Fermented Foods for the Holidays By Betsy Hicks and Carrie Kane
Enjoy the benefits of fermented foods with the flavors of Christmas! At this time of year, our senses connect
us with the winter holidays through our sight (with crimson reds and forest greens) and through smells and
flavors such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. The winter season also brings fresh apples, beets, and
cabbage, all plentiful and affordable during the darker winter months. Allow the following foods and
beverages to become a part of your holiday tradition to strengthen digestion and immune health. These
recipes can also help diminish your cravings for the sweets that float around at home, at the office, and
in sugar plum dreams!
Note: Fermented foods provide a powerful probiotic boost and can be profoundly healing. If you are
new to eating cultured or fermented foods, it is wise to start out slowly, consuming
only small quantities until your body grows accustomed to the beneficial cleansing
effects that the probiotics in these foods have to offer.
Ginger Carrots
(recipe by Sally Fallon)
Makes 1 quart
Equipment:
One 1-quart wide-mouth Mason jar
Ingredients:
4 cups grated carrots, tightly packed
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 tablespoons sea salt*
1.In a bowl, mix all ingredients and
pound with a wooden pounder or a
meat hammer to release juices.
2. Place ingredients in the quart-sized jar
and press down firmly with the pounder
or meat hammer until juices cover the
carrots. The top of the carrots should be
at least 1 inch below the top of the jar.
3.Cover tightly and leave at room
temperature for about 3 days before
transferring to cold storage. Ginger
carrots go well with rich foods and
spicy meats.
Source: Sally Fallon with Mary G. Enig, Nourishing
Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically
Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, revised
second edition. Washington, DC: New Trends
Publishing, 2007.
*Editor’s note: While salt helps with preservation,
some people prefer less salt.
58
AUTISM SCIENCE DIGEST: THE JOURNAL OF AUTISMONE  ISSUE 03  REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION
Holiday Chutney
(recipe by Carrie Kane)
Makes 1 quart
Equipment:
One 1-quart wide-mouth Mason jar
Rubber band or kitchen string
Dishcloth or coffee filter
Ingredients:
4 cups chopped apples
(use a crisp variety like Granny Smith) (skins optional)
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
½ cup raw, chopped, sliced, or slivered almonds (skins optional)
½ cup dried cranberries
8 tablespoons palm sugar, Sucanat®, or rapadura
½ teaspoon unrefined sea salt*
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon fresh, peeled ginger, finely chopped
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Mix the ingredients with your hands for about 5 minutes,
slightly squeezing the apples to release their juices.
3. In the quart-sized jar, push the ingredients down multiple
times to ensure that there is no air in the jar. If the juice does
not cover the contents, add up to ½ cup of filtered water.
4.Cover with a dishcloth or coffee filter secured with
a rubber band or kitchen string.
5.Let sit at room temperature for 2-3 days away from
direct sunlight.
6. Transfer to refrigerator (keeps for several months).
www.autismone.org
Mulled Cider Kefir Soda
(recipe by Carrie Kane)
Makes 2 quarts
Equipment:
Plastic strainer
One 1-quart wide-mouth Mason jar
Four 16-oz bottles
Rubber band or kitchen string
Dishcloth or coffee filter
Ingredients:
½ cup water kefir grains*
½ cup organic brown sugar
4 cups filtered water
1 quart apple cider
2 cinnamon sticks
2 allspice berries
2 whole cloves
1.Rinse kefir grains with filtered water in
a plastic strainer several times to clean.
2. Into the very clean 1-quart jar, place
½ cup of organic brown sugar.
3.Add ½ to 1 cup of almost boiling
filtered water to the sugar. Mix sugar
and water to dissolve sugar crystals.
4.Add two cups of cold, filtered water to
the hot water. Make sure the water is
no longer hot before the next step.
5. Add the kefir grains, and if the jar is not
filled, add enough cold water to be
one inch below the rim.
6.Cover with a dishcloth or coffee filter,
and seal with a rubber band or kitchen
string. Let the mixture sit for 48 hours
on the counter.
7.After 48 hours, strain the liquid.
Reserve the kefir grains for your next
batch (if you are not immediately using
them for a new batch, refrigerate or
freeze them).
8.Simmer the apple cider, cinnamon,
allspice berries, and cloves for 5
minutes. Cool and strain the liquid.
9.Take four 16-oz bottles that have
been cleaned and sterilized in the
dishwasher and place 1 cup of the
cooled cider liquid in each bottle. Fill
the rest of the bottle with the prepared
kefir water and cap the bottles.
10.Leave the bottles on the counter at
room temperature for 24 hours.
11.Refrigerate and enjoy
(keeps for several months).
Editor’s note: Betsy obtains hers from
www.culturesforhealth.com
www.autismone.org
Red Kraut
(recipe by Carrie Kane)
Makes 3 cups
Equipment:
One 1-quart wide-mouth Mason jar
One smaller jar with lid
Rubber band or kitchen string
Dishcloth or coffee filter
Ingredients:
6 cups red cabbage, thinly shredded
2 cups Granny Smith apples, diced
(peels optional)
1½ teaspoons unrefined sea salt*
1 teaspoon juniper seeds or 2
teaspoons juniper berries
1.Put cabbage in a big bowl with
sea salt, and gently squeeze the
cabbage for 10 minutes to help
release the cabbage’s natural juices.
2. Add apples and juniper seeds to
the bowl with the cabbage, and mix
ingredients.
3. Put it all into a 1-quart Mason jar,
and push the ingredients down until
the cabbage juice covers all of the
ingredients.
4. Now the contents need to be
weighted down with a smaller jar
that will fit into the mouth of the
Mason jar. (To make the small jar
into a weight, fill it with water and
seal the smaller jar with a lid.)
5. Cover the open Mason jar that does
not have a lid and the small jar filled
with water that does have a lid with
a dishcloth or coffee filter. Secure
with a rubber band or kitchen string.
6.Check the kraut once a day to
make sure the liquid stays above
the cabbage mixture. After a week,
transfer it to the refrigerator with a
lid for long-term storage (keeps for
several months).
Jolly Red Beet Kvass
(old-time traditional recipe)
Makes 1 quart
Equipment:
One 1-quart widemouth jar
Rubber band or
kitchen string
Dishcloth or coffee filter
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh red beets, chopped
(2 large beets) (peels optional)
½ cup fresh lemon juice
1½ teaspoons unrefined
sea salt*
Optional: ¼ cup sauerkraut
juice (from sauerkraut made
from live cultures or salt)
1. Place beets in the 1-quart jar.
2. A
dd the lemon juice and salt
(and optional sauerkraut juice)
and fill the jar with water.
(The sauerkraut juice inoculates
the beet kvass with a live
culture to get it going faster.)
3.Cover with a dishcloth or
coffee filter secured with a
rubber band or kitchen string,
and let sit at room temperature
for 3-4 days.
4.Remove the beet pieces and
discard.
5. C
over the jar with a hard lid
and transfer to the refrigerator
for storage (keeps for
several months and actually
is best after 6 weeks in the
refrigerator).
6.Drink the kvass straight or mix
with other juices or teas.
REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION  AUTISM SCIENCE DIGEST: THE JOURNAL OF AUTISMONE  ISSUE 03
59