It’s time to give thanks and that means Thanksgiving is close! I decided to put together an episode to give you some ideas on how to add fermentation, fermented foods, and fermented drinks into your Thanksgiving dinner.
You might not think it, but Thanksgiving is actually a great time of the year for fermentation to shine! There are so many fresh foods that can be fermented and added to the Thanksgiving table including desserts. Whether it’s cranberries, stuffing, pies, wine, coffee, or chocolate, there’s several areas where fermentation can fit into the Thanksgiving meal.
I hope you enjoy this episode and don’t forget, time is short! Get started right away to get your ferments going for next week!
The other thing I want to stress is that this is a time for thanks, family, friends, and not a day for going out shopping with all the crazies out there at stores that insidiously decide to open their doors on Thanksgiving day. Stores like that shouldn’t be supported.
Anyways, I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving and don’t get lost too far in your food coma!
Check out Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast for his Thanksgiving Special Episode 2014 for a great story on why much of what we learn about Thanksgiving is wrong or inaccurate, how Thanksgiving became a way for our nation to heal and reunite after a terrible civil war, why Thanksgiving has been moved around to different dates, and what feasting actually meant 100 years ago. This is a must listen every Thanksgiving and it’s updated every year.
 
TOPICS INCLUDED IN TODAY’S FERMENTATION PODCAST:

You have less than a week to get your fermentations started and finished by Thanksgiving!
Incorporating fermented foods into your Thanksgiving meal
Fermented appetizers including pickles, carrots, green beans, onions, hummus, pickled eggs
Getting flavorful brined black and green olives better than what you’d get in a jar or can
Roasting garlic heads and mixing them with balsamic vinegar and also using balsamic vinegar for cherry tomatoes
Thoughts on cheese for Thanksgiving
Encouraging everyone to make their own butter and sour cream rather than buying it
Side dishes like fermented cranberries sauce, pumpkin butter, apple sauce, sweet potatoes, and pickle soup
My great-grandpa’s recipe for making sauteed sweet potatoes slices in a cast-iron skillet
Other side dishes like roasting roots like potatoes, butternut squash, and cauliflowers
Making fermented mashed potatoes with dill pickle juice
Fermenting mushrooms and making a nice homemade gravy using fermented mushrooms and soy sauce
Sourdough bread, sourdough pie crust, and encouraging you to make homemade whipped cream
After dinner, what desserts can be like pumpkin pie, chocolate along with drinks like ice wine, ice cider, and coffee
Alcoholic drinks like wine, mead, beer, and cider
Non-alcoholic drinks like lacto-fermented sodas, ginger ale, traditional Russian kvass, kombucha, and even pickle shots
And finally general tips for making your cooking more flavorful with techniques to capture, preserve, and enhance flavor

 
RECIPES MENTIONED IN TODAY’S SHOW:
Appetizers

Dill Pickles

Homemade Dill Pickle Recipe – The Fermentation Podcast
Dehydrating Pickles & Fermented Dill Pickle Salt Recipe – The Fermentation Podcast

Watermelon Rinds

Lacto-Fermented Watermelon Rind Pickles – Cultures for Health
Fermented Watermelon Rinds – Pickle Me Too

Fermented Okra

Fermented Okra – The Fermentation Podcast

Fermented Carrot Sticks

Dilly Carrots – Oh Lardy
Spicy Dilly Carrot Sticks – Pickle Me Too
Lacto-Fermented Carrot Sticks – Food Renegade

Fermented Green Beans

Spicy Dilly Beans – Pickle Me Too
Hot Beans – Phickle

Fermented Pearl Onions

Pickled Onions – Cultures for Health
Lacto-Fermented Pearl Onions – Gratefully Nourished

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