Kombucha Part 3 – Kombuhca Recipes!

So far we have discussed potential health benefits of kombucha HERE, and how to stick it to the man by brewing your own for pennies on the dollar HERE.  I envision houses all over the world right now filled with the delightful scent of vinegary ‘booch bubbling and brewing away.

If you’re anything like me, you figured out if you mastered the art of how to make a small batch, you might as well make a giant batch for the same amount of effort, and start doling it out to your friends and family.  But what on earth do you do if you’re looking at a river of kombucha and no way to drink it all or give it away in time for the next batch to be ready?  Of course you could always store your SCOBY in some sugary tea in the fridge and let it rest until you are ready to make a new batch; or, you could find fun ways to add kombucha into every day recipes, giving yourself an added probiotic/detox bonus and maybe even sneak some healthy probiotics into the food of your more skeptical friends who haven’t yet been daring enough to sip the ‘booch, without them even knowing what you’ve got in there!  What’s that you say, kombucha RECIPES???

*Note, many of these recipes work great if you accidentally let your brew go too long and you have kombucha vinegar overload.

Here are some of my favorite ‘boochified recipes:

Kombucha salad dressing: 

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup kombucha (works particularly well with a strongly fermented/vinegary ‘booch)
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch black pepper
• ¾ cup olive oil
• 1 egg yolk (can substitute 1 TB Dijon mustard if you are uncomfortable with raw egg yolks)
• 1 small handful of parsley

Blend at high speed until emulsified.  This always works great poured over fresh steamed green beans.

Breakfast Kale protein shake

• ½ cup coconut milk
• ½ cup ginger kombucha
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 large handful kale
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 TB peeled and shredded ginger
• 2-3 whole carrots
• ¼ cup mixed berries
• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
• ½ cucumber
• 1 serving of your favorite protein powder

Add water and ice a little at a time and blend to desired liquid consistency

 

B’ooch-B-Q sauce

• 1 cup kombucha (I prefer watermelon kombucha for a sweet and tangy kick)
• 3 oz. tomato paste
• 1 TB coconut oil (be sure the mixture is at room temperature or you will end up with solid chunks of coco oil in your sauce!)
• ½ tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp paprika
• ½ tsp chipotle chili pepper
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

Blend all together, taste for saltiness preference and enjoy on your favorite slab o’ meat!

 

Kombchep (Kombucha ketchup)

• 6 oz tomato paste
• ½ cup kombucha
• 1 dash cinnamon
• 1 dash cayenne
• 1 dash cloves
• 1dash garlic powder
• 1dash black pepper
• Salt to taste

Blend all together, taste for preference and enjoy!

 

Kombucha cocktails: Detox while you retox!

Whiskey Pucker:

• 1.5 oz. whiskey
• 2.5 oz citrus kombucha
• Fresh bing cherry for garnish

Tangy Tequila Pleaser:

• 2 oz. white tequila
• 4 oz. citrus kombucha
• Twist of lime

Pomegranate Gin Fizzy Ferment:

• 2 oz. gin
• 4 oz. pomegranate kombucha
• Fresh bing cherry for garnish

Berry Voka Spritzer:

• 2 oz. vodka
• 4 oz. berry kombucha
• 1 dash bitters
• Twist of lime

KonnieTemple (Shirley’s fermented cousin):

• 4 oz. cherry kombucha
• 2 oz. club soda
• Twist of lime

***Bonus Recipe:

Boochies-Kombucha candy

If you’re brewing your own kombucha, you may have experienced SCOBY overload.  This is the point when you have given SCOBYs to all your friends and family, and every week or two you face the conundrum of how to deal with a probiotic that multiplies like rabbits. If you can find someone with chickens, you’ll make a new best friend, as I understand that chickens adore SCOBYs and gobble them up like a special treat.  If that’s not an option for you, the colony of bacteria and yeast do very well in a compost pile.  Or, if you are very brave (and at this point if you are brewing your own gallons of kombucha every week I assume that you are a somewhat daring soul) you can EAT them!  Dehydrated at low temperatures, the SCOBY maintains its probiotic qualities, and with a little preparation, you can make a tasty, sweet and sour chewy snack.  If you’re an adventurous eater and you like gummy bears, you are in for a treat!

Step 1: Prepare a simple syrup mixture: simmer 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar until dissolved, allow to cool to room temperature.

Step 2: Cut up SCOBY into 1 inch squares and place the pieces into a bowl.

Step 3: Pour simple syrup over the SCOBY pieces like a marinade, cover bowl with a lid and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Step 4: Place the SCOBY pieces in a food dehydrator and dehydrate for 16 hours on the lowest setting.  If you do not have a food dehydrator you can place them on a baking sheet and set your oven to the lowest temperature possible.  Check every few hours to make sure the pieces are not overcooked

After 16 hours the boochies should be semi-transparent and have the consistency of a soft but chewy gummy bear.  Store them in the fridge (if they last that long!)