Home fermented giardiniera and gherkins

Laikom was asking about this so I thought id post.

Ive been working on fermented vegetables a little lately and here are some of the successes.

Fermented Giardiniera

Ingredients:
4 sticks of celery
3 banana chilies
1 red capsicum
1 Jalapeno pepper
1 carrot
2/3 head of cauliflower
1 tbl coriander seed
3 cloves of garlic
1 tbl oregano

Wash vegetables well in water, but don't use anything "biocidal" as it will kill the bacteria that you are after. Slice the veg and place is a sterilized jar (just keep chopping stuff until you have enough veg in there). Remove the mix into a bowl and mix it around (or layer it in the jar if you prefer the visuals over being able to eat a mix of vegies). Put garlic, coriander and oregano in the bottom of the jar and return the stirred veg to the jar. Cover with a 3% brine (basically 30g of salt per L of water...sorry, im from Australia, I cant do imperial units yet). Next you need to keep the vegetables below water level while they ferment. I used a gallon mason jar to ferment and then used a smaller mason jar full of water to keep the veg down. This worked like an airlock and is critical to have crisp nice veg. Ferment on the bench in the kitchen for 7-10 days. Once this is complete you can put it in the fridge but I believe it should be ok on the bench too. Although it may continue to ferment and become more bitter. If you don't like it bitter then you can fridge it earlier. The red capsicum (or red pepper as you would call it) did come out soft so I would leave it out next time. Also...leaving the country while it ferments maybe a good idea...cauliflower farts were the description of the smell. It came out with the right level of sour and salt and crispness and a lovely chilli bite to it too.



Fermented Gherkins
Ingredients
8-10 gerkins (to fill a gallon jar)
2 sprigs dill
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp pepper corns
1 1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 tbl mustard
3 all spice
2 green chillis
1L water + 50g salt (5% brine)

Wash the gherkins well, then cut the tops and tails off and halve them (cutting the flower end off is important to keep them crisp) but otherwise its aesthetics.
Add spice to the jar and then fit the gherkins as snugly as you can. Add the brine and then weigh down the gherkins with another mason jar as above. Ferment for 7-14 days. If you like it sour then just let it keep going until it stops, then you can put it in the fridge. This batch I used a 3% brine and didn't pack the jar as full as I wanted and they are less crisp than last time. I don't offer guarantees about the correct brine for this but I think 5% is a good level. I wouldn't go below 3% without some research, the lactic acid bacteria like a salty environment.