kombucha

The Green Kitchen

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It’s not always easy being green.

I fancy myself a lifelong environmentalist.  One of my chores growing up was dealing with the recycling.  I belonged to an ecology club all through junior high and high school.  My sisters and I would sport the orange vests for Adopt-A-Highway on promises of trips to Dairy Queen afterward. My papa sent me back to the car to grab the canvas bags long before they were 0.99 cents at every checkout counter.  I knew littering was ridiculous, ugly, and mean from the time I could walk.

I used to take my status as a lifer for granted.  Recycle, bundle errands together so you drive less, take shorter showers.  That about covers it right?

Wrong.  These things are all good and easy to incorporate into my day but there’s so much more!

Yesterday, in an attempt to get more food-sourced vitamin C, I grabbed two kiwis at the store.  It wasn’t until I was eating them that I saw one was from Italy and the other was from Chili!  What’s the carbon footprint on a kiwi shipped from Italy to Virginia?  How long had it been since they were picked?  Please correct me if I’m wrong but I believe vitamin C starts to diminish as soon as a fruit is picked, negating any good intentions I originally had for that fruit.

Weeks ago I was staring down the choice between organic apples from Chili or local, conventional apples.  I went with the local. Does the lower emissions cancel out the use of pesticides, on a strictly environmental standpoint?  There are a few orchards around Cville that are “low-spray” but even in this land of apples and organics I haven’t found anyone who marries the two.

Believe you me, I still buy bananas, just not very often during the summer and fall when there are great and local fruit options.

My increasing fascination with all things food has led the environmentalist in me to change how I grocery shop and cook.

  • I make big batches of beans and grains, both of which have been pre-soaked, and freeze a few jars from each batch to eat later.  The soaking cuts down on cooking time (electricity) and the freezing keeps my freezer full (more energy efficient).
  • I rarely pre-heat the oven.  For many things pre-heating isn’t really necessary and it wastes energy.   Squash, lasagna, and potatoes certainly don’t care if the oven’s hot before going in.  I also avoid turning on the oven in the hot months.  Oven and AC? Just don’t make sense, pizza goes on the grill during the summer!
  • I make yogurt.  I eat a lot of yogurt and the containers aren’t recyclable in my neighborhood.
  • I make kombucha, which saves lots of glass bottles and the shipping of those bottles in refrigerated trucks.
  • I [usually!] check at the store to see where food was shipped from and try to chose the closest option.
  • I unplug all small appliances when not in use, including the kitchen radio.  I would probably unplug the stove if the outlet wasn’t so damn hard to reach.
  • I buy in bulk and avoid excess packaging on food.
  • I wash the labels off of fun jars and re-use them.

Most of these things are pretty simple and don’t take any sacrifice of comfort or time, which are the kind of changes I can live with.  Do you think “green” while at the grocery?  What changes have you made to green up your kitchen?

Those Italian kiwis?   Molto delizioso but I’ll be getting my C from the greens in my garden for now.

Kombucha in the House

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Hello from muggy, overcast, and yet still totally hip, Brooklyn!

Our drive up yesterday was smooth sailing and we arrived at my cousin’s gorgeous apartment right on schedule.  I am looking forward to a day of walking and sight-seeing and a night full of family celebrating my grandmother.

Last week a reader asked me if I have a Kombucha recipe posted and I realized I don’t.  I’ve talked about making Kombucha many times but I haven’t written a step-by-step recipe.

Kombucha, in theory, is very easy to make.  In practice I find that every batch varies because the yeast and bacteria is very sensitive to temperature fluctuations, this is to say that every batch is different but most are great.

Here’s how you do it.

You will need:

  • a large glass jar, at least 2 quarts
  • 2 bags or equivalent of loose black tea per quart of brewed tea
  • 1/4 cup sugar per quart of brewed tea
  • 8-10 ounces of store-bought Kombucha (like GT‘s, yum!)
STEP ONE
Fill your jar with cold water, leaving about 2 cups worth of head space for the commercial tea you’ll add later, pour water into a  large stainless steel pot, boil, turn off, add tea and sugar to pot.  Stir to dissolve sugar and leave to steep for 15-20 minutes.  Remove tea bags and allow to cool to room temperature (this will take a few hours).
STEP TWO
Once tea is cool, pour into your jar.
STEP THREE
Add the Kombucha to the cooled tea.
NOTE: Kombucha is made from a culture of bacteria and yeast.  This culture is very sensitive to metal.  Never stir with or make contact with Kombucha and metal, from this point forward use wooden spoons to stir and taste.
STEP FOUR
Cover jar with a clean napkin and rubber band and label your jar with the current date.
STEP FIVE
Set jar in a dark, clean, out-of-the-way spot where it can sit undisturbed for 1-2 weeks.  I use a section of our dish hutch as my Kombucha closet.
STEP SIX
After one week check on your tea.  Peek under the napkin and see what’s developed.  You are looking for the formation of a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) on top of the tea.  The SCOBY should be off-white and covering the entire top of the tea.
Pour a little tea into a cup and taste it.  It should no longer be sugary sweet, there should be a nice tang reminiscent of apple cider vinegar, and maybe a little effervescence. If it still tastes like sweet tea, re-cover and let sit for another 2-3 days.  Retaste every few days until your desired tang is reached.
STEP SEVEN
With clean hands, place the SCOBY into another clean glass jar with a few cups of your new Kombucha to cover it and set it aside*.  Bottle your tea into clean, reused kombucha bottles or other empty, clean glass or plastic bottles, adding a splash of juice if you like and  leaving a good inch or two of head room.
STEP EIGHT
Place bottles into fridge or back into room temperature storage. The Kombucha will continue to ferment and if stored at room temp will get more effervescent.  Watch out for too much bubbly build up!  Check the bottles every 2-3 days and when a nice amount of bubbles and good flavor is reached move to fridge to slow the fermentation.
Drink up!
I drink 8-12 ounces before or after lunch about 5 days a week.
*To make your second batch follow the same procedure EXCEPT for step three use your homemade Kombucha instead of store bought and add the SCOBY to the jar as well.
It may seem a little complicated or time consuming but now that I am familiar with the process it takes me a total of about 10 working minutes to make a batch of Kombucha.  I DO NOT, however, recommend attempting to make this if you are not already a Kombucha convert.  I admit it, Kombucha is weird stuff and if you aren’t already a big fan who is looking for an alternative to spending $4 a bottle than making it from scratch probably isn’t for you.
Please comment with any questions you still have about Kombucha!