Miscellaneous and free stuff!

Some miscellanous odds and ends from this month so far.  The theme here is FREE! I generally don't do quite this much in the kitchen but I have to make hay while the sun shines.

Bread and butter pickles
I made bread and butter pickles a few times since our CSA is giving away slicing cucumbers.  In my opinion, the trick to these is scooping out the seeds and slime in the middle and slicing them slightly thicker than the ultra-thin slimy ones you get at the store.  These are fermented.  I put in a grape leaf to help keep them crispy.
Bread and butter pickle recipe here.
My coworkers have been crazy for them.  This is a good example of improving a yucky recipe (corn syrup/white sugar, white vinegar, polysorbate 80, etc.) and making a lot healthier with the honey and probiotics of the apple cider vinegar.  Plus I can vary the sweetness by making them slightly sweet rather than sickeningly sweet.

Sauerkraut
Another coworker brought in 2 huge cabbages from their neighbors garden.  I snatched up those bad boys in hurry.  I just finished slicing these up tonight to make homemade sauerkraut.  Once again, fermented and free.  Homemade sauerkraut is a completely different animal than that slimy stuff you get in the can.  It is going to be pink from the red cabbage so the kids are going to be crazy for it. My cost was less than a $1 since I added some juniper berries with the salt.  Not bad for what is probably going to be around 10 quarts of sauerkraut for this fall and winter.
Sauerkraut recipe
Pictures on this same idea with a recipe.

Garlic Dills and Garlic Dilly Beans
I bought pickling cucumbers and green beans to make garlic dills.  These were not free but much tastier and cheaper than the store.  My neighbor is from New York and said the pickles taste exactly like the ones he used to get out there.  They are so crazy good!
Garlic Dills recipe.

Sourdough
I finally restarted my sourdough bread in anticipation of the Kendall County Republican Woman bake sale next week.  I baked the first loaf today and it was good but still needs some work.  I have tried to get sourdough starter going on several occasions and it's always been a miserable flop.  This time it worked!!!!!
All about sourdough for beginners

Jalapeño poppers
My friend Debbie dropped off the most beautiful jalapeños from her garden.  They were picture perfect and really tasty. They had a fruitiness.  Much better and fresher than the store. I had been waiting for many years to get my hands on some GOOD jalapeños to make this recipe for jalapeño bacon poppers.  They were divine.
Poppers from pioneerwoman.

Tomatoes
Dad and Kelly and a coworker all gave me tomatoes. So I threw those bad boys in the crockpot a couple nights ago and let them cook on low for about 12 hours to let the liquid evaporate.  Those are being either frozen or used in a soup this weekend.

Finally, the pictures I promised to post last week.

The ceviche.  It's the best picture of the batch and shows Iris eating some sliced tomato with an almost-empty plate.  The second picture is the grilled dover sole with fresh tomatoes, grilled zucchini, and grilled eggplant.