✨Expensive things cheaply✨

Ingredients

• 2L boiling water
• 1/2 cup raw caster sugar
• 4 teabags
• scoby
• 1/4 cup leftover kombucha

Tools

• 2L sterilized jar
• muslin / netting to cover the jar
• 2 x 1L jars

Steps

1. Dissolve sugar in the boiling water, then add the teabags and allow to cool
2. Once cool, add the scoby and the kombucha into the jar, and cover with the muslin / netting
3. Leave the jar in the hot water cupboard for 10 - 15 days
4. Decant liquid into 2 bottles, putting aside 1/4 cup of liquid and the scoby to use for your next kombucha

Tips ✨

See below for instructions on how to sterilize jars.

Ingredients

• very coarse ground coffee (the same consistency as breadcrumbs)
• water

Tools

• a large, sterilized jar
• muslin
• sieve

Steps

1. Working to roughly a 1:8 coffee-to-water ratio, place your grounds in the bottom of the jar, and cover with cold water
2. Stir gently until well combined, then cover and leave to steep for 18-24 hours, either in or out of the fridge
3. When the time is up, strain into a large bowl through a sieve to remove the larger grounds. Discard these, then tuck the muslin into the sieve and strain into your jar
4. If there's reside at the bottom, just repeat a couple more times. If you can't get it out, it may be that your grind was too fine, so just change for next time 😊

Tips ✨

Ensure your coffee is coarsely ground - finely ground coffee will produce cloudy, gritty coffee.

Ingredients

• 1L milk
• 4 tbsp yoghurt

Tools

• 1L jar
• food thermometer
• sieve (optional)
• muslin (optional)

Steps

1. Sterilize the milk by heating milk in the microwave on the lowest setting until it reaches at least 85°C (around 50 mins). Use the thermometer to check occasionally
2. Let it cool to 42°C and then add 4 tablespoons of yoghurt
3. Put it in a sterilized jar then pack it in a box with some padding around it (old towels or tea-towels are great) and leave it in the hot water cupboard for 6-7 hours
4. (Optional) To make thick Greek style yoghurt tip the newly made yoghurt into a sieve with some muslin in it, over a bowl and leave one hour. Clear liquid will drain out leaving the yoghurt thicker

Tips ✨

• Use a yoghurt you like as the starter, or try different yoghurts to start off your batch. The different bacteria in different yoghurts will result in slightly different tasting yoghurt.
• See below for instructions on how to sterilize jars.

Ingredients

• 1L coconut cream (find a brand that is a high proportion of coconut - at least 90%)
• 4 tbsp probiotic coconut yoghurt

Tools

• 1L sterilized jar

Steps

1. Pour the coconut cream into the sterilized jar, and mix in the coconut yoghurt. Leave in the hot water cupboard or pantry for 24 hours

Tips

• The longer you leave the yoghurt out of the fridge, the more tart it will taste.
• See below for instructions on how to sterilize jars.

Ingredients

• 1 large fresh cabbage*, including outer leaves
• 1-2 tablespoons non-iodised sea salt
• (optional) 1 tablespoon caraway seeds

Tools

• 1-2 litre capacity sterilised flip-top (Fido) jars or mason jars

Steps

1. Peel off the darker outer leaves of the cabbage and set them aside for later
2. Using a sharp knife, core the cabbage and shred it into very thin slices (about as thin as you can cut it easily). If you have one, you can use a food processor with a shredding attachment instead.
3. Place shredded cabbage into a large clean bowl. Sprinkle amount of salt needed to get the 15gms salt/kg of cabbage. Add caraway seed if using.
4. Toss the salt through the cabbage for a minute or so and then leave it to sit for 30 minutes.
5. Begin pounding the shredded cabbage with a blunt rolling-pin or knead/massage it vigorously with your hands. Continue until the juice comes to the top of the cabbage when pressed (roughly 10 minutes).
6. Place cabbage and juices into cool, clean jars leaving at least 5cm (2 inches) from the top of the jars. This will allow the cabbage to expand during fermentation without the juice escaping.
7. Rinse the outer reserved cabbage leaves and curl them up and place on top of the cabbage and juice and press down gently. Use as many leaves as you need to keep shredded cabbage below the juice once the lid is on.
8. Cover tightly and leave at room temperature out of direct sunlight for 3-14 days. It's done when you like the flavour! You can start taste testing from day 3. It should taste sour and a bit salty and sometimes fizzy.
9. Once it tastes ready store it in the fridge. It will keep for at least 6 months in the fridge.

Tips

• Cabbage quality is key! A dry cabbage will produce a dry kraut. The best cabbages are dense, juicy cabbages. Also, if wanting to use red cabbage, it is best to do a 50/50 mix of green and red cabbage as the red cabbage tends to produce a soft kraut, while the green stays nice and crunchy.
• The ratio of salt is actually quite important and the general rule of thumb is to use approximately 15gm salt per kg of cabbage. This keeps the kraut crispy while not being overly salty. Marlborough sea salt or pink Himalayan sea salt work really well.
• Make sure your jar is made from a thick, sturdy glass as a surprising amount of pressure will build up inside of the jar during fermentation and we want to avoid an exploding jar!
• You can flavour with caraway seeds, or experiment with other flavours
• See below for instructions on how to sterilize jars.

Ingredients

• lemons
• plain coarse salt
• extra lemon juice
• 1 bay leaf
• peppercorns

Tools

• one large sterilized jar

Steps

1. Place 1 tablespoon coarse salt into a sterilised jar.
2. Wash lemons well and cut a small slice off each end of the lemon. Without cutting right the way through the lemon cut into quarters from top to bottom. Rub a generous tablespoon of salt on all the cut edges of the lemon and squeeze as many lemons as possible into your jar. Add a few bay leaves and peppercorns.
3. Cover the lemons with extra lemon juice and boiling water. Seal the jar and place in a cool place turning the jar every few days. Use after a month.
4. Once opened keep refrigerated. Rinse off extra salt before using the pulp and rind when cooking Moroccan style dishes or whenever you want a lovely lemon flavour in savoury dishes.

Tips

• Tips - While you can eat the whole lemon, it's a good idea to remove the seeds first.
• See below for instructions on how to sterilize jars.

Tools

• jar(s)
• roasting pan or tray

Steps

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160 celcius fan, or 180 conventional, and set a pot of water to boil on the stove
2. Separate the jars, lids and any rubber seals. Wash all thoroughly with hot soapy water
3. Place the jars upside down on the roasting tray, and place in the oven for 15 minutes
4. Place the lids and seals in the pan of water. Let the seals boil for 3 minutes, then remove and place on a clean tea towel to air dry. Let the lids boil for a further 10 minutes and then do the same
5. Once the time is up, remove the jars from the oven and allow to cool