BABA GOUNAJ!!!!

Servings:6
Ingredients:
1 large eggplant
1/4 cup tahini, plus more as needed
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, plus more as needed
1 pinch ground cumin
Sea salt, to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup brine-cured black olives, such as kalamata
Directions:

1) Prepare a medium-hot fire in your grill.
2) Preheat an oven to 375°F.
3) Prick the eggplant with a fork in several places and place on the grill rack 4 to 5 inches from the fire.
4) Grill, turning frequently, until the skin blackens and blisters and the flesh begins to feel soft, 10 to 15 minutes.
5) Transfer the eggplant to a baking sheet and bake until very soft, 15 to 20 minutes.
6) Remove from the oven, let cool slightly; peel off and discard the skin.
7) Place the eggplant flesh in a bowl.
8) Using a fork, mash the eggplant to a paste.
9) Add the 1/4 cup tahini, the garlic, the 1/4 cup lemon juice and cumin; mix well.
10) Season with sea salt, then taste and add more tahini and/or lemon juice, if needed.
110 Transfer the mixture to a serving bowl and spread with the back of a spoon to form a shallow well.
12) Drizzle the olive oil over the top and sprinkle with the parsley.
13) Place the olives around the sides.
14) Serve at room temperature.

 

Make your own Probiotic Kraut!

Here is the deal:
Boil 3 cups of filtered water. Add 2 Tbsp Sea Salt. Set aside to cool.
You take a typical head of cabbage, about 5#.
Fresh picked, fall harvest, organic works best.
Carefully tear off the outer leaves; set them aside.
Core it, quarter it, and shred it in the Cuisinart.
Get out a big clay bowl. Look around for a smashing unit. A pestle, a potato masher, whatever.
Then measure out about 3 TBS Sea Salt .
Throw a layer of cabbage in bowl, then sprinkle in some salt, repeat for all.
Just keep pounding it all the while.
Really tear it up!
Then put all of it in a small crock pot, including all the juice in the bowl.
Set the cabbage leaves on top of the juice. There should be at least an inch, if not more juice above the crushed cabbage.If not, pour the cooled salt water over top.
Next, fill the a big Ziploc bag with the rest of the salt water, and maybe a little more water. Place it on top of everything, making sure that the bag completely reaches all the side surfaces. Put the lid on the crockpot.
Set it in a dark place, or just put a few towels on top.
After 21 days, look inside! I should smell like sauerkraut and be a nice buttery yellow color. Jar it up in a wide mouth Mason jar and keep tightly sealed in your fridge.
Have 1 tablespoon or two with lunch and dinner.

Benefits:

Fermented vegetables are important for healthy nutrition, loaded with the wonderful bacteria that God intended our digestive tract to have; much of which gets destroyed with the antibiotics in the meat we have eaten from the grocery store...which is why I am getting my meat from Diamond B Ranch in Palestine, and the Azure Standard Co-op. You can get organic cabbage from the Co-op, year-round.

Natural fermentation is one of the oldest means of preservation. Lactic acid bacteria subject the vegetables to a fermentation process. The vegetable becomes preserved, it develops a pleasantly sour taste, and it is rich in vitamins and minerals, especially Lactobacillus acidophilus.

Looky here for some great resources and interesting facts:

Websites:

http://www.thekitchn.com/inspiration-hom-15385

http://www.kombuchakamp.com/basic-kombucha-faq/kombuhca-brewing-process-faq

http://www.westonaprice.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Kneipp

Books:

Making Sauerkraut by Klaus Kaufmann and Annelies Schoneck

Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods [Paperback]

Sandor Ellix Katz (Author), Sally Fallon (Foreword)

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats [Paperback] Sally Fallon and Mary Enig