Butter – Kefir cultured
Seriously addictive!
Yield: 1 large block or two small blocks
Prep time: 5 mins plus 5 mins grooving and shaking!
Total time: 16 -24 hours ferment time
Ingredients
Pouring Cream | 600ml go for a good quality cream without any
fillers or additives.
Milk Kefir grains | 2TB – see note
Salt | to taste
Directions
Place your cream in a clean, sterilised jar and add the milk kefir grains (see note). I like to place my grains in a piece of open weave muslin cloth and loosely tie it up then drop that bundle into the cream, it simply makes them easier to remove later on, but don’t worry if there are any strays left behind – you can just eat them along with the butter, they are so very good for you.
Cover your jar with a clean muslin cloth (or similar) and secure with a rubber band, allow the jar to sit at room temperature for 16-24 hours.
Remove your Milk Kefir grains from the jar, fit the jar with a clean lid, place the jar into the fridge for a few hours to get nice and cold, remove the jar put on your favourite tune then dance and shake like your kitchen is Studio 54. I am quite partial to Earth Wind & Fire for this practice – my Boogie Wonderland Butter. Of course you can use an electric mixer with a whisk attachment for this but how BORING!
After you’ve been grooving for a short while you will see the transformation start to take place, it will start to look like a cream whip, then it will start to look grainy, and then you will see the whey become separate from the butter fat. Keep shaking until you are comfortable that you have a big blob of butter going on in the jar.
Once the butter has appeared and you are deliriously happy, strain the butter well using a sieve and bowl – PLEASE do not throw away that white liquid, it is the equivalent of butter milk and you can use it in exactly the same manner – pancakes, sauces etc. If you’re not sure what to do with it right now, freeze it. There will be more recipes coming here soon to help you along with some suggestions and tips.
Give the butter a brief rinse, gently squeeze out any extra white liquid then place it back into the fridge, just for a little while, from now on it’s good to be working with cool hands and colder butter – we want to shape and salt our butter quickly so it doesn’t melt. Once the butter is cooled, sprinkle your salt in and shape as desired, ball, log – whatever takes your fancy. Store in an airtight container in the fridge and feel incredibly satisfied every single time you consume or serve. What are Milk Kefir grains? I am so glad you asked and without getting super technical, they are your SCOBY – Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast, they are the dudes and chicks that are bringing the culture to this party. They look a little like cauliflower florets and they are spongy (well, healthy ones should be), they are a REAL and living thing, you cannot manufacture them. Their original source is kind of tricky to be certain of, there are quite a few stories out there and I find some more probable than others so I will leave that to you to research if you feel the need. There are a few very reputable sources of Kefir grains out there and they are easily accessed, please feel free to drop me a line and I will happily recommend a supplier.
Fermented Chilli Sauce
Yield: 250ml
Prep time: 10-15 mins
Total time: 7 days to 3 weeks fermentation time
Ingredients
Fresh Chillies | 200g *use any sort you fancy
Garlic | 1 clove
Water | 250ml/1 cup *preferably filtered
Salt | 15g
Coriander seeds | 4-6
Mustard seeds | 4-6
Directions
Remove the tops from your chillies, slice them in half lengthways or you can chop them into large rings. Place the chillies into your jar, a tight fit is good and leave about 2cm space from the top of the jar, also place your garlic and seeds in at this point.
Dissolve your salt into the water, the water can be slightly warm if you like, pour that salty brine into your jar and make sure you cover the chillies.
Place weight over the chillies to make sure they remain submerged, this could be a glass weight, a clean and sterile stone/pebble – whatever you have as long as it’s very clean. Seal the jar (make sure you release pressure every now and then if you are not using an airlock, just try and gently unscrew the jar and release air, don’t take the lid off at all if you can, we are looking to release carbon dioxide but not let oxygen in. Keep the jar at room temp and let that baby ferment away.
Now it becomes a taste thing, you can ferment for 5 days, 1 week, 3weeks – totally up to you and your taste buds. Once you are done with the ferment, spoon the solid ingredients into a blender, blitz away adding the brine from the jar as required, making the sauce as thick or thin as you like, blend til smooth and then strain through a sieve then bottle or jar (clean one of course!). You have just made Hot Chilli Sauce, bravo – you are a fermenter! Store it in the fridge and you are done, well, until next time, this fermenting and preserving stuff, it’s addictive.
Special Information
You don’t need special fermentation equipment here – all you need is a sterile glass jar with a lid and something to weigh the chillies down with so the chillies remain covered in brine, if you have access to a Fowler/ Mason/Preserving jar with an airlock, then great but if not, you’ll be fine, just remember to slightly burp your jar to release the build-up of pressure. Any clean and sterile jar with a tight fitting lid will work.
Just remember that this beautiful sauce that you have just made is alive, yep, it’s real and full of probiotics and will continue to ferment, the fermenting process will slow down whilst in the fridge but you are now consuming a living food, bloody beautiful!
