GangaA fermentista's breakfast this morning - a glass of beetroot kvass with a kimchi-miso omelette.
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Now I am playing chief cook in the kitchen, making a greens and rice pilaf to go with the TVP/soy mince and cauliflower curry and fermented beetroot salad.
I am quite into roasted Brussels Sprouts – I have eaten more sprouts each winter than in total from childhood to a couple of decades into adulthood.
I have never really enjoyed Brussels Sprouts as my Mother, always overcooked them bless her cotton socks*. Boiled, grey and soggy, and not a drop of lemon juice. Sigh. Brussels Sprouts should never ever go near water imo.
The year we discovered roasted Brussels Sprouts (and also raw Brussels Sprouts). OMG! What a life changing event. They make great snacks too – we will eat them at any time of the day – fingers can be used.
Here they are roasted after being tossed with pomegranate molasses. Deeevine! The sweet-tart of the molasses against the bitter of the brussels sprouts is very special.
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I love it when the salad with dinner comes completely from the garden. Capsicum, deep red coloured carrots, radish, pomegranate arils, radish greens, a collection of winter salad greens, nasturtium leaves, broad bean leaf tips, purslane, amaranth leaves, herbs, pickled quince (from last year), apple vinegar (from the recent vinegar making). Some nuts and seeds (not from the garden) and avo oil (ditto).
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Golpar, cont.
The powder is usually mixed with salt for an intriguing seasoning called Golpar Namak.
Slightly bitter, earthy and woody, you will find it quite aromatic too. You might be able to buy the powder, but I can only get the seeds and grind it myself.
I got chatting to a gentleman in the local Afghan shop, and he says that Golpar is not only used in Middle Eastern countries, but is also known and commonly used in Eastern European countries too. It is sometimes called Angelica seeds, but that is incorrect.
Golpar Namak is the name of the powder mixed with salt. It is a great seasoning, useful for almost anything, and especially good with beans, grains, rice and lentils, as well as cucumber and pomegranate kernels. If you can find sour plums, use it with them too. Put some in your preserves and chutneys.
These are the seeds of the Irani Hogweed. Often they are called Angelica seeds, but this is a mistake. Angelica is a herb of another variety entirely.
The seeds are available from Afghani and Middle Eastern groceries, and some groceries specialising in German and European products.
The whole Irani Hogweed Seed is often used in pickles. For many other uses, they are ground into a powder, Golpar Koobideh, which has an earthy, slightly bitter and sour taste.
It is used in Middle Eastern and some European cooking, and goes excellently with broad beans, pomegranate, mushrooms, potatoes and brown lentils. It is also used with rice, vegetables and soups.
One of the most popular uses of this particularly Persian spice is to sprinkle golpar over cooked fava beans. Also to sprinkle golpar over a bowl of pomegranate kernels. It mixes well into yoghurt, and is commonly used in lentil soup.
Salad-e Khiar-o Anar | Cucumber Pomegranate Salad
When I first discovered golpar, I looked at ways to use it. This lovely salad has its origin in a book by Najmieh Batmanglij, Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking.
It is quite a terrific salad, with the flavour bursts of pomegranate kernels, the tang of the lime, golpar and salt, the freshness of mint and the cooling taste of the cucumber. It is a remarkable mix of flavours and is totally gorgeous. It would make a great Xmas Salad with those lovely colours.
Golpar is the powder made from the seeds of Iranian Hogweed. Pick up the powder or the seeds at a Middle Eastern or Afghan grocery. If you can only find the seeds, grind them to a powder in a spice grinder.
I'll post more about golpar in a few minutes in this thread.
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The tomatoes, herbs, capsicum, onion, spring onion and carrot has cooked down to a lovely jammy sauce 😋 The tempeh has been simmered briefly and is ready for sautéing tonight. The rainbow greens are washed and chopped to make a quick side dish with some lentils. There will be rice.
It is a pretty boring cook, I know, but since I am so limited in foods I can use due to my #NaturopathsRestrictedFoods I can only do what I can. It is (mostly) 'healthy eating" tho and I am grateful for that.
The roasted eggplant from the freezer is defrosted and will turn into baba ganoush. And I'm going to hard boil 6 or 8 eggs for the week. I have so many eggs from the neighbour, and it is really easy in the Instant Pot.
Another few rows of carrots are planted, should be ready mid winter. Tomorrow it will be the turn of turnips, parsnips and swedes. It is a bit late to plant, but also I am using old seeds, so I am willing to take my chances and be grateful for whatever happens to grow. The soil temp is still quite high so fingers crossed.
I feel a bit more in control now, after the weekend was spent on that jolly quote. It is nice to catch up.
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Oooh it is still cold this morning, but the sun is shining. The veggie garden is looking good. The weeds are looking spectacular. I will have some time out there today - this week has been busy and I am still writing quotes, but there will be an hour or so pottering in the garden.
I'll focus on the beds today, not general weeding. So many things are looking so good after the rain. And the winter salad greens are big enough to begin some small pickings. Daikons need thinning so their leaves and tiny roots will go into salads.
I don't want to put the Big Heating on days where I'll mostly be using 1 room (ie when writing quotes), so I am roasting the cauliflower from that HUGE cauli that I am getting SO many meals from. The roasting warms the kitchen, and I bring my laptop in here.
I am roasting all remaining bits - leaves, stalk, florets. Most or all will go into a wintery soup with the pumpkin from the neighbour that I roasted last night. I cannot wait.
Back to working on the quote until the garden warms up slightly...
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Just as I run out of the 2025 batch of quince vinegar and grape vinegar, this years batch of apple vinegar and quince vinegar is ready. Hooray!
1 l apple vinegar, about 800ml quince vinegar.
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