i had to carry around SO much "champagne" (it was actually sparkling cider) in this show and i got to drink NONE of it i am still sad about this in case you care
going to sleep now btw but i have one more thing to share I made mulled wine and it tasted good but tbh I diid make some dumb substitutions my mom was laughing at me
This Maple Apple and Lentil Salad, fragrant with herbs, sharp with a punchy dressing, makes a tasty late Winter lunch. Happy Tuesday!
Ingredients (serves 2):
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 small garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
1 cup Puy Green Lentils
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 litre/4 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 heaped teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 tablespoon pure (Grade A) Canadian Maple Syrup
½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
½ red onion
1 large apple, rinsed
3 fluffy sprigs fresh Cilantro
In a large, deep saucepan, heat olive oil over a medium flame.
Peel garlic cloves, and halve them. Stir into the saucepan, and cook, 1 minute more. Add bay leaves.
Then, stir in the green lentils, coating well in oil and herbs. Season with coarse sea salt, and stir in the water. Bring to the boil.
Once boiling, reduce heat to low, and half cover with a lid. Simmer, until lentils are just tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine olive oil, apple cider vinegar, Dijon Mustard and Maple Syrup into serving bowl. Give a good stir until well-blended. Season with black pepper.
Once the lentils are cooked, drain thoroughly and let cool, 5 minutes or so, discarding bay leaves and garlic halves.
Peel and thinly slice red onion. Halve, core and dice apple. Add red onion slices and apple dices to the serving bowl, tossing well to coat in dressing.
Finely chop Cilantro, and stir into the apples and onion as well. Finally, add the cooked lentils, whilst still warm, and toss to generously coat in dressing and combine.
Serve Maple Apple and Lentil Salad warm, or chill a couple of hours in the refrigerator if you prefer eating it cold.
Another batch that I went ahead and set up later than I had meant to last night. (So, no posting then.)
This time using cheap apple juice concentrate and some pretty delicious Slovenian tart cherry drink concentrate syrup that Mr. C had open in the fridge--consisting of basically just cherry juice, way more sugar than I need to drink as-is except to treat hypoglycemia, and a little citric acid.
I also decided to throw in a little bottled lemon juice for extra flavor, because why not. The "sour" cherry stuff is just made out of the stronger-flavored pie cherries, with more than enough sugar to take the mixture to a point where I thought it could use a little more tartness for balance. We actually have some fresh lemons, but I couldn't find the juicer, and just hand squeezing lemons/limes basically gives my hands a chemical peel. 🙄 DO NOT NEED when they're already this dry.
Not shown: more spooky powders! In the form of pectic enzyme (to help it hopefully turn out clear), yeast nutrient, and the same cider/champagne yeast because, again, why not. It was open.
Went with a little bigger batch in a 2L bottle this time, aiming to fill two regular 750ml wine bottles after it's finished. (Or one of the 1.5L bottles like the previous one is in, I guess.)
As I left it before going to bed.
After I got back up, I realized that I had indeed done a little oopsie by putting in the fridge-temperature syrup and not bothering to make up the temperature with warmer water. So yeah, the yeast still had not shown any signs of activity.
Even after sticking the bottle in a warmer place for a few hours, it was still not really wanting to wake up. So, my impatient ass sprinkled in another smaller dose of yeast. That did help it take off pretty quickly. 👍 May well have taken off on its own with more time, but the little extra really shouldn't hurt anything.
It's now bubbling away happily enough, and I guess I will know not to repeat that mistake.
The actual recipe for this experiment, btw, with screenshots from last night before I edited to show the second yeasting:
In retrospect, I may have also slightly overdone the cherry. I misremembered how much the bottle said to dilute it with water for just a juicy drink. (1:10 not 1:5 like a lot of others!) But, I guess it should have plenty of flavor. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Guessing the color will possibly get way less attractive as it ferments, but we'll see. Mostly just hoping to get something pleasant enough tasting, though it does look pretty going in. We'll see soon enough!