Ferments + Flour got interviewed...

By Lisa from FoisGrasAndFunnelCakes.com! She's based out of Oakland and writes a blog mapping out her own cooking adventures! I love all of her experiments with jams and jarred conserves using unique flavor combinations. Recently she started a series of interviews for local artisans and Ferments + Flour was lucky enough to make the grade! We got to talking about how we started and what inspires us over at Craftsman & Wolves in SF.  Thanks Lisa!

CHECK IT OUT HERE!

We're on Good Eggs!

The time has come! I'm so excited to report that Ferments + Flour finally has a published Webstand on GoodEggs.com!

For those of you who don't know what Good Eggs is, let me begin. They are a wonderful company that started up here in the Bay Area (and are expanding!!) to bring local producers together under one roof to share their goods with fellow locals. You order online, and they deliver everything in one bag, whether you live up in Marin or down in Mountain View. Their online marketplace sells things from fresh produce to pantry staples, to grass-fed meats. The variety is amazing, and the quality is even better. I've already ordered a couple times from them and they are an incredible group of people who deliver excellent customer service along with excellent quality product. Now I'm fortunate to be a vendor as well!

The view of the Webstand.

Anyways, after lots of preparation, all of my products have made their way onto a Webstand, presented by Good Eggs. All of my seasonal shortbreads, pickles, and Kombucha are available to all, just like they are here! On top of having an incredibly helpful staff, their website (especially for a vendor) is so organized; it's easy to view items by category, date ordered, etc. Example: you can order those peaches with a pound of chuck together to be picked up on Thursday.

If you're looking for an alternative and convenient method of ordering Ferments + Flour products, be sure to check out our Webstand on Good Eggs! 

Preservation: HERB BUTTERS!

Since it's summer and the garden is overflowing with all sorts of greens, it can sometimes be hard to use everything at such a fast pace. Even with a garden like mine own (which is 8 beds shared by me and my family of 5 others), it's difficult to keep up with the fast pace of Mother Nature. I feel like I'm constantly bending my back over the kale and giving the basil constant haircuts. Right now the tomatoes loom over the rest of the garden and have become much taller than any human being. I'm still not sure how I'm going to go searching for tomatoes to harvest. It closely resembles a jungle. 

Butter rolled into cylinders. 

Because of this abundance of greens, I got nervous about how to store them for optimal freshness so I could use them in my shortbreads. I only like to bake them to order so they can be as fresh as possible, but my ingredients from the garden are so temperamental, so I had no idea at first how to preserve them to my advantage. Then it hit me! Herb butters. 

I labeled all of my butters: B for BASIL.

Naturally it made complete sense since a dominant ingredient in the shortbread cookies is butter. So why not do what so many others have done in the past and preserve my summer harvest in fat? I can't think of a better way to keep something fresh, without tarnishing the quality. I gathered the predominant flavors in my shortbreads and got to it! I had so much rosemary, basil, lavender and lemon, and this was the ideal way to halt summer in its tracks. 

It couldn't be more simple:

• Get your butter (I made mine in batches of 4 ounces AKA 1 stick).
• Let it get to almost room temperature.
• Zest your citrus or chop your herbs (about 1-2 tbsp per stick of butter).
• Stir the herbs and butter well with spatula, then place in the center of a large square of plastic wrap.
• Fold plastic wrap and roll the butter into a cylindrical shape--make sure to get out any air pockets.
• Label and place in freezer. 
• DONE

It's an excellent way to savor your leftover herbs and zests when you don't know what else to do with them. Now I can provide everyone with perfectly flavored summer flavors without fretting about my herbs growing faster than I can harvest!

 

Kombucha For Daysss

I officially have more Kombucha than I know what to do with--I used to never think that was possible. Usually I space out the times I create new batches so I'll always have a steady supply on hand. This time I managed to make two 2 gallon jars simultaneously, leaving me with, yes, 4 gallons total. They need an entire fridge just for themselves.

Hogging the entire fridge.

Basically all this just means is that I need your help! I may have made an abundance, but it's nonetheless a delicious abundance and I couldn't be happier with the outcome! This time I created a green and black tea base. In addition I will be offering 3 flavors! You can of course enjoy your Kombucha plain, or I will have freshly squeezed APPLE JUICE available as well as the ever so popular and freshly squeezed LEMON-GINGER!! I didn't know which one I liked more so I thought I'd share both of the bests with everyone.

My hard working SCOBY (his name is Bart).

Remember you can get your Kombucha by emailing me at fermentsandflour@gmail.com or just purchasing through a PayPal account via this website. I offer 2 different sizes: either 12 oz. for $3.75 or 750 ml. for $7. Feel free to email with any other questions as well!

Choose size:

12 oz $3.75 USD 750 ml $7.00 USD

Make sure to include what flavor you would like during checkout.

It's Growing! (The Garden, That Is...)

Cilantro sprouts

The beautiful location where I source all of the shortbread herbaceous goodness is GROWING! The place I speak of is my mine and parent's home garden down in the Peninsula where I grew up. This garden is way older than I am and this year we just made renovations to the aging beds of dirt. Our dinky and ineffective wooden beds were no match for squirrels and bunny rabbits. After lots of lots of dirt shoveling, my dad was able to raise the beds about two feet! This especially makes me happy because of the abundance of root veggies I can now grow...Dragon carrots, daikon radish, watermelon radish, Nantes carrots...mmmm.
 adjustments and

Itty bitty herb sprouts

Anways, we started planting seeds and seedlings about a week ago and we're already getting some sproutage! Plenty of herbs. An entire bed devoted to them. Multiple kinds of thyme, rosemary, sage, cilantro, parsley, chives, and more than enough basil for all of the pesto! And the onion bulbs are already peeking through as well. Shallot shortbread anyone? Definitely chive.

Chives!

The baby tomato plants were the first to take root. We have hybrids this year that started to sprout thanks to the many different kinds of tomato varieties we had last year. My mom is an heirloom tomato fanatic, so you can be sure that we had at least 8 kinds of tomatoes co-existing in our cramped, little garden. I feel like our black cherry tomatoes would go pretty well with the basil shortbread...Any maybe some pickled baby Green Zebras?

New Shortbread Member!

In honor of this beautiful weather, and the greens that grow as a result, I've decided to add another seasonal shortbread flavor: BASIL.

There was beautiful basil up for grabs in the discount section of Monterey Market this past

Been bakin' away all day.

week and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to incorporate it into the shortbreads! It's a beautiful ingredient to add just alone--it's delicious in its simplicity. After tasting the final result, I feel like these could be paired with anything ranging from sweet or savory flavors. After visiting INNA Jams  in Emeryville this week and buying some beautiful spreads, my mind immediately thought of pairing their Seascape Strawberry jam with the shortbread. Perfect pairing of sweet and savory.

While experimenting with this new seasonal flavor, I simultaneously made more batches of the existing trio of shortbreads! I'm now offering the goods in rounds instead of squares for more uniform and even cookies. Pictures of everything to come!!

Meanwhile, all of the pickles are bubbling away in their crocks...