME REQUIRED:
45 minutes active; about 2 hours passive (excluding sauerkraut and ketchup preparation)

YIELD:
6 to 8 servings

CABBAGE ROLLS