Diary Of A Kudzu Salesman: Survival And Recovery After The Electrical Grid Collapse (Prepper Reconstruction Book 2)
Page 11
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RECIPES
What You Will Need to make Kudzu Blossom Jelly
4 Cups kudzu blossoms
4 Cups water
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
5 Cups sugar
6 half pint canning jars and lids
Steps to Make Kudzu Blossom Jelly
1) Pull 4 cups of kudzu blossoms from vine and rinse thoroughly.
2) Place blossoms in large pot, pour 4 cups of water on top, cover, and bring to boil.
3) Strain through a colander and then cheesecloth. Refrigerate overnight.
4) Add lemon juice, pectin, and sugar.
5) Bring to a full boil for two minutes, while stirring constantly.
6) Remove from heat and skim off any foam.
7) Pour liquid into canning jars and seal.
8) Complete canning process by boiling canning jars for 7 minutes (boiling times may differ according to elevation levels). Make sure all canning jars are cover by two inches of water.
9) Remove jars with jar lifting tongs and place on towel for cooling. Jars have sealed when you press on the center and it does not pop up and down.
10) Store in cool dry place and enjoy all year!
Kudzu Leaf Recipes
Kudzu leaves and tender vine tips may be boiled the same way you boil spinach.
Boiled kudzu leaves mix well with other cooked greens including spinach and young poke sallet leaves. (Note: Young poke sallet leaves must be boiled three times in clean water prior to eating.)
Boiled kudzu leaves blend well with cooked rice and many cooked wild meats.
Fresh kudzu leaves may be processed in a pressure cooker following a spinach canning recipe, and stored in canning jars for future consumption.
Interesting note
Modern experiments show that a compound in kudzu actually causes the repression of alcohol consumption. This research could have great value in the future for the treatment of alcoholism.
GOOD CHEAP EASY WINE
The following quantities will make a gallon of wine:
2 cans of juice concentrate at room temperature; you can use any type of concentrate (grape, strawberry, etc.) as long as it doesn't contain any preservatives, which will inhibit fermentation; you might also want to avoid artificial coloring and flavoring since higher quality ingredients will produce tastier results
2 cups of sugar
1 packet of champagne yeast (more will not increase alcohol content but will impart a bad "yeasty" flavor); if you use bread yeast, it will taste like dirty socks, so be sure you use only champagne yeast
1 gallon of water; reverse-osmosis water, which can be purchased at the store in a gallon jug, is preferable but unnecessary.
Steps
Carefully sterilize your containers and utensils. Sanitizing everything will help keep unwanted bacteria from setting up camp as your wine ferments.
The easy way to sanitize everything at once is to use your dishwasher at the high heat setting, with appropriate detergent. Some dishwashers are designed especially to sanitize your dishes at 183 degrees F; this will clean the equipment and make the task really easy. After the machine finishes the dry cycle, you will be ready to start making the wine.
If you do not have an automatic dishwasher, wash with detergent, then bleach the funnel, glass jug, and anything else you may use. Air dry.
If you’re using a plastic water jug you just bought at the store, you won’t need to sanitize it.
Keep your jug covered or closed between uses to limit the amount of time that the container is exposed to possible contamination.
Boil the water. Using your thermometer, bring it to 144 degrees F and keep it there for 22 minutes.
Add the room-temperature juice concentrate to the clean, dry jug. Use the funnel if needed.
While the water is hot, dissolve the sugar into it. Stir while pouring.
Activate the yeast. If available, follow the directions on the packet; otherwise, activate the yeast by dissolving 1 teaspoon of sugar to 1/4 cup of lukewarm water in a separate bowl, adding the yeast, and letting it sit for 10 minutes (or until it becomes very frothy).
Let the boiled water cool before pouring it into the gallon jug containing juice concentrate. To gauge the temperature, wait until it stops steaming and the pot barely radiates heat. When the sides of the pot are cool enough to touch, it should be ready. (Keeping the lid on during this time will help prevent contamination.)
Pouring very hot water into a cool glass container might shatter it, particularly if the glass is thick. (Contrary to what you might expect, thick glass is actually less safe because it heats unevenly, causing internal stresses.)
Pouring very hot water into your plastic jug could melt it or cause particulates to leech into the water.
Add the dissolved sugar-water to the jug. Stir well with a sterile utensil or by capping the jug and shaking it.
Add the yeast. Again, stir well with a sterile utensil or by capping the jug and shaking it.
10, Remove the cap from the bottle and replace with a fermentation-friendly capping system. Since the fermentation produces CO2, the jug must be capped in a way that allows CO2 to escape.
Option 1 (Preferred): Place the airlock in the mouth of the jug. The airlock not only keeps the jug capped in a way that allows CO2 to escape, but also allows you to monitor the rate of fermentation by watching the bubbles pass through.
Option 2: Place a balloon over the mouth of the jug and secure it with a rubber band or tape. It is very important to poke a hole in the balloon with a needle; this will keep the pressure positive in the jug, preventing air from entering while allowing the release of CO2.
Option 3: Use clay to seal a tube into the mouth of the jug, then place the other end of the tube in the bottom of a glass of water. As with the airlock, bubbles will be seen occasionally as the CO2 exits.
Keep the jug at room temperature away from direct sunlight. If it doesn’t start to bubble after a few days, throw it away and try again, being careful to use more sanitary equipment. Otherwise, wait 10 to 14 days, when the mixture will suddenly go from cloudy to clear. Then transfer into another bottle or smaller bottles (leaving the sediment on the bottom of the first bottle) and enjoy!
Shortcut Method
Instead of using frozen concentrate, buy pasteurized grape juice with no additives, preservatives, or added sugar.
Your enemy in the winemaking procedure is sulfur dioxide, so make sure the juice is natural. Pasteurization, which also kills wild molds and yeasts, is the desired alternative to sulfur dioxide.
Buying it in a one-gallon jug will kill two birds with one stone, since the juice and jug are already sanitary.
Add activated champagne yeast.
Close with the capping system of your choice and ferment. Voila!
Warnings
Do NOT use "Brewer's yeast" as sold in health food stores - this is dead yeast, and won't do anything!
Use dry wine yeast, not the sparkling wine variety or baking yeast. When wine yeast is unavailable never use “rapid-raise” types.
Don't assume the alcohol content is as low as your average glass of wine. Plan not to drive for a while after consuming! (However unless you use specialist yeast for alcohol production the yeast will die before the alcohol content reaches much more).
Yeast consumes and consumes until there is no food left (in this case sugar), then it becomes dormant (or until the alcohol content is so high that the yeast cannot survive). By adding more sugar, you increase the brewing time and also raise the alcohol content. Theoretically, if you add a lot of sugar you could ensure it would be very sweet when finished, but it would also be very potent, and take a long time to finish; however, likely, the yeast would die from the high alcohol content before it can produce more alcohol.
Baking yeast (active dried yeast) does not leave its taste if your wine has gone through ultracentrifugation.
Things You'll Need
a 1-gallon water contai
ner; a glass jug with a narrow mouth (ex. an old apple juice jug) is preferable, but a plastic water jug from the store would be an inexpensive alternative
a stirring utensil (optional)
a thermometer
a bleach
a funnel
a rubber band
a bottle airlock (a.k.a. “fermentation trap”); this only costs about a dollar, but if you can’t get your hands on one, use one of the following combinations:
a balloon, needle, and rubber band
clay, a glass of water, and 2 feet of clear plastic tubing (available at any hardware store) narrow enough to fit through the mouth of the jug
ingredients: Honeysuckle Flower Wine
2 pints honeysuckle blossoms (flowers NOT berries, as berries are poisonous)
3 lbs / 1,350 grams granulated sugar
2 oranges
1/2 lb / 225 grams raisins
2 teaspoons acid blend
1 teaspoon pectic enzyme
1 teaspoon tannin (or cup of black tea)
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient / energiser
Wine yeast
8 pints / 1 gallon cooled boiled water
1 campden tablet
Method - What to Do
Carefully wash the honeysuckle flowers in cold water and transfer to clean, empty winemaking fermentation bucket. Add all of the cooled, boiled water and the other ingredients, except for the wine yeast. Stir the wine mixture well until all of the sugar has completely dissolved. Allow to stand for around 12 hours and then add the activated wine yeast. Stir every morning and evening for around four days and then strain thoroughly, transferring to a sterilized wine demijohn with airlock.
Rack the honeysuckle flower wine after approximately six weeks, when the fermentation will have slowed dramatically. Rack a further two to three times over the next year, until clear. Bottle the honeysuckle flower wine and drink after at least six months, preferably longer.
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