Pickling Attempt #1 -- Daikon

And now, we shall reveal our produce of choice: daikon. If you are unsure what this is, continue to read on.

Daikon (literally "large root" in Japanese) is also known as: Mooli, Oriental Radish, or White Radish. It is a large, mild-flavored radish that comes from Asia. Most likely, our variety of choice was aokubi-daikon. It is looks like a giant carrot, only it is white.

We visited the local farmer's market on Saturday and purchased the produce in the picture to the left. Not only did we purchase daikon (3 for $1.00, normally $.50/ea.), but we also bought a bunch of fresh carrots, a bag of baby purple potatoes, and a head of broccoli. We had a wonderful time at the market looking at all the produce and other products that vendors had brought to sell. Most interesting to us was how far many of the vendors had traveled to come to this tiny farmer's market at Sunrise Station. But most fortunate for us.

We returned home and set our beautiful produce out as a centerpiece on our tabletop. This way, we could enjoy it visually until we decided what to do with it. As we thumbed through our canning books, we came across "Do Chua" (phonetically: doe jew-uh, with the emphasis on the first syllable). Do Chua is a Vietnamese carrot and daikon pickle.

However, due to the sale price, we found we had purchased a considerable amount more than was necessary for the recipe. Therefore, we needed to get another recipe to use the rest of our daikon.

We searched the web for suggestions and were prepared to settle for a chicken and daikon soup. However, on http://www.allrecipes.com/, we found a great idea for Pan Fried Daikon Cakes. They looked very delicious and would be a great way to use up our supply. Plus, we could provide a sample of this recipe with our jars of Do Chua to our "test group." (P.S. If you are in the test group and do not wish to be, please let us know. Also, if you are not in the test group and would like to be considered, feel free to let us know that, as well.)

Sunday, we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day, due to the work schedule not affording a holiday for Monday. It was quite an eventful day. What follows is a series of pictures in progression:

1. Pretend the daikon is an extension of your nose. This step is essential, as it lets the daikon know who is in charge and prepares it adequately for what it is about to endure.

2. Using a julienne peeler, shred the daikon (and carrot) into a large bowl. This process was a little time consuming, but rather entertaining, especially when the pieces go flying anywhere except the bowl. And you end up with little pieces that are too small to julienne. (We used the cheese grater for the ends.

3. After peeling, we weighed the shredded daikon. (We were kind enough to not announce its weight aloud, as we didn't want it to be self-conscious.)

4. The mixture of daikon and carrot is then salted. This is to draw the water out of the vegetables. It also helps mute the bite of the radish a little.

5. Once we finished the salting, we drained the liquid off the "roots" and stuffed the blend into jars. After the jars were filled, a vinegar and sugar mixture was poured to cover the produce in each jar. These were sealed and placed in the refrigerator.

6. Before storing in the refrigerator, we had the jars pose for a few snapshots. They sure turned out nice. (We haven't sampled them, yet.)

Ready... Set...

Last weekend, we bought our first canning supplies. Our canning pot is beautiful and the jars and utensil kit were a very reasonable price. It would be nice if we could find jars in bulk somehow. Or stumble upon a jackpot of them for a steal. We have been monitoring Craigslist, but the few listings found for jars have either been worthless or they disappear too quickly. But at least we have what we need to get started. (Maybe a friend or family member will know where we could get discounted jars.)

We were so excited buying our supplies and both of us are just itching to jump right in and get our hands dirty. Well, maybe not dirty (Erin wants to get her hands dirty), but you know what we mean. We are working to assemble the ingredients needed for Recipe #1. Hopefully, this weekend we will be able to secure the final items. There is the possibility that we will not be able to purchase the produce for a few weeks or so. Therefore, we should have our first batch of home canned produce sitting in jars looking delicious within the next few weeks to a month or so.

The produce of choice will be posted with our next update. We will give you a hint: It is going to be pickled.

If we have our way about it, we will try to get some pictures up of our supplies and hopefully document our progress in photos. Can't wait to give it a go!

In other news, we made another purchase last weekend. We found an excellent listing for bicycles on Craigslist. In one purchase, we received 2 mountain bikes, a bike rack, helmets, and a bike lock. And all at the cost of one bicycle. They are practically brand new and exactly what we had in mind. Need some cleaning up, as they were in a garage for the last year, but once they are cleaned and “tuned-up,” they should be perfect for our uses.

We are hoping to get a chance to use these in the near future. This weekend, we are planning to head to the local farmer’s market. It is our hope that we will find some great buys there and we are looking forward to the experience. Farmer’s markets are very enjoyable.

Rob & Erin

Adventures in Sustainability and Preserving

Disclaimer: In the coming months, it is highly likely that there will be various pictures and/or descriptions of delicious food on this blog. Stay tuned, but be warned.

As my family says it: Erin and I are "food-ies" at heart. I am not sure where this term came from, but I can do little to argue against it. We are. We like food. And what is wrong with that? I say nothing!

However, we also recognize that much of the food we eat on a day-to-day basis is probably not nearly as good for us as it could be, especially those store bought items with the fun ingredients that sound like they could be unique diseases or conditions. (maltodextritis, anyone?)

Therefore, we have decided to embark on something of an adventure. For the next year, we are going to attempt to can, jar, preserve, pickle, or ferment one type of produce each month. This should be a fascinating journey and we are looking forward to it. It promises to be challenging, but the rewards should be well worth the work. (Maybe you will be fortunate enough to sample those rewards... Then again, maybe you would more fortunate to escape that sample.)

In addition, we have begun discussing how we might be able to cut back on the things that aren't so important in life. Things like the latest piece of technology or going out to eat all the time. We are endeavoring to discover how to live a more simple life and follow that trail to whatever its end may be.

Before you fall off your chair and think we are becoming Amish (or tree-huggers), know that it is simply out of a desire for something more than "always wanting more" that we are pursuing this goal. We like the idea of a slow paced life. And due to our jobs and the world around us, we will have to be the ones to set the speed and tone for our lives.

It should be interesting to see how things change over the course of the next year. I hope you follow along with us and chart our progress.

Who knows? Maybe it will inspire you to try something "foodie" and different this year? Or at least slow down enough to smell the roses and have a sample of jam on homemade bread?

God bless you all and we look for to sharing our progress in the weeks ahead.

Rob (& Erin)