Hi Turk, Although there is always an acidic taste with lactic acid fermenting the original flavor of the vegetable always comes through. I've grown several paprika types from Spain and have started a very highly recommended hybrid (Paprika Supreme) this year, but have not fermented any yet. I chose nylon tule for my weight bags because I believe it to be stable and food safe. And that is also the reason I chose the glass beads. A much more convenient solution to weighting would be a plastic bag with water and some air in it. More and more I find myself not using any weight whatsoever because the starters I use are so active. If your liquid kefir drink hasn't been pasteurized or treated with preservatives it should make an excellent starter. I would put a few ounces into a jar, add some whole milk and wait 3 or 4 days and see how it ferments. You should get a nice sweet, acidic smelling result. The grains (curd) will be very small for some weeks, but will gradually grow in size. They do not need to be large for the mixture to work as a starter. Both the curds and the more liquid whey work well as starters. I always use a mixture of both. For my sourdough starters I use 2 parts pure water to 1 part flour. There are some excellent sourdough threads on this forum. If you do decide to try fermenting, please let us know your results. Regards, jt

Grilled Tomato Sauce From Steven Raichlen Like soup, tomato sauce is one of the dishes you're least likely to think of grilling. But there is a powerful reason to try this sauce. Beyond the mere novelty factor, grilling imparts a gutsy smoke flavor to the sauce and heightens the natural sweetness of the vegetables. Don't take just my word for it. For thousands of years, Mexicans have grilled tomatoes, onions and peppers to make rich-tasting salsas. I have adapted the technique to make an exceptionally flavorful tomato sauce. Serve the sauce over grilled polenta, with any simple grilled fish, or with just about any cooked pasta. Makes about 3 1/2 cups. 5 lucious, ripe red tomatoes 2 - 2 1/4 pounds total, cut in half crosswise, and stem ends removed 1 medium size white onion, peeled and cut into quarters 1 rib celery 4 cloves garlic, peeled and skewered on a wooden toothpick or small bamboo skewer 3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp. oregano 1/2 tsp. hot pepper flakes 1 bay leaf 6 fresh basil leaves coarse salt (Kosher or Sea salt) freshly ground black pepper 1/4 to 3/4 cup chicken stock, vegetable stock or water Cook the tomatoes, onions, celery and garlic in greased and preheated grill (George Foreman grill) until nicely browned. You may need to cook the vegetables in more than one batch. Transfer the grilled vegetables and let cool. Finely chop the onions, celery and garlic by hand or in a food processor. If using a food processor, run machine in spurts. Heat olive oil in large non-reactive sauce pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, celery and garlic, oregano, hot pepper flakes and bay leaf and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Coarsely puree tomatoes and juices with the basil in a food processor. Add the tomato mixture to the sauce pan, with the vegetables. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then let sauce simmer gently until thick and richly flavored 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. The sauce should be thick but pourable. If it is too thick, add a little stock or water. Remove and discard the bay leaf. The sauce can be refrigerated, covered up to 4 days. Or frozen for up to 2 months. Let the sauce come to room temperature then reheat it in a non-reactive sauce pan over medium heat, stirring often.

Tammy, grilling season can't be far away for you in West Virgina. I love this recipe; it's so different from what I usually cook. The burger is very moist and just a touch sweet. Mar-a-Lago Turkey Burger * 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions * 1/2 cup finely chopped celery * 3 Granny Smith apples , peeled and diced * 1/8 cup canola oil * 4 pounds ground turkey breast * 2 Tbsp. salt * 1 Tbsp. black pepper * 2 tsp. Tabasco chipotle pepper sauce * 1 lemon , juiced and grated zest * 1/2 bunch parsley , finely chopped * 1/4 cup Major Grey's Chutney , pureed Directions: Sauté the scallions, celery and apples in the canola oil until tender. Let cool. Place the ground turkey in a large mixing bowl. Add sautéed items and the remaining ingredients. Shape into eight 8-ounce burgers. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Season the turkey burgers with salt and pepper. Place on a preheated, lightly oiled grill. Grill each side for 7 minutes until meat is thoroughly cooked. Let sit for 5 minutes. Serve with a side of Mar-a-Lago Pear Chutney and your favorite toasted bread, pita or hamburger roll. (I haven't made any changes to the recipe other than to make the burgers smaller--probably around 1/3# each. It is so good that I can't think of anything that would improve the orig. recipe. Any leftovers are still great the next day, just nuked to warm them.) ---------------------------------------------------- Another recipe that would be good for a crowd like yours is the Bierocks recipe that I posted on the February New Recipe Review thread. I was initially a little disappointed in them. Either I underestimated them or Bierocks are just better reheated--after the flavors have melded. Bierocks Dough (Pam's Bierocks by Pushkemaa) 2 c. warm water 2 pkg yeast (I used 1 T.) 1/2 c. white sugar 1/4 c. margarine, softened (butter, of course) 1 egg 2 t. salt 7 c. AP flour (I made the dough the evening before.)I just dumped the ingred. into the bread machine & let the machine do the work. Had to add quite a lot of extra water. You want a soft dough & even w/ the extra water, the dough ended up being a little stiffer than I would have liked. So, I would suggest cutting back the am't of flour to 5 1/2 - 6 cups & adding more if needed. (Another reason to cut back on the flour is because this recipe made more dough than need for the filling.) After mixing the dough, I turned it into a greased bowl, covered w/ plastic & popped it into the refrigerator overnight. Bierocks Filling (allrecipes Pamela Logsdon) 1 lb ground beef 1 onion, chopped (used 3 T. dehydrated onions) 1 clove garlic (used 3 cloves) 1 1/2 t. salt (omitted because of DH) 1 1/2 t. lemon pepper (Used lemon zest & pepper) 1 small head cabbage, shredded 2 T. Worcestershire sauce 2 t. Caraway seeds (I lightly toasted) 1/2 c. butter (didn't use) Saute beef, onion, garlic, salt & lemon pepper in a large skillet over medium high heat until beef is browned. Add cabbage, Worcestershire sauce & caraway seed. Cook until cabbages is limp; drain liquid from mixture. (My mixture was very dry, probably because I used the dehydrated onions?) Let beef/cabbage cool to room temp or lukewarm. Now, it's time to roll out the dough. Squeeze off approx. golf balled size (or slightly larger) piece of dough. Roll out on unfloured surface to about 5'' diameter. Measure 1/4 c. of cabbage mixture into circle (I added about 1 t. of water to each pile of cabbage because my mixture was so dry), gather up edges & pinch the edges together, sealing the seam well. Place seam side down onto parchment covered baking sheet. Repeat until all dough & meat mixture is used. (When rolling out the dough, you want it to stick to the surface so it doesn't shrink back up. I had heck w/ these at first until I tossed the pastry cloth & rolled it directly on the counter. I'd get it to stick to my marble rolling pin, then peel it off the pin and stick the side that was stuck onto the pin--stick that side to the counter--and finish rolling.) I ended up with 15 bierocks & 5 extra 'hot rolls' from the extra dough. Let rise for an hour or so. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot or wrap & freeze for heating later. Or bake the day before desired serving & reheat.

Mtn: Ever since you first mentioned making Spring Rolls and posted that recipe, I've been making them myself . . . but not with beef. I use either shrimp or pork. I tried tofu, too, but didn't much care for it like that. I was having a bit of a time because the first batch of "spring roll skins" stuck to my quartz counter, then to a thin cotton towel, then to waxed paper (LOL). I also had difficulty getting the rolls tight enough. But, they turned out delicious. The next day I was having my nails done and mentioned to the Vietnamese guy who always does my nails about my making them. He's a great guy and a good cook (better than his wife by far, so he does most of the cooking). He and the other nail technicians gathered around me, all giving me helpful hints . . . and all were horrified that the original recipe called for beef (LOL)! And so, I'm getting better and better. I was coached to not let the skins set in the warm water for the advised time, as they continue to soften once out. And to make them on a wood cutting board. I do use cooked quinoa in place of the rice, as we don't eat rice. They all shook their heads at the quinoa, too. I tried at first making the rolls without rice, quinoa or the like. Bad move! Now, though, with the quinoa, shrimp, shredded carrots and greens, etc. they almost look restaurant worthy. Thanks again for the recipe!