You can use it like champagne vinegar and it makes a fiery Caesar dressing.
If you paid attention to my pea orders last year, you might be reading this after a morning snack of fresh peas, with a pile of discarded pea shells nearby. These strange pods are a fantastic compound as they are full of nitrogen, but if you'll indulge me, I'd like to suggest you take them in a different direction and make pea shell vinegar.
This is part of Eating Trash, a Lifehacker series in which Claire Lower (and a friend or two) convince you to turn your kitchen scraps into something edible and delicious.
Pea shell vinegar is a delicious, delicate vinegar with the palest green hue you can imagine. You can use it like champagne vinegar and it makes a fiery Caesar dressing. It's slightly herbaceous, of course, but you'd be very hard pressed to pinpoint the origin of the flavor (if you didn't know it came from peas); It's subtle and nuanced, with a flavor so light that it never overpowers your recipes.
It's also easy to do. Place the shelled pea pods in a clean jar and cover them with vinegar. Ideally, this is a white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar, with their mothers. A mother of vinegar is the disk of yeast that forms and indicates that a healthy fermentation is taking place, just like with kombucha. You can also purchase the mothers separately.
Cover the lid with cheesecloth, so air can get in but bugs can't, and place the vinegar in a cool, dark place. In a few weeks, check in and hopefully you'll see the formation of your own mother. Decant whenever you want to use the vinegar; It is shelf stable.
I deeply believe that most people don't add enough acid to the things they cook, so having a variety of inspiring vinegars near the stove is always ideal. Decent-tasting vinegars are expensive, so making your own is a great way to save money. Try some on grilled vegetables, sprinkle them into stir-fries, or add them to a side of rice while cooking for a brighter flavor. I wouldn't even be mad if you added some to a martini.
