​
 Food is the original medicine, drugs are the new kids on the block!

Garlic is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world. Its usage predates written history! Sanskrit records document the use of garlic remedies approximately 5000 years ago, while the Chinese have been using it for at least 3000 years.
Hippocrates and Aristotle cited numerous therapeutic uses for garlic. 

Its multifaceted in its healing power. It's antiviral, antibacterial, anti-fungal & anti parasitic. It can clear heavy metals from the colon, fights infection due to colds, flu, strep throat, pneumonia and viral related cancers. It can lower blood pressure, protect the heart and lower cholesterol. Not bad for a lowly garlic clove!!

Many of the therapeutic effects of garlic are thought to be due to the many sulphur containing compounds it contains. It is also an excellent source of Vit B6, manganese, selenium, phosphorous, calcium, potassium and iron.


There are 27 known active ingredients in garlic and dozens more that work in ways we haven't discovered yet! Many of these compounds work synergistically  in the body to fight infection. 

Many serious bugs, among them MRSA and staphylococcal strains of bacteria, have developed resistance to most antibiotic drugs, but not to the awesome power of garlic, due to the chemical complexity which these superbugs can't fight! 

The other interesting thing about garlic is it only kills bad bacteria and leaves all the good guys unaffected, whereas antibiotics wipe out most of the good ones as well as the bad ones, leaving your immune system compromised and your gut microbes decimated!
Not good on any level for your health!

FERMENT GARLICS AND BOOST ITS POWER

Now bearing in mind all the benefits I have just told you about, you can take garlic and boost its power by a large degree by simply fermenting it in a salt brine for a few weeks and then keeping it in the fridge, to use whenever you like!

I add it to all my dips and dressings for a real flavour and health boost! It's definitely best used raw to preserve all the probiotic bacteria but you add it to any recipe requiring garlic at the end.

This simple process increases the vitamins, makes them more bioavailable and adds lots of beneficial lactic acid bacteria (the good guys!) So this is indeed a win-win situation!

Additionally the strong flavour mellows out during the fermentation process and magically doesn't linger on your breath!

The only drawback to making fermented garlic is the number of cloves you have to peel first! However, in my positive world, I see this as some time out, sitting comfortably, listening to some nice music and usually with a nice glass of wine or a lovely coffee, depending on the time of day!!

If you really don't have the time to sit and peel a massive pile of garlic, you can try putting your separated cloves into a big pot, putting the lid on and giving it a good shake! Apparently it works but I haven't tried it myself!

Also if possible, buy organic garlic! Best to start with the best quality ingredients you can find!

So all you need is a clean glass jar, enough garlic cloves to fill it, some salt water and a few black peppercorns (optional) and some patience! Bearing in mind it takes at least 2 weeks but preferably nearer 4 to ferment,  then it's really worth making a lot. It will keep up to a year in the fridge!

STEP BY STEP


1- Find yourself a decent sized glass jar and give it a good wash in hot soapy water then rinse it well to remove any traces of soap.

2- Peel loads of garlic, enough to almost fill your jar.

3- Add the peeled garlic cloves to your jar, add some peppercorns if you like

4- Make up a 2% brine solution using a good quality sea salt without any additives or anti caking agents! This is simply 20g of sea salt dissolved in a litre of water. It depends on the size of your jar how much brine you will need. If you are using a smallish jar then just make up 500 mls brine with 10 g sea salt.

5- Pour the brine over the garlic cloves and make sure they are totally covered. Leave at least 2.5cm of headspace at the top of your jar. It's a good idea to add a weight of some sort to keep the garlic submerged. A small ziplock bag filled with extra brine works well or a large cabbage leaf or a small glass gu pot.

6-  Put your jar out of direct sunlight but at room temperature for at least 2  weeks. I left mine for six weeks. You should see small bubbles of carbon dioxide which is a sign that the fermentation is proceeding normally.

7- Once fermented you can store it in the fridge where it will keep happily for up to a year! 

* Consideration
​Occasionally some of the garlic cloves turn blue, which is just due to the sulphur compounds and nothing to worry about!!
​

 I bought some great bargains at Holland and Barrett yesterday, among them, two bags of lovely dried Lerida Figs!
I absolutely love fresh figs but dried ones are also delicious and perfect in chutneys and this fabulous Fig & Olive Tapenade.

An intense sweet and salty at the same time, totally versatile, delicious, packed with nutrition and containing two fermented products, olives and apple cider vinegar, this is well worth making and its so simple.

Just remember to buy preservative free olives. I used black Kalamata from Aldi and green olives from Lidl, both delicious and a great price but if you want to push the boat out and splash out on some more expensive deli olives, then go right ahead!

Olives are a great source of monounsaturated fats, minerals, vitamins, fibre and various powerful antioxidants. I think we are all aware that the Mediterranean diet is an extremely healthy one, olives and quality olive oil are consumed in large amounts, along with plenty of seasonal colourful veggies and locally caught fish. Not forgetting regular consumption of red wine which we all know has various benefits for our health!!

Figs are a brilliant source of calcium and magnesium for strong bones, fibre which provides a laxative effect and balances blood sugar, and lots of other trace minerals.

This is a great wee accompaniment to tapas style food and pairs particularly well with goats cheese on toasted sourdough bread or to accompany a cheese board. 

It has a really intense flavour so a little goes a long way.
​
​This would make a lovely gift, in a nice glass jar with a hand written label!
​
On that note, this is so good I'm off to make another batch!!

Here is the simple recipe.....

FIG & OLIVE TAPENADE
Ingredients

• 120g dried figs, roughly chopped
• 120g black Kalamata olives, pitted
• 120g green olives, pitted
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for the top
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped

Method

1. Simply put all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and pulse a few times until you have a rough paste. You don't want a uniform paste, its best to  be a bit chunky so just pulse until you have a texture you like.
2.  Spoon your tapenade into a clean glass jar and pour a little olive oil over the top to prevent oxidation.
3.  This will keep in the fridge for up to two months.

​                                                  .....your health in your hands....

What can I say, where have the last two months gone? I have been neglecting my blog and I do apologise! 
But I have been having so much fun fermenting stuff and working on my workshops, which are going from strength to strength! This is seriously addictive, I have been researching, buying books, joining Facebook Groups and experimenting like a mad scientist, in the kitchen! Well I actually am a scientist and some folks would say I am mad, especially my family, who have to live with me and all my weird concoctions!
My fridge is full of jars of ferments, sourdough starters, kefir, kefir cheese, whey and coconut kefir and numerous bottles of kombucha!
I have a scoby hotel with spare kombucha scobies ( you will have to come to a workshop to find out more about these amazing cultures, they look a bit like slimy aliens but they create the most delicious, probiotic, health affirming drink! 
Kefir grains are similar microbial and bacterial cultures but they look like wee mini cauliflowers and magically convert organic milk into one of the most probiotic foods on the planet. Home made is way superior to anything you can buy and its so much cheaper, once you have the cultures, they just keep on growing! 
So I think I am justified in calling  myself a Fermentista..., someone who ferments things! I rather like that!
So for my first blog post in quite some time, and since we are in BBQ season I thought I'd share a really simple recipe for Sweetcorn Relish but this isn't standard run of the mill, full of refined sugar relish you buy from the shops! Oh no this is totally different and actually has no added sugar at all and its fermented so its packed with beneficial probiotics too!
You can use frozen or fresh sweetcorn but if you are using fresh try and use the freshest you can. The longer corn sits on the shelves after harvesting the more the natural sugar turns to starch and the big appeal of sweetcorn for most of us is the delicious natural sweetness!
Frozen sweetcorn is generally frozen directly after harvesting, as are peas, so the majority of the vitamins are preserved and the sugars should be relatively intact!
Aldi and Lidl stock delicious supersweet frozen corn, which is a great price too. I always have a bag in the freezer! There is less waste since you just use what you need, rather than opening a tin and only using half of it.
Anyway back to this delicious summer relish! It incorporates a rainbow of colours from red onion, red pepper, courgette and fresh green coriander as well as vibrant yellow corn! 
Every colour contains different phytochemicals all with amazing power to heal us and keep us well. 
The process of fermenting harnesses the power of the natural lactobacillus bacteria (LAB for short), present on all fresh fruit and vegetables and these guys are among the toughest bacteria out there! Given the right conditions they will destroy any pathogenic or harmful bacteria  leaving a fantastically powerful ferment full of these health affirming wee guys!

Magic happens when you ferment foods, problem compounds are broken down, vitamins are made more bio available meaning they are easier to digest, vitamins are formed especially B vitamins and Vitamin K essential for strong bones!

These probiotic foods are so powerful, we should all be including them in our diets.

The main thing to remember with fermenting veggies is to keep the veggies submerged in the brine solution. This creates the perfect environment for the lactobaccillus bacteria to work their magic and keeps moulds and yeast at bay! So wee mantra to remember when fermenting veggies
​
                                                      Under the brine and all is fine!!

The easiest way to do this is to use a small ziplock bag, press it down onto the top of your ferment then fill it with water or brine solution (2tsp salt per 500ml water) to act as a weight to keep the veggies under the brine. If you use brine solution, if your bag leaks, the salinity of your ferment won't be compromised! Remember to put a plate or bowl under your ferment to catch any leaking brine. As the fermentation progresses, carbon dioxide is produced which can build up if not released, so don't tightly screw the lid on your jar. Just seal the ziplock bag and cover loosely with the lid. Also its important to leave a bit of headspace in your jar so don't fill it right to the top. You need room for the ziplock bag! All the supermarkets, Aldi, Lidl, Home Bargains sell Kilner jars which are perfect for fermenting but any large glass jar will do. We save all our jars, especially large ones, olives and coconut oil are our favourites for fermenting. Once your relish is ready, you can transfer it to smaller jars where it will keep in the fridge for around a month.

So go have some fun and impress everyone at your next BBQ with your homemade, refined sugar free, probiotic relish!!

​ So here is the simple recipe..
​Fermented Sweetcorn Relish
Ingredients

• 3 cups frozen sweetcorn 
• 1 red pepper, finely diced
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• ½ cup finely diced courgette
• 1 red chilli, finely diced or 1/2 to 1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
• 3 tablespoons chopped coriander
• 1 to 1.5 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 tablespoon raw honey to be added after the ferment (optional)

Method

1. Combine the corn, pepper, onion, courgette, and coriander. Sprinkle in 1 teaspoon of the salt, working it in with your hands. There should be some liquid building at the bottom. If you don’t have enough liquid then add  the extra half teaspoon of salt and some lemon or lime juice. Add the chilli or chilli flakes. If using frozen corn then let it defrost a bit before you use it.
2. Press the mixture into a jar or crock. More brine will release at this stage and you should see brine above the veggies. Top the ferment with a zip lock bag. Press the plastic down onto the top of the ferment, fill it with water or brine (2 tsp salt per 500ml water) and seal.
3. Set aside on a plate to ferment, out of direct sunlight and cool, for 3 or 4 days.
4. Check daily to make sure the veggies are submerged, pressing down as needed to bring the brine to the surface.
5. You can start to test the ferment on day 3. It’s ready when it tastes slightly sour but still retains some of the sweetness of the corn.
6. When it’s ready add the raw honey, if using.
7. Store in the fridge for up to a month.